7 for 7:30

7 for 7:30 is British invitation lingo. It means that dinner is at 7:30, but show up at 7 for drinks.  These were our instructions for this term's "Informal Guest Night" at Emmanuel College (where informal means jacket and tie, as opposed to black-tie).  Unlike normal high table dinners, fellows are encouraged to bring their partners; the evening is more socially-oriented and the food and wine more elaborate.

First snow - River Cam

This being my third variant of an Emma high table dinner, I think I am finally getting the hang of things.  The evening begins with drinks (either sparkling eldeberry juice or champagne)  in the Old Library, with fellows distinguished from the rest of the crowd by their black academic gowns. Apparently a gown is not a perk of a visiting fellow, which makes me stand out like a sore thumb at these events.  At 7:30 the pounding of a gavel causes everyone to proceed to the formal dining hall, where after the recitation of a Latin benediction,  a fixed menu of seafood/meat/vegetables/dessert and white/red wine is served to all.  Upon completion of the meal and another gavel, everyone rises for a closing benediction, then we retire to a new set of tables in the parlour next door.  Here we do more eating (fruit, cheese, chocolates) and drinking (port, sauterne, claret, coffee and tea) and conversing.  Besides the food (or probably better than the food which is quite British, i.e. note the black pudding on the menu) is the opportunity to meet interesting people. For example, the first people we met were a political economist specializing in Ukraine/Russia and his wife who is a fellow at another college in Economic Sociology and recently wrote a book about Michelin restaurants which sounds like a must-read for us: The Cultivation of Taste: Chefs and the Organization of Fine Dining. 

atest scholarly interests are haute cuisine restaurants/chefs in Britain and Germany. This work expands her interest in economic sociology with that of cultural economy and sociology of culture. - See more at: http://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/professor-christel-lane#sthash.GbXRLEDv.dpuf

latest scholarly interests are haute cuisine restaurants/chefs in Britain and Germany. This work expands her interest in economic sociology with that of cultural economy and sociology of culture. - See more at: http://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/professor-christel-lane#sthash.GbXRLEDv.dpuf

latest scholarly interests are haute cuisine restaurants/chefs in Britain and Germany. This work expands her interest in economic sociology with that of cultural economy and sociology of culture. - See more at: http://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/professor-christel-lane#sthash.GbXRLEDv.dpuf

Prof Lane’s latest scholarly interests are haute cuisine restaurants/chefs in Britain and Germany. This work expands her interest in economic sociology with that of cultural economy and sociology of culture. - See more at: http://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/professor-christel-lane#sthash.GbXRLEDv.dpuf

Prof Lane’s latest scholarly interests are haute cuisine restaurants/chefs in Britain and Germany. This work expands her interest in economic sociology with that of cultural economy and sociology of culture. - See more at: http://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/professor-christel-lane#sthash.GbXRLEDv.dpuf

Earlier in the day we awoke to the first real snow that stuck.  OK, compared to Pittsburgh  it was more of a dusting, but the locals were still out making snowballs and building snow people.