HOT X BBQ - GOOD FRIDAY

In case you haven't already seen it splashed all over my social media, I wanted to share details of the most amazing pop up I'm doing with a very good friend of mine on Good Friday. Lucy and I have signed up to climb Kilimanjaro in August, to raise money for young adult cancer support charity Trekstock, so we thought we'd put on a huge pop up restaurant, with all proceeds going to the charity fundraising pot. 

On Friday 14th April Neil Rankin, from one of my favourite restaurants, Temper, and Hardeep Singh Kohli, one of our favourite comedians, are joining us to put on this epic Good Friday feast. We're serving up a feast of BBQ'd Indian lamb (from Daphnes Original Welsh Lamb) dishes, BBQd cauliflower curries, veggies, chutneys, homemade breads, and lots lots more. For pudding there'll be zingy lemon tarts and wonderful rhubarb stewed in cocchi rossa, followed by cheeses and chocolates made with Diplomatico rum. Tickets are tiered in price and all include drinks - there's a saintly non alcoholic option for £45, then all-in packages at different prices depending on how much and what you'd like to drink, going all the way up to a open bar ticket for £100 which includes champagne, high end wine and cocktails, and food, of course! We're doing pre and post dinner cocktails using some of favourite spirit brands, and wines with the meal include gorgeous roses from Vins de Provence. Every guest will also receive an Easter themed goody bag from our lovely friends at Farmdrop. 

Our HOT X BBQ is taking place in the gorgeous Brunswick Studios in Queen's Park, where we've got enough space to host 100 guests for dinner, with welcome drinks on their stunning outdoor terrace. 

And if all that's not enough to tempt you down, then how about our wonderful auction prizes.... Hardeep will be hosting the evening for us and auctioning off some "money can't buy (except at our HOT X BBQ pop up) prizes. We've got a pair of tickets to the London premiere of Alien Covenant with Michael Fassbender; artwork by cult artist Stedhead; film club for two at either The Soho Hotel, Charlotte Street Hotel or Covent Garden Hotel which includes a movie and either a three course dinner, brunch, lunch or afternoon tea; dinner for two at Temper, Soho; a pair of tickets to the hugely popular Literary Hour pop up restaurant; a hamper of oils and olives from Filippo Berio; a case of wine and £100 voucher from our friends at Honest Grapes; a lovely package of cured meats, cheeses and preserves, and lots more. 

Tickets are available here - we really hope you can come and join us for what is bound to be one of the best pop up restaurants in London this year!

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MY POP UP RESTAURANTS

It feels like it's been ages since I posted anything on here about my pop up restaurants! Last year I held regular pop ups at Angie's Little Food Shop in Chiswick, where I also did a Thanksgiving dinner with Tiki Chris, and I did takeovers at various other venues including 68 and Boston in Soho, Bart's in Chelsea, The Andaz Hotel in Liverpool Street, The Flying Boat Club on Tresco in the Isles of Scilly and Bert and May's warehouse in Hackney. On top of these I did tons of private events - birthday parties, weddings, hen dos and private dinner parties, and I did canapes and cocktails for lots of fun press events for River Island, hosted by lovelies including Pandora Sykes, Glamour mag's editor Jo Elvin and some fab fashion Instagram stars. 

As well as this, and my full time job and writing this blog, I also moved house. Having spent the last six years in West/South West London, I've moved to W9, which I'm absolutely loving. So it only seemed sensible to move my pop ups too! My pop ups will continue as they always have - an evening every four weeks or so of British seasonal produce made into a five course meal with a welcome cocktail. Next up is one of my personal favourites, rhubarb, which is the star of the show next Saturday, 4th March at a gorgeous venue in Queen's Park which I'm taking over for the evening. There's a few tickets still available so snap them up fast if you want to join us for the evening. If there's anything on the menu that you don't like or can't eat just mention in the comments when booking and I'll make an alternative for you. Groups, pairs, couples and solo diners are all welcome, as always. The full menu for the evening is:

