Saints and Sinners
Secret Garden Dinner Party

The heat has finally broken.
 
Fall is in the air, summer is breathing its last breath, and you're scrambling to salvage all the outdoor wining and dining you can before it's too late.

Just in time for your next rustic dinner party is the Secret Cloister Garden at Inside Park, a hidden outdoor dining room attached to Midtown's newest church-adjacent restaurant, opening Tuesday.
 
Walking in to Inside Park at St. Bart's church, you'll immediately be taken aback by the scale of it all. Thirty-foot coffered ceilings with ornate stenciling and huge hanging light fixtures make for a stately room. But be warned, the overall feel is more "visiting relatives" than "night out on the town."

So instead of waiting for Aunt Margaret to come to town, do what you do best and set yourself up for a private dinner (or lunch) party in the Secret Garden. Enclosed on all sides by stone, yet open to the sky, you'll feel like the master of a European chateau lording over his courtyard cornucopia of autumnal delights. In other words, you're not in Midtown anymore.

The food—old-world-style items like Autumn Squash and Roasted Apple Chowder—fits your crazy chateau party perfectly. And since the space only holds twenty or so of your closest friends, you'll need to be selective.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown.