The inner circle
A free, informal list of regular guests who are told about the new menu and the quieter evenings first.
What the inner circle is, and is not
The inner circle is a short, informal list of guests who visit the house often and have asked to be kept informed. It has no cards, no ranks and no fee, and membership confers no privilege of any kind: no priority at the tables, no choice of seat and nothing that could be mistaken for a reward.
What members receive is information. When the card changes, when the Friday tournament moves its start, or when a private evening takes the casino room, a short note is sent by email. Once in a while the house invites the circle to a quiet Monday supper, at which Trevor tries out a new dish on people who will tell him the truth.
Anyone aged 18 or over may ask to join, in person at the door or by writing to the address in the footer. Tell Caroline Howard, who keeps the list, and she will add the name. A member may leave at any time by asking, and the name is removed at once.
The list is held by the house and used for no other purpose. It is not shared, sold or combined with anything else, and it is deleted when a member asks, or when a name has gone unanswered for a long while.
The circle has no meetings, no constitution and no committee. Its members are simply people who like the house, and the house likes them back. On quiet evenings, several can usually be found at the same corner table, arguing amiably about the Friday tournament and consulting each other about the lamb.
Two people to ask
Caroline Howard
Host
Caroline keeps the list in the back of the reservation book and writes the notes herself. She likes to know who is coming and why, and she has a remarkable memory for the dishes that individual regulars have declined to try more than once.
Simon Novak
Founder
Simon started the list in the first week of opening, on the back of a menu. He still attends the quiet Monday suppers, where he can be found at the pass with a spoon, defending the gravy against every criticism and not winning a single argument.