Rhubarb Barentz (a wonderful jasmine scented gin) fizz welcome cocktail

Smoked eel and ham hock terrine with rhubarb salsa, pastry puff rolls

Duck and black pudding bon bon with rhubarb coulis, warm cauliflower and radicchio salad, chargrilled spring onions, cauliflower puree

Trio of rhubarb desserts - Individual rhubarb and pistachio cakes, rhubarb and lemon bars, rhubarb sorbet

British cheeseboard

Homemade chocolates

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A DOG'S DINNER with GRUB CLUB

Food and dogs are two of the things in life that can put an instant smile on my face. Combine the two and I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon, especially when it's with the lovely Grub Club team who invited me to Patio in the Park to do just that a couple of weekends ago. One of Grub Club's top chefs, Michelin trained Pratap of That Hungry Chef, had teamed up with dog walking company Tailster to put on a feast for both two and four legged guests. It was such a fun afternoon, and not nearly as chaotic as 20 humans plus 12 dogs who'd never met each other might've been! 

We started with bubbles for humans and dog beer (yup, that's a thing) for the dogs outside the venue, while we heard a few dog handling tips from a dog training expert. The dogs then had their starter of bone broth with vegetables before we all moved inside (humans and dogs) so us two leggeds could get stuck in to the delicious menu Pratap had prepared.

Our food kicked off with steamed wild mushroom and fermented rice cake, curried celeriac puree, hen's egg and toasted coconut. A wonderful start to the meal, and perfect for Sunday lunch as it was like a dreamy brunchy egg dish that I would happily eat every Sunday morning. Chat round the table turned to all things furry and waggy and it was so cute having the very well behaved dogs chilling in the venue with us. 

From a perfect brunch dish, to a perfect Sunday lunch dish for mains, Pratap's venison braised with rum, chocolate and spices, turmeric and thyme mash and savoy cabbage was divine. Soft, slow cooked meat full of rich flavours on a bed of punchy mash and one of my favourite green veggies. 

After our mains it was outside so the dogs could have theirs - a canine venison kebab shaped into a bone, they wolfed it down. 

We headed back inside for our final course of spiced pumpkin and honey cake with vanilla cream, pecans and maple and sage dressing, which was pudding, so therefore not for me, but mine was the only not clean plate, so a huge success by the looks of things!

I'm not sure if/when Grub Club are doing another doggy pop up but they've always got plenty of fun and unique dining experiences of their site across London, so do check them out. 

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CUISSON, BOROUGH MARKET

Cuisson are back! A sort of semi permanent pop up restaurant who've done various residency stints at venues across London, appearing for a few weeks or months, then disappearing again. You might remember I went to their last pop up at The Vaults in Waterloo and had a lovely meal there with Milly. Well, now they're back, in a building right in the heart of Borough Market, this time with an Asian inspired offering. 

Again, the menu changes regularly so the one I'd read online wasn't the one we had on the night, so do be careful to let them know of dietary requirements when you book if you have any! As it turned out, I actually preferred the menu on the night we went to the one I'd read. Tickets cost £45 and include a welcome cocktail and the five course meal. 

We kicked things off with oyster, wasabi roe and soy gel - a plump, juicy, raw oyster topped with green wasabi pearls for a kick and delicate soy gel that didn't over salt the taste as I worried it might. 

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MY APRIL POP UP RESTAURANTS

My next pop up restaurant takes place this Saturday for 36 guests who managed to get tickets before it sold out a couple of weeks ago. However, I've got two dates in April that still have tickets available, so wanted to let you know about them in case you want to come!

