@thirty-four, Exeter College

The Future of Fine Dining? Quite Possibly!

Would you trust your dinner to someone who's still learning how to cook it? More to the point, would you pay for the privilege?

We did, and we're going back for more!

Hidden away within Exeter College is @thirty-four, a fully functioning restaurant where tomorrow's chefs and hospitality professionals are learning their craft under the guidance of experienced tutors. Before you start imagining school dinners and lumpy custard, let me reassure you that this is an entirely different kettle of fish!

Home to the prestigious Michael Caines Academy, the restaurant was named AA College Restaurant of the Year in 2025, for the second time in three years. The food is ambitious, beautifully presented and prepared with considerable care, whilst the students gain invaluable experience looking after real customers. We enjoy an excellent meal, they get to practise their skills, and everybody benefits. Seems a mutually satisfying arrangement to me!

We visited in 2026 and are returning because this is an experience worth sharing. There's something rather rewarding about supporting talented young people who are working towards their chosen careers, particularly when all we have to do is turn up, enjoy ourselves and eat their cooking. Who knows, we might even find ourselves being served by a future Michelin-starred chef.

We'll be limiting our table to ten guests, leaving plenty of opportunity for conversation, a few laughs and perhaps some new friendships. There may be familiar faces around the table, of course, but meeting people we might otherwise never have encountered is rather the point of Dinners With Friends.

Your Dinners With Friends reservation fee only secures your place at the table. Food and drinks are paid for separately, directly to the restaurant on the evening, unless advised otherwise.

It would be a pleasure to share this rather special experience with you.