And now it's the winter gardens

The Kazimier Garden didn't let the wettest summer on record stop plenty of open air action from taking place in its first year. They just got more British (for that read “waterproof”) with their design. 

Now, while every other al fresco drinking den in the city is running for cover, the Seel Street Kaz is once again flinging open the garden gate, just in time for the Christmas season, with plenty of tarpaulins and open fires to roast your chestnuts on. You can expect plenty of mulled wine and all that jazz served up with a mincy pie or two, but you can also expect the unexpected, especially when the doors are closed to the public. 

Do leave a tipThe Garden opens again next Friday 30th at 5pm, just for the festive period up until Saturday 22nd December. Organisers say: "We've put more cover, added a wood burner oven (which chefs will use to cook potatoes etc), and we'll be serving lots of hot cocktails, hot toddies and a daily kitchen serving different food every day."

In September, just as it was closing for the year (or so everyone thought) Confidential received a call wondering if we could drop everything at the last minute to attend its Feast of Fantasia, a garden party where the only queens would be wicked ones and the courtiers and jesters would bow and scrape to guests' every command. 

Okeedokee, said the editor, who, thanks to several years psychotherapy, has finally got over fears of poisoned apples and snake leaves after being given the Complete Works Of Child-Hating Madmen The Brothers Grimm in her formative years. 

In the event, the dinner was all Grimm, no NOT LIKE THAT, with every course themed on their tales from the dark side. The garden was decked out beautifully, dancing waitresses popped up from tables and every course was introduced by a Hitchcock-esque soprano silhouetted behind a screen.

They scrub up well this lot, when they go posh. As a head-messing exercise it was touch and go, but that's another story. 

You would hope that there would be plans to do this for Christmas, but of that we have no word.

You'll have to wait until till next summer, but in the meantime, here's what guests ate, cooked by one of the Kaz's owners, Liam Naughton, and here are some pictures. Don't have nightmares. 

*Kazimier garden, back open from November 30 until December 22.