First off is Saturday 2nd April at Angie's Little Food Shop in Chiswick, where I'm hosting a Sipsmith themed dinner. I'm using something to do with Sipsmith in each course - their lovely gin that's made a stone's throw from my venue to cure the fish for the starter; no alcohol per se in the main, but I am using a lot of the botanicals that Sipsmith use to make their gin, to cure the goat meat; and for pudding I'm topping my tart yet creamy sweet lemon possets with a jelly made with Sipsmith's sloe gin. And of course there'll be Sipsmith cocktails to start. As always, if you want to come but can't or don't eat anything on the menu just let me know when you book and I can send you alternate options. The full menu for the 2nd is:

Sparkling welcome cocktail made with Sipsmith gin

 

Sipsmith gin cured trout served on samphire with homemade bread

 

Goat marinated in Sipsmith botanicals, including lemon peel, orange peel, juniper berries, almonds and coriander seed, on a bed of pearl barley and spring onion, with purple sprouting broccoli and watercress salad

 

Rhubarb and lemon posset topped with sloe gin and lemon jelly, rhubarb jam, lemon shortbreads

 

British cheeseboard, homemade salted biscuits, chutney

 

Sipsmith fruit pastilles, teapigs tea or coffee 

 

Tickets are available here and are £40 for four courses, a cocktail and homemade fruit pastilles and tea or coffee. The evening is bring your own booze, and I can recommend wine pairings for the menu. Everything is made from scratch by me, and past evenings have been lots of fun. Sheerluxe have recently recommended my pop ups and my very lovely guests have left me some lovely reviews:

 

"A wonderful evening - a warm welcome on a miserable winter evening to a convivial setting, delicious food. The menu was seasonal and professionally crafted to exploit flavours. The dishes were well presented, and generous. Rosie and her staff host a great evening. (The warm spiced chocolate truffles tipped off a top evening!)"

 

"A thoroughly enjoyable evening. Warm and friendly host, fantastic food and very generous portions. Great value for money, would go again."

 

"So so good. Everything about this pop up restaurant is superb. I can't wait to go again and hopefully I'll convince a few others to go with me. The food was delicious, full of complex flavours yet subtle and pure, great textures, beautifully cooked. The venue was lovely, it had a great atmosphere (lovely crockery) - the set up was absolutely conducive to striking up conversation with new people. The booking process was seamless. The chef was very professional and relaxed - my allergies/intolerances (boo) did not phase her one bit. So highly recommended."

 

My next event after the 2nd is a long, lazy lunch on Saturday 9th April at Barts in Kensington. The menu is inspired by the idea of brunch running in to lunch, so I'm using the classic brunch ingredient salmon to make the starter; smokey, sticky pulled pork for mains served with fresh, vibrant sides; and a sweet and creamy posset for pudding with puff pastry rhubarb dipping soldiers. Barts are making cocktails to go with my menu, though there's also beer, wine and soft drinks available if you prefer. The full lunch menu for 9th April is:

  

Smoked salmon mousse with samphire, spring onions and watercress, homemade bread, whipped butter

 

24 hour cooked pork shoulder marinated in homemade BBQ sauce, warm jersey royal potato salad, root veg "naked" coleslaw, raw apple chutney

 

Lemon posset with rhubarb puff dipping soldiers

 

British cheeseboard, homemade biscuits, apple & rhubarb chutney

 

Homemade boozy chocolate truffles

 

Tickets for lunch at Barts are £36 a head and available here. Again - if you want to come but don't like or can't something on the menu I can make alternatives, just leave a comment when booking.

 

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2015....

It's been quite a year. Cooking and writing wise, a lot of exciting things have happened this year, and even more are planned for next year (which I cannot wait to tell you about!!). Personally, it's been a bit of a tough year, so I'm looking forward to a fresh new year in 2016! I just wanted to take a moment though to thank a few people. A Little Lusciousness may appear to be a one man band, but it's far from that. There are so many people who've helped me out this year, who I couldn't do any of this without, so I want to say thank you to as many of them as I can remember!

Firstly, I want to thank Hana. Hana came to volunteer with me at a pop up in 2014 and she was so good that she's helped out at every possible event since. Not only does she give up many Saturday nights to come all the way West from Walthamstow to work for me at hot and hectic pop ups, she also volunteered at the pop up I did for Action Aid in Syria. Hana runs her own pop ups called Pickled Plates, and you can find out more about them here.

