SIP & POUR

The largest group by some distance, and the reason Thursdays sell out first. It works because it removes the two problems with a dinner date — nothing to talk about, and nothing to do with your hands. You are sitting side by side rather than opposite each other, there is a task in front of you, and the conversation happens sideways while you are both concentrating on something else. People who have been together ten years tell us it felt like an early date. Take that as you like.

Usually six to twelve people, usually organised by one exhausted friend who has been asked to sort something that is not just a pub. Everyone gets the same instructions at the same time, so nobody stands at the edge of a group holding a drink. We seat you together, put the birthday person at the end of the table, and let you bring a cake — tell us in the booking notes and we will keep it cold and bring plates.

Small teams book the public session; anything over about fifteen goes private and gets its own page. What managers tell us afterwards is always the same thing — the people who normally say nothing at a work drinks were the ones still there at the end. A shared task does that in a way a bar tab does not. It also has a natural finish, so nobody is trapped waiting for permission to go home.

More common than you would guess, and completely unremarkable in the room. Solo guests get a seat at a shared table with a host who checks in a little more often. Some people talk to the table all night, some put headphones in and paint. Both are fine, and both count as a good evening. If it is your first time and you would rather sit at the end, say so when you arrive.