The format is – meet for drinks at 6.30pm followed at 7pm by chaired roundtable discussion over a three course dinner with wine and coffee for 8-12 people.
And on the first Saturday of every month, the Border Wine Room offers the chance to sample their new menu by way of an eight-course degustation, with diners then asked to rate each dish and provide feedback to the chef ($85, or $115 with wines matched).
Canapés and champagne by the fire are soon served by the in-house chef, followed smoothly by a tasty four courses at a long, festively decorated table.
(If you're in town on July 21st, and feel athletic, they're holding a Dodgeball-themed supper club which does exactly what it says: A dodgeball competition followed by four course dinner).
The next day, a $150 three-course lunch will be followed by a $250 four-course dinner.
When we recommend that you begin by taking four courses a semester, and not five or six or seven as sometimes you want to do, we do so because we believe that you will gain more from delving deeply into four subjects than by skimming the surface of a larger number.
The breadth requirement is to be satisfied by a choice of four courses spanning four out of the above mentioned eight areas of the department.
"We're hoping that by placing those four courses in a way that's accessible, people will take a look at them and make connections," said Mark Nieker, president of the Pearson Foundation.
Sydney's latest big opening, Peter Gilmore's Bennelong at the Sydney Opera House, is distinguished by its three course a la carte offering giving theatre-goers the pleasure of a fine meal while finishing in time to see the curtain come up.
The previous night we'd gone for an exceptional meal at Casa Irene in the village of Arties at 8 four courses accompanied by a 2005 Rioja.
A pilot was conducted in two courses in autumn 2008 (n = 44, response rate = 67%%) followed by a cross-sectional study in all four courses in spring 2009 (n = 206, response rate = 83%%).