Thank you to Grub Club for supporting me all the way with my pop ups. For encouraging me, recommending me, even lending me their house for a pop up when I suddenly found myself venue-less. Thank you to my ex-boyfriend for letting me do pop ups in his house for the first half of this year (and all of last year too). Thank you to Storeys for giving us their venue for the Action Aid pop up, and to Urban Villa for letting me hold a pop up there on the hottest day this year! Thank you to Lorraine at Hummingbird Deli, and Angie at Angie's Little Food Shop for letting me use their venues more recently.

Thank you to my pop up helpers this year - Ian, Bronwen, Dru, Libby, Amina, Donna, Tracey, Stephanie, Emily, Michelle, Leanne, Tobi, Chitra (SO sorry if I've forgotten anyone....). And thank you to Hardeep Singh Kohli, who decided that our crazy idea to feed 60+ people on a rooftop within weeks of making that plan wasn't in fact that crazy, and without whom I could never have put on the event that we did to raise money for Action Aid in Syria.

A massive thank you to the wonderful photographers who worked with me this year. It's so hard for me to take anything resembling a proper photo at my pop ups, but Chelone, Rad, Phil and Karin have captured pictures of my food that make me a proud chef! 

 Photo by Chelone

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CUISSON, WATERLOO

It's a funny thing going to a pop up restaurant run by someone else. You see everything in a different light than the rest of the guests as you know what goes on behind the scenes as well as at the table. I was invited to try out Cuisson's pop up recently which has been running at The Vaults in Waterloo for the past couple of months, where they do six pop ups a week. I've been to events at The Vaults before, and have been freezing cold but Cuisson takes place in a smaller room in the building, that I hadn't been to before, and it was really warm so no worries on the cold front! There's a bar downstairs where they serve specially designed cocktails to compliment the menu, as well as alcoholic teas, and wine. Once you've got your drinks you're taken upstairs to the dining area, where there are several large, shared tables.

Cuisson serve a regularly changing four course menu, and encourage you to help the chefs plate up - I kind of like this idea, though not massively keen on lots of people who don't know what they're doing touching the food (they do wear gloves... but still!) I definitely wasn't going to get involved in all that as I had a night off cooking and was there to eat.

We started with what turned out to be my favourite course - cabbage, chorizo, red pepper, lemon and hazelnuts. The cabbage was so tasty, having been seared and then roasted, retaining all its juiciness and flavour, and was perfectly complemented by the smoky chorizo and the crunch of nuts.

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MONEYSUPERMARKET WITH THAT HUNGRY CHEF

Tommy Tucker had to sing for his supper, and a couple of weeks ago I had to cycle for mine. I went to an event hosted by MoneySuperMarket, where we powered the chef's hob by cycling for five and a half minutes - the same amount of time it takes to switch energy tariff on their website.

I'm getting ahead of myself though... We arrived at Jenius Social to be greeted with glasses of bubbly (the perfect pre-cycling refresher!) and some delicious canapés made by chef Pratap Chahal, a fellow Grub Club chef, who's cooked at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s, Chez Bruce, Cinnamon Club and Galvin Bistrot, amongst others. Pratap also has his own range of food products, making sauces, chutneys and pickles that you can buy direct from his website, or from Selfridges or various delis in London and the UK. We nibbled on Goan spiced pulled pork on toast with smoked yoghurt and coriander; smoked salmon and South Indian spiced cream cheese rolls wrapped in beetroot jelly; and spiced mushroom, spinach and feta fritters.

 

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MY LAST 2 POP UPS OF 2015

I'm not really sure how it's already Autumn, and all the shops think it's nearly Christmas, but somehow it's getting towards the end of the year!! I've got two more public pop ups lined up, one in November, and one in December, so wanted to let you know about them in case you want to come along to one (or both!?) I've had great fun with pop ups this year - I've raised over £3,500 in total for charity from various events, and have done pop ups in Gloucestershire, on top of the BBC centre car park and lots of other weird and wonderful locations. We did one in the garden during summer where we ended up having to move all the furniture and guests inside after the starters as it started raining!

