Faith and I recently went along to Table 13’s December long menu. I’m just going to warn you now, this is a long read as there’s no way I can keep this short. Too much to say, too much to shout about. 

If you didn’t already know, Table 13 is an 100% plant-based fine dining experience. Georgia’s previous experience in front of house isn’t wasted, and is in fact a huge part of how Table 13 works. She runs the whole show – creating, cooking, dishing up, explaining the dishes to the table, creating the drink pairings (and making the non-alcoholic ones from scratch herself) and she’s full of charm and warmth the whole way through. 

The menu changes with the season and Georgia is an anti-waste queen. Produce she uses will crop up throughout the evening in different ways and some of the shining parts of the dishes are things she’s used up so as not to waste. A stunning Vermouth that I wanted to buy a bottle of but couldn’t, as she explained the whole reason it existed was to use up leftover wine to make it, so bottling and selling it would defeat the purpose. This made it even more special and a moment to savour (or gulp down – deeeeelicious!)

‘I’ve had no real training’ Georgia says when asked about her background. ‘WHAT!!!’ I want to scream, how can someone producing dishes this delicious, this clever, have had no formal chef training or similar?! Georgia is the sort of person that makes you believe some people are genuinely born to do what they do.

Snack 1: FDB cone/cranberry gel/blue cheese ice cream

Faith: At no point did I expect to be presented with blue cheese ice cream and cranberry ketchup in a teeny-tiny wafer cone. Then, I was surprised again by the flavours; the ice cream, which I expected to be the dominant flavour, was creamy and subtle, while the real kick came from the powerfully tart cranberry sauce tucked away at the bottom of the cone. (Also, I am always pleased/amused by minscule versions of things).

Snack 2: Jerusalem artichoke skin/puree/pickled pear gel/roasted yeast powder

Chiara: When this first arrived at the table, I assumed we’d have to scoop out the middle. But no, how could I ever think this of the anti-waste queen that is Georgia. The shell is edible too, of course! A crunchy, earthy shell filled with a puree and pickled pear gel, which cut through beautifully giving a fruity punch.

BREAD: Dandy stout soda bread/TOAD Oxford Rye butter w. root vegetable and lapsang tea

Faith: I love a good bread. This was a great bread. The texture was dense without being at all claggy, and the treacle gave it a lovely sweetness. The very generous swirl of accompanying butter was pillowy-soft, so it could be slathered on in frankly indecent amounts. I personally wasn’t a fan of the accompanying root vegetable tea – I found the flavour overpoweringly strong. However, the small drop of tea on the butter worked really well, adding just a touch of earthiness. 

COURSE 1: kohlrabi tagliatelle/seaweed emulsion/broccoli floss

Chiara: This was beautiful. It sat on a little pool of vegan butter, that I honestly didn’t believe was vegan because most vegan butters I’ve tried have been horrible/coconutty. This was like actual, real butter. I wanted to drink it. Making tagliatelle out of kohlrabi is another genius move from Georgia, smooth and slippery yet they soaked up all of the sauce perfectly. Faith doesn’t like broccoli, but who knew she just needed it to be in ‘floss’ form for her to love it?! The orange wine accompanied this dish perfectly, cutting through the buttery vibes.

COURSE 2: Savoury celeriac cake sliced/celeriac cream/pickled mustard seeds and celery/sweet and sour pickled celeriac slices/beurre blanc slit with sage leaf oil/micro celery

Chiara: My favourite dish of the night, of the month, of my life!? I want a vat of this delivered to me on the sofa and to be left alone with it. Think potato dauphenoise, but better. Celeriac is one of my favourite vegetables and is so underrated, but here Georgia did it justice. Buttery, crunchy, velvety, DELICIOUS.

Faith: This was, without doubt, one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. It was essentially a celeriac and onion roulade, with a beurre-blanc that I could have drunk by the gallon. The celeriac itself had a beautiful, hearty flavour. Having chatted to Georgia afterwards, I appreciate the sheer effort that went into creating this dish – it was absolutely worth it.

COURSE 3: mince pie doughnut/cranberry kosbo mayo

Chiara: This blew my mind. The whole table went ‘whaaat?’ out loud at the same time after taking the first bite. A savoury mince pie flavour? No one could quite work out why or how it worked, but it bloody did. The mayo was the perfect little dipping sauce, adding a sharp zing to the warm, comforting, gooey doughnut. Make it make sense! Although actually I don’t need it to make sense, I just need 10 more delivered to my door asap.

COURSE 4: cep gnocchi/pickled mushroom/pan-fried mushroom/mushroom puree/black walnut puree/fresh walnut shavings

Faith: This was delicious before I even chewed it. I got an absolute blast of flavour as soon as the fork touched my tongue. If I could cook mushrooms like this, I’d never eat another vegetable. The flavour was beautifully concentrated. The gnocchi were also lovely and chewy without being dense. 

COURSE 5: thai green sorbet/puffed rice/coconut lemongrass lime leaf foam/crystallised nori

Chiara: The perfect palate cleanser. This was like a savoury mojito, citrusy, herby – refreshing. I suddenly felt like I had lots more room, for lots more food.

DESSERT 1: white chocolate ganache/clementine jelly cubes/clementine curd/gingerbread ice cream/spiced caramel/gingerbread shards

Faith: Oddly this dessert wasn’t too sweet. I thought that the gingerbread ice cream would be too dominant – there were a lot of competing flavours – but it was very subtle. The clementine curd was really tangy, so cut through the sweetness nicely. 

DESSERT 2: chestnut cream/PX soaked prunes/vielle prune ice cream/crispy chestnuts/PX caramel/cocoa shards

Faith: This was another occasion where my brain took a while to catch up with my mouth. At first taste, the porcini ice cream was very savoury, but after a while it didn’t seem all that different (in theory) to salted caramel.

PETIT FOURS: TOAD absinthe and chocolate truffles w. wild chesnut liquor

A lovely way to finish the evening. The truffles were sweet but sharp, and gorgeously squidgy like a mochi bite. The chestnut liquor is made from chestnuts from the garden outside (such wholesome vibes!) and was like liquid nutella… gimme more!

If you’ve made it this far and haven’t already guessed – yes, I’d recommend Table 13.

It’s like a spa day for your mouth. I want to climb inside Georgia’s brain, take even an ounce of her creativity and do something with it myself. It’s incredible and I’m so excited to see what’s next. 

Table 13
13 London Rd, Wheatley, Oxford OX33 1YJ

Georgia is taking a well-deserved Christmas break now, but dates for January bookings are up on the Table 13 website. If you’re flirting with the idea of Veganuary after too much turkey this week – why not treat yourself?

Bitten were invited as guests of Table 13, all views are our own