I'm a big fan of Taste. Bringing together some of the UK's top food producers, restaurants and chefs, there's nothing else quite like it. The summer version takes over Hyde Park, while the winter one is at Tobacco Dock, where you weave through maze like corridors and floors of deliciousness. I headed down just before flying out to Provence for the press night, and we filled ourselves with so much good food and drinks, and good times. It really felt like the beginning of Christmas.
First off we headed to Hix for goat curry and a whipped squash with goat's curd and toasted hazelnuts dish. The whole premise of Taste is that restaurants serve up some of their top dishes, at a fraction of the price and size, so that you can sample as much food as possible. I love Hix's food so wasn't disappointed with our starting choice.
Then it was upstairs to Tredwell's where we had burrata, romesco and basil, and smoked and slow cooked rump cap, caramelised celeriac, truffle and beef sauce, which was probably my favourite dish at the show.
Finally, after a bit of shopping and a drink or three we headed to Action against Hunger's 5 star burger restaurant to sample burgers created by Pascal Aussignac, Sophie Michell, Atul Kochhar, Peter Gordon and Tom Hunt, with sides of delicious sweet potato fries with alioli and padron peppers.
Huge thanks to AEG for having me at Taste again. It's such a fun night out, and I only wish I could've gone back again over the weekend, but I was off to Provence, more of which will follow on here soon.
Oysters, champagne, wet tables and muddy trainers was my Instagram post that really summer up mine and Lucy's evening at Taste London last Friday. It was all of the above - lots of fun, food and drinks but mud galore, though luckily no actual rain while we were there. I was invited to Taste, the bi-annual food festival, by their lovely sponsors AEG, who've recently made an excellent docu-series I also want to tell you about.
But let's start with Taste. We arrived on the wrong side of Regent's Park but eventually got to the entrance and headed straight to the AEG Take Taste Further cooking arena. I had the choice of a cookery class with Steve Brown or Jeremy Pang. I adore Jeremy, and in fact am hosting my own pop up supper club at his School of Wok in Covent Garden in October, but I've done a few of his classes so we decided to go with Daylesford's Steve Brown. We made a lemon sole with sauce vierge dish, which I basically did nothing for! Lovely Lucy volunteered to follow along with the instructions whilst I passed things and observed with a glass of prosecco - it's nice to have an evening off cooking once in a while! The class was great and the guy that hosts for AEG is so enthusiastic it's hard to not get wrapped up in it all.
Next weekend Syon Park in West London hosts it's first Foodies Festival! And I've got 3 pairs of tickets to giveaway - competition link is at the bottom of this post.
Foodies Festivals launched 10 years ago in Edinburgh and now has events in 10 different locations across the UK, which now included 3 days of food and drink goodness at Syon Park (which also happens to be a new discovery for me - and I love it - it's like a mini version of Kew or Richmond Park).
Foodies Festival will transform Syon Park into a foodie heaven on the 23rd, 24th and 25th May with celebrity chefs, tasting theatres and loads of different street food trucks and produce stalls.
Michelin-star chef Jesse Dunford Wood of PARLOUR joins TV chef Aldo Zilli, Matt Robinson of The Bluebird, Michael Weiss from Quaglinos, Steve Drakes of Drakes and Richard Kirkwood of The Wright Brothers in the Aga Rangemaster Chefs Theatre. The chefs will be demo-ing their favourite summer recipes, and offering tips and tricks for you to replicate their dishes at home. Masterchef winner Ping Coombes will also be there, as well as Dhruv Baker.
There's a New Wine and Champagne Theatre, where experts Neil Phillips and Charles Metcalfe will guide visitors through this season’s best British bubblies from the UK and around the world, while beer expert Melissa Cole hosts masterclasses in the New Craft Beer Theatre, matching foods with locally produced craft beers.
If sweets are more your thing, you can take a ‘How to Sniff Chocolate like a Rockstar’ or Chocolate Safari masterclass with chocolatiers in the Tasting Theatre, while local experts will be talking on Raw Food, Japanese Soul, Oyster Shucking and Bee Keeping.
The Cake & Bake Theatre is an inspiration for passionate bakers with top local cake makers and bakeries sharing their tips for baking delicious summer cakes. Visitors can also enjoy 3D cake modelling, Chocolate Making and Sugar-Craft masterclasses and a complementing Chocolate, Cake and Bake Village selling bakes, jams, gadgets and baking essentials.
Biscuit Butter, Snowdonia Cheese, Get Fruity, That Hungry Chef and Riverford Organics join the 200 exhibitors in the Artisan Producers Market, where visitors can meet the producers and sample award winning cheeses, wines, bakes and condiments to buy and take home to enjoy.
Little foodies can also join the celebrations in the Childrens Cookery Theatre where they can explore their taste buds and learn basic cooking skills with Kiddy Cook.
Tickets are on sale now at www.foodiesfestival.com or by calling 0844 995 1111 and are priced at £15 for the day, but why not enter the competition below first to see if you win! All children aged 12 and under go free to all Foodies Festivals when accompanied by an adult.
Foodies Festival is open from 11am - 7pm on Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday Monday - see you there!!
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