So what have I got planned for my last two events? The first one's on Saturday 21st November - I'm still confirming a location, but it will be in West London, within walking distance of Shepherd's Bush. The menu for 21st is as follows, and if you want to come, but there's something you don't like or can't eat on the menu, just mention in the comments section when booking and I can make you alternate courses.

Pomegranate fizz welcome cocktail

 

Tempura oyster, cured salmon, pickled leeks, homemade bread

 

Game pie, parsnips, wilted raddicio and winter greens salad

 

Sticky toffee ginger pudding, pears, gingerbread ice cream

 

British cheeseboard with salted biscuits and chutney

 

Spiced chocolate truffles with Teapigs tea or coffee

 

As with most of my events, both my November and December pop ups are bring your own booze, so you can bring a bottle of two of your favourite. Tickets for the November event are here. Tickets for both events are priced at £35 per person, which includes a welcome cocktail, four courses, and tea or coffee with homemade truffles.

 

Saturday 5th December sees my final public pop up this year - between doing lots of private events for Christmas, hen dos and annual functions. Again, the 5th December is BYOB, and anything you don't like on the menu or can't eat can be replaced with something you do eat!

 

The menu for December is: 



Welcome cocktail - cranberry fizz

 

Venison tartare, horseradish, juniper pickled onions, homemade bread

 

Ox cheek bourginon, cauliflower puree, wilted raddicio, greens and squash salad

 

Chestnut pavlova, candied hazelnuts, chocolate sauce

 

British cheeseboard with salted biscuits and chutney

 

Spiced chocolate truffles with Teapigs tea or coffee

 

Tickets for December 5th are here.

 

I'll leave you with some photos that were taken at my September pop up by the lovely Karin Pringsheim.

 

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JUMA KITCHEN SUPPER CLUB

It's so nice going to other people's supper clubs. I do so many of them myself, it's lovely to see what other people are doing with theirs. So when I was invited to Juma Kitchen supper club I was very keen to go. Not only to experience someone else's pop up but this particular supper club is Iraqi food - something I'd not had before. Throw in a few of my favourite bloggers sitting next to me, and it was bound to be a good night.

The first notable difference between Juma Kitchen and my supper clubs is the venue - mine mostly happen at my house (or at a local hotel) whereas the Juma event I went to was at a proper restaurant - The Jam Tree in Clapham - in the back room, which they'd made private for the event. The second obvious difference was the number of people. Mine range from 12-30 guests, but I'd say there were at least 50 diners in one sitting at Juma. So it's much more like a normal restaurant than lots of supper clubs I've been too, apart from you sit on a table with strangers, and there's a fixed menu.

The menu on the night was long! We had entrees, starters, second course, mains and pudding to work our way through, but it was also full of some of my favourite things - all with a very Middle East influence, so I was excited to see what was in store, especially after a lovely welcome cocktail of gin, elderflower, fig jam, fig liqueur and fresh lemon juice - a refreshing, slightly sharp, fruity concoction that disappeared far too quickly and left me longing for another.

We started with a slate of 3 classics - lamb bourek, falafel and baba ganoush. They were all delicious and a great way to kick off the meal - the falafel being my actual favourite of the 3.  I was expecting the baba ganoush to win, but it wasn't as smoky as other versions I've tried, so although it was good, it wasn't my favourite.

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MY NEXT POP UP - SAT 18th JULY

Just a quick one from me today to let you know that there's still a few tickets available for my next pop up supper club, next Saturday, 18th July. The night will be held at my home in Acton Town (near Chiswick roundabout) and will hopefully be in our garden (weather permitting). We did a couple in the garden last year and it was so beautiful, lit up with fairy lights, with the long table full of guests down the middle of the garden. Rugs and blankets were provided for anyone who got a little chilly, but it was so warm anyway they were hardly needed, so hoping for more of the same for next Saturday.

