Dinner dates
Head of Legal and Enforcement Oliver Sweeney shares his fondness of food, reflects on dining experiences and inspires us with his cooking
Starters or desserts and why?
Starters. Whether it’s baked camembert, bhajis or caprese, it’s often the best part of the meal!
Favourite takeaway?
I love Lebanese food. A good option locally is Damascena (which suddenly seems to have branches everywhere!)
Can you recommend us a restaurant?
I went to Dishoom in Shoreditch about eight years ago and was over the moon last year when I found out they were opening a location in Birmingham! The whole menu is great, but the black daal is their speciality.
What is the best meal you have ever had?
The first time I ever had a ‘taster menu’ was at Sat Bains, and the menu has stayed with me. Every course was phenomenal, but the duck muesli was particularly unique. In a similar vein, Story comes a close second.
Last new food you tried?
It’s probably not the most recent, but what sprang to mind immediately was Ethiopian food, specifically injera wraps. I can’t get enough of them – they were a street food staple when I lived in London. They are slightly harder (although not impossible) to come by in Birmingham.
What is your favourite thing to cook?
I really enjoy making sabih. There’s lots of little simple bits in it which you can busy yourself making. That also means that when you tuck in, each mouthful is a little bit different. The basic recipe is this one, but I find the addition of zaatar and mango pickle (not chutney) really makes it.
Breakfast, lunch or dinner?
Dinner’s obviously got the most potential, hasn’t it? But at the moment breakfast has a special place in my heart. Thanks to the joys of remote working, I now get to sit down most mornings with my two boys Eddie and Max, and listen to them sing and tell each other stories (or argue over Lego).
What is your go-to snack when working?
I’m mostly* vegetarian these days, and unfortunately I can’t eat nuts, so I can get a bit obsessive about finding healthy protein in my diet. So, roast chickpeas are my current favourite snack.
* I don’t like food waste and there would be a lot of half-eaten fish fingers in our bin, otherwise.
Anything you don't like?
I tried guinea pig when I visited Peru. Even setting aside the cuteness factor, it was really greasy and tasted pretty bad.
Visiting Japan is another sure-fire way of encountering challenging food, particularly if, foolishly, you can’t read or speak Japanese. I vividly remember biting into a doughnut only to discover the jam was, in fact, fish flavoured! On another occasion, I was served two bowls of fragrant hot liquid. I am pretty sure in retrospect that one of them was for washing your hands in, but since I couldn’t be sure which one, I drank both.
Your dream dinner guest?
Many people give Gandhi as an answer to this question, but personally I would want to sit down and talk with his contemporary, Dr B R Ambedkar. His achievements, in spite of (or because of?), his background were awe-inspiring, and meeting him changed so many lives for the better. Meeting his present-day followers changed my life too. He’s a personal hero of mine (and only coincidentally, a lawyer).