Fine Wine
Brought, shared and enjoyed. Someone always needs a wine.
You know it. You love it.
The menu has not changed in years, because why mess with perfection. Dinner is at 1800. Do not be late and do not eat beforehand.
Half of this league happens away from the felt — at the smoker from first light, at the table at six, and out on the back deck every hour after that. The cards are only the excuse.
- 1800
- Dinner served
- 1900
- Cards in the air
- 04
- Courses, unchanged
Low and slow, every round.
Four things come off the smoker and out of the kitchen. They have not changed in years, and there is no reason on earth they should.
JPL· The Standing Menu
Dinner at Eighteen Hundred
Wagyu Beef Brisket
01Low and slow. The tried and tested centrepiece, back every round.
Ryukyu Berkshire Boston Butt
02Brisket’s natural partner in crime. Pulled, bark and all.
Bone-in Free Range Leg of Lamb
03Smoked whole, carved at the table, gone within the hour.
Soft Shell Tacos, Pico & Slaw
04Plus the special white sauce, the recipe for which is not up for discussion.
Dinner 1800hrs · Cards in the air 1900hrs · No substitutions
From the smoker.
No stylist, no stand-in. This is what actually comes off the Flaming Coals on the back deck, round after round.
First light, back deck
Low and slow
The slice
On the table by 1800
What gets opened, and when.
Blind breaks come round every hour.
Top Shelf Whisky & Rum
The good bottles come out for the final table.
Cigars on the Back Deck
Every blind break, hourly, rain or shine. The best conversations happen here.
Breaks on a main round — Hourly, with cigars on the back deck
How a round runs.
Four main rounds a year, and every one of them keeps to the same shape. Turn up hungry, leave late.
1800
Dinner is served
Brisket, butt, lamb and tacos, all at once. Do not be late and do not eat beforehand.
1900
Cards in the air
No limit Texas hold’em. Two tables, occasionally three, and the ledger is watching.
Hourly
Blind break
Cigars on the back deck, rain or shine. The best conversations happen out there.
Late
It finishes when it finishes
The good bottles come out for the final table.
Beyond the table
Somewhere between the brisket and the last hand, the JPL has quietly put solid support behind men’s mental health. That part is not a joke.
Men talk more easily with a plate in front of them and something to do with their hands. A good deal of what matters at this table gets said on the back deck, between hands, and the league is glad to be the reason people turn up.
Come hungry. Bring a bottle.
Put your name down and you will be told the moment the next date is set.