As always, tickets can be booked via Grub Club for £35 each - and this time that includes drinks!! I'm being sponsored by Jacobs Creek Reserve wines so there's no need to BYOB, unless you want to drink something other than wine. If you want to come but don't like something on the menu I can make you an alternate dish, just mention in the comments when booking.

The menu for the night is:

Welcome cocktail in the garden

 

Steak tartare, quail's egg, homemade bread OR Pea & broad bean mousse, goat's curd (V) - please mention which you'd like when booking

 

Sea trout, cider & crab sauce, sea vegetables, new potato salad

 

Nectarine tarte tatin with salted caramel ice cream

 

British cheeseboard with salted biscuits and chutney

 

Homemade chocolates with tea or coffee

The menu is actually very similar to the one I did at my pop up last weekend, as it's such a lovely summer menu. Here are some photos of last weekend's pop up to give you an idea of what it all looks like, and a couple of piccies of the outside ones we did last year. If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably already seen these, but if not, then scroll on!

 

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A LITTLE LUSCIOUSNESS 2014 - 2015

What a year it's been! As 2014 comes to an end I've been thinking about what I've been up to with my blog and food adventures. First of all a quick apology to those of you who read my blog for recipes - I've been eating out at so many amazing restaurants recently, and putting a lot of recipes I've come up with into my book (that I'm still writing), that I've hardly posted any recipes here at all in the past few months. So please bear with me as I will be redressing the restaurant review/recipe balance on here in the New Year...

The other thing I've been looking back on is my pop up restaurants. This time last year I'd done 4 events - 2 public pop ups and 2 private pop ups for a hen do and a birthday party. Now I've done a total of 13 public pop ups, and 12 private catering gigs, including a 3 course dinner for 60 people, and a vegetarian Thai feast for a hen do. I also had the pleasure of designing the food menu for a private party put on by MoneySuperMarket, which I'll be blogging about in the new year. I've had some great feedback from my events, and I've had some lovely reviews of my pop ups from the following bloggers and writers:

Eat, Travel, Live / Heroine in Heels / Cocktails and Caroline / The Chiswick Herald / Chiswick Mum

I am continuing with my pop ups in 2015, and already have 2 dates in the diary - the 24th January, which there's still a couple of tickets left for, and Saturday 14th March, when I'm doing a pop up as part of the Nose to Tail fortnight, using less common cuts of meat to prepare the following menu:

Welcome cocktail

 

Chicken & duck liver pate topped with madeira jelly, duck hearts, raisin puree & homemade bread

 

Oxtail and ox cheek stew, leeks, wild garlic & flageolet beans, purple sprouting broccoli and parsnip puree

 

Lemon posset with rhubarb jam and shortbread biscuits

 

Montgomery cheeseboard, homemade chutney, seeded crackers

                                                                                

COFFEE and HERBAL TEAS: Served with homemade chocolates

 

Tickets have started selling for the March event already (!?) but there are still plenty available here. I'm also looking to do a pop up in February so check Grub Club for details on that soon. I'll be doing a pop up once a month to start the year and will possibly increase them as the year goes on. Of course, all this is only possible because of the wonderful people at Grub Club who help and support me every step of the way, as well as making it easy for you guys to get tickets for my events. I might even venture into the world of Afternoon Tea in a more central location than my West London home, but of course, I'll post details here about those if/when they happen.

 

Here are a few photos from some of my most recent pop ups and private catering events so you can see what it's all about....

 

Welcome raspberry, vodka and prosecco cocktail from early Autumn:

 

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BUY A SLICE OF THE GRUB CLUB PIE

I'm sure by now you all know how much I love Grub Club - here and here, for example! For those of you who don't know, Grub Club is a year-and-a-half old company that assists cooks who want to put on pop up restaurants, and guests who want to eat at them, in doing so. It is co-run by a good friend of mine, Liv, who has been an absolute rock of support to me while I've launched and worked out my own pop up restaurant, which I've now been doing for a year. I literally couldn't have got to where I am without Grub Club.

In 18 months Grub Club have fed more than 20,000 diners (!) at over 1,000 events. They have more than 200 chefs on their books and the events so far have taken place at 200 different venues. This isn't just supper clubs in people's houses, like mine. Grub Club have facilitated dinners in disused tube carriages, clock towers, boats, gardens and every type of venue you can possibly imagine.

So why I am telling you how great Grub Club are (again!)? Well now you have the chance to own a part of this incredible company. Grub Club are crowd funding via CrowdCube. They aim to raise a minimum of £250,000 (of which they've already raised over £100,000) and by investing in Grub Club you can own a piece of their company. If you invest, whether it's £10 or £10,000, you will get a proportionate amount of shares of their lovely, wonderful company!! I think that's a pretty good deal for a company that is only going to grow and grow over the next few years. Grub Club plan on using this investment to roll out pop up opportunities across the globe. Imagine going to Spain on holiday, and wanting to eat authentic home cooked food with locals - well with your investment in Grub Club that could happen.

And it's not just home cooks who are part of the Grub Club "chef" community - there are real, proper chefs cooking their amazing food too. They've got chefs from Michelin star restaurants already doing pop ups, there are Grub Club chefs who've now gone on to open their own restaurants, and there are food 'experience' events too. The other really exciting thing about the pop ups you can book through Grub Club is the experience itself. For example, at my pop ups, 20 people are seated around 1 table, a complete mix of people who've mostly never met each other before. I've had members of famous bands, prolific food writers, artisan food producers, pilots, teachers, mums, kids, local community heroes and so many more. The opportunity this offers for meeting locals and networking with people from all over the world is unrivalled. I've even had a couple from America book a pop up for a date they just happened to be passing through London on.  And this can only grow as Grub Club does!

If you have money to invest, I really recommend you think about investing in Grub Club. I've seen how fast they've grown already, with the 2 founders working so hard to get to where they are now. I can only imagine how far it could go with this much needed investment. There are 33 days left to invest, so have a look at the full details here and please invest anything you can!!



 

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A LITTLE LONDON LUSCIOUSNESS - 20th SEP

When I started doing pop up restaurants in November last year, I never once imagined that by August this year I would've done over 18 events already! Although I've stuck to my plan of 1 public pop up a month, I've had so many requests for private catering gigs that I've been cooking most weekends for the last 6 weeks! I absolutely love it - but also have a full time job, so have been exhausting myself a bit recently!! I decided to have a break from public pop ups in August, although ended up catering a hen do and a baby shower last weekend anyway.

So with no more pop ups this month, my next date is Saturday 20th September. I'm teaming up with Urban Food Fortnight to put on a pop up using locally sourced produce. If you follow my pop ups you'll know that they are all about using sustainably produced, seasonal produce, sourced mostly from the West Country, where I grew up. However there's a different challenge with my September date, as all the ingredients I will be using will have been grown in and around London! Now this might not sound so appealing, but what I'm doing is teaming up with various allotment holders to use their lovely home grown fruit and vegetables, all of which are seasonal, and I am souring all of my meat and dairy from farms in Essex and Kent. It's an exciting challenge and one that's made me come up with a menu that I can't wait to cook...

The menu for 20th September is:

Fig and elderflower cocktail - made to order on arrival (non-alcoholic version if requested)

 

Grilled figs with chicory, apple, candied walnut and gorgonzola salad

 

Slow roast pork belly, fennel gratin, mustard creamy mash potato, buttered cabbage & rosemary and crab apple sauce, served with cider gravy

 

Raspberry mousse with shortbread biscuits

 

Cheeseboard with homemade chutney and rosemary and sea salt biscuits

 

Coffee or herbal tea with homemade chocolates

 

As always, dietary requirements can be catered for, so if you'd like to come but there's something  you can't eat or don't like on the menu, then just mention in the comments section when booking and I can email you alternatives to choose from.

 

Tickets for the pop up are £30 and include a welcome drink. It's bring your own booze on the evening so you can bring your preferred drinks with you. I provide soft drinks for those who want them. Tickets are available here - and have already started selling!

The pop up takes place at our lovely house in Acton - which is easily accessible on the Piccadilly line, or via the overground stations South Acton or Kew Bridge, which link to East and South London respectively.

If you're not quite convinced and want to see what other guests have said, you can read all my reviews here. And here's a couple of photos from my last events....

Walnut and cranberry bread for the starter:
 

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GRUB CLUB CHEFS' SUPPER

If you read my blog, or come to my  pop ups, you'll probably know I'm a big fan of Grub Club. One of the founders is now a friend, and I sell tickets for my supper clubs and pop ups exclusively through their site, as they are lovely, they look after us really well and are there to answer questions and support all the way. So when I got an email inviting me to Grub Club chefs' supper I RSVP'd yes immediately. Not only was it a great opportunity to give feedback to the team behind Grub Club, but it was SO nice to meet other people doing the same as me - working full time and doing a couple of food events a month - and bounce ideas off each other, as well as pick up a few tips from the more seasoned professionals!

The pop up hosts who were there were:

Brixton Kitchen - using fresh, seasonal produce, these 2 lovely ladies run a monthly pop up in Brixton. Their produce is so fresh that they only announce their menu a few days before, but book for this and you won't be disappointed. Their next event is this Thursday, but it's sold out - so check out their next event on Thursday 14th August.

Bidoche - Bidoche means 'meat' and that's what this pop up is all about - lovingly prepared, slow-cooked, cured or marinated meat all served in a cool Clapton venue. The next Bidoche is Saturday 9th July.

Fab Cuisine - serving modern European dishes, Fabrice is a trained chef who has worked in some major London restaurants, but now serves up food at pop ups in Battersea to 30 people a time. He doesn't have any dates in the diary at the moment, but keep an eye on Grub Club for information about his next pop ups.

That Hungry Chef - another highly trained chef, Pratap is throwing his last event of the Summer, an 8-course globetrotter taster menu, in Holloway this Friday, 11th July - get your tickets now before they all go! Pratap also now makes and produces delicious relishes and curry sauces, all available on his website.

Mondsey - trained in patisserie but refined in Malaysian cooking, Mondsey host their 3rd Malaysian 6 course feast of a pop up in their home on Saturday 19th July (the same night as my next pop up - oops!!ha!) near Tower Bridge.  

Les Greedy Cochons - all you can eat melty cheese... what's not to love! Food bloggers turned pop up hosts, Les Greedy Cochons are doing their next raclette night in Camden Market on Thursday 17th July.

Quinto Quarto - a man of many talents, and the proclaimed King of Gnocci, Adalberto hasn't got any dates live on Grub Club at the moment (I'm sure they'll come soon) but he's fed hundreds of people already at his seven course Italian feasts, which have included game, fish, festive and new year's eve themes.

Social Pantry - Alex's Clapham based pop ups were such a success that she's set up a catering company and has now started up The Social Pantry Café in Lavender Hill, where she serves delicious and healthy breakfasts, brunches and lunches - their salads look divine. 

BOBs lobster - another pop up turned permanent business, BOB's Lobster serve up their seafood feasts in East London from Tuesday to Friday, and also roam the streets serving seafood delights straight from their VW van.

And I can't write this without a quick mention for my own pop up! I run monthly pop ups, serving homemade, British, seasonal produce made into a four course feast, at our home in  West London, details of the next one on Saturday 19th July here. I'm also available for private catering gigs so please do get in touch if you want to enquire about an event you'd like food for, email me via the link in the sidebar of my blog.

So not only did I get to spend a wonderful evening with these amazing chefs, but Grub Club also persuaded their very own Hugh to cook up a Mexican inspired feast for us too - we were spoilt with ceviche, followed by carnitas - one of my favourite things - which is pulled, spiced pork, wrapped with salsa, sour cream and various levels of chilli sauce depending on your tolerance!

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