I actually can't quite remember when we held the first Summer Picnic, but I think it might have been 14 years ago... and we've been going every year since then.

The Summer Picnic is more of a picnic event than a mere picnic, with everyone inviting themselves, their friends, their families, their friends they want to be their family, family that used to be their friend... everyone is welcome, and all are free to invite whoever they please. Essentially, the Summer Picnic is a big group of regular picnics, all being held at the same time, on the same day, under the same tree on Hampstead Heath.

The picnic is completely free and this year will be on the 23rd of July and start around 12.30. Bring food to share and drinks to hand around. It's a communal event and we all waddle home stuffed to the brim with the most delicious picnic food you can imagine.

The tree that the picnic is under is to the north of Parliament Hill and the best way to approach it is either round one of the sides of the Hill - you don't need to go up and over it with all your picnic finery... More info below...

If you get lost, send me a message on Instagram or Facebook and I'll do my best to guide you in.

I look forward to seeing you there!

The Summer Picnic
Sunday 23rd July 2017, 12.30 PM
Hampstead Heath - paste "51.561989, -0.161034" into your maps app or click the link below

Remember to bring a bottle of water for the walk over to the tree, and make sure you're carrying things in comfortable bags or hampers, as it's a 10-20 minute walk from the nearest parking spaces or public transport. Please also remember to take any waste home with you after the picnic - the Heath is a communal space so let's help look after it. Well-behaved pets are very welcome, but there will be children and lots of food around so please keep an eye on them.

Book now for a delicious seasonal meal in the glorious tithe barn at Thyme in the Cotswolds. I'll be cooking with the Thyme team using stunning produce grown in their fantastic gardens and locally reared kid.

Menu:

Canapes

Purple sprouting broccoli, smoked mackerel and horseradish and dill dressing

Braised kid with chard and mint, roast seasonal veg.

Rhubarb upside-down cake with rose and lime cream. 

£50

(cheese course available - supplement applies)

Once again I'll be holding a seasonal masterclass at the stunning Thyme Cookery School in the cotswolds. We'll be cooking and eating recipes from my book, Food for All Seasons, cooking with produce from their legendary gardens and generally talking seasonal food.

As part of my Konstam residency at the Calvert 22 Café, I'll be teaming up for the second week in a row with Kino Vino's Alissa Timoshkina to present a night of food and film with flavours from eastern Europe and Russia.

We'll be presenting a rare screening of the remarkable Soviet movie The Commissar, a once-banned gem of world cinema about a female officer in the Bolshevik army whose pregnancy forces her to make difficult decisions that will change the course of her life.

Tickets include a welcome drink and snacks created by Oliver and Alissa to accompany the film, and an extended introduction by Dr Alissa Timoshkina.

The Commissar
USSR, 1967, dir. Aleksander Askoldov, 110 mins

Based on a short story by a renowned Soviet-Jewish writer Vasily Grossman, this remarkable film was made during the Soviet New Wave and tells a story of a Red Army commissar who temporarily lodges with a poor Jewish family to give birth in the midst of the Russian Civil War (1917 – 1922). The Commissar is a sensitive and elegiac portrait of a mostly vanished culture, filmed with a unique poetic vision. The film was banned upon its completion and not shown to the public until 1988. 

More about the film here.

Friday 20th January

Eastern Grains with Alexandra Hutchinson

Embodying many of the philosophies that Konstam held to be at the heart of food and eating, Alexandra’s bijou eeatery, 26 Grains in Neal’s Yard, selling divine porridges and other delectable dishes, has been a stunning success. Alex has been a collaborator on several projects recently so it was natural to turn to her for this, the second of our Konstam at Calvert 22 supper clubs. We'll be inspired by the grains and pulses of the east and looking for interesting new ways to weave them into the dishes on our menu. £45

As part of my Konstam residency at the Calvert 22 Café, I'll be teaming up with Kino Vino's Alissa Timoshkina to present a night of food and film with flavours from eastern Europe.

We'll be screening the enchanting documentary Oma & Bella, an intimate portrait of two elderly Jewish women in Berlin with humour, powerful stories, and a deep fondness for good food.

Tickets include a welcome drink and snacks created by Oliver and Alissa to accompany the film.

Oma & Bella
Germany, 2012, dir. Alexa Karolinski, 76 mins

Oma and Bella is a deeply touching and endearing documentary about a life-long friendship between two elderly Jewish women living. While rooted in the tragic history of the Holocaust, the film is an ode to their resilience, survival and joie de vivre. It is a celebration of friendship, tradition and, above all, of Jewish food. It is through the food which Oma and Bella prepare together that they remember their childhood, maintain a bond to each other and explore questions of memory, heritage and cultural identity. They drink vodka, sing Yiddish songs and dress up to go out with their friends. Oma and Bella will evoke your unconditional affection and admiration from the very first scene!

More about the film here.

Friday 13th January

Eastern Flavours with Olia Hercules.

Author of Mamushka, one of the stand-out cookery books of the last few years and one of my favourite people to cook with, Olia and I will be presenting a mash-up of Eastern European inspired dishes, with ferments, pickles, borsch and more:

Fermented pickles

Winter borsch with fermented beetroot, ginger and chilli

Ossetian pies

Roast pork belly with sauerkraut, apples, prunes and spices

Beetroot, walnut and caraway cake with sour cream and candied beetroot

Run by the Mayor of London, London Food Link and Borough Market as part of Urban Food Fortnight, the Urban Food Awards celebrate London’s fantastic food scene. In addition to great taste, they throw the spotlight on the good food practices and people behind the products.

I was delighted to be invited to judge the awards for the second year running, alongside Rowley Leigh and joined by Olia Hercules and Tom Hunt. 

The categories are:

Produce: Londoners’ Loaf, Heavenly Honey, Beautiful Brew, London Leaves and Proper Preserves

People: Roots to Work, Capital Growth’s Growing Enterprise, Best Retailer, Sustainable Street Food, Most Inspiring Producer.

https://www.sustainweb.org/londonfoodlink/awards

Kino Vino Lonely Planet present Kino Vino Spain. 

Calvert 22 in Shoreditch will host an evening of dinner, film screening and book launch.

9th September 2016.

Tickets £45 - Book at kinovino.org

Thyme's Gloucestershire estate encompasses a boutique hotel and dynamic cookery school running demonstrations, tastings, talks, foraging and garden tours, growing and sourcing from their country kitchen garden.

Charlie Hibbert and I will introduce guests to the best produce from the kitchen garden in a Masterclass morning featuring recipes from my soon to be published book Food for All Seasons and in the evening we will develop this into a Thyme's Table dinner served in the elegant surroundings of the Tithe Barn.

The Saturday Masterclass Morning two hour class will be £145 per head.

This dinner will be £75 for three courses (cheese course supplement); wine flight from £50.00; Wine list available.

Further information, menus and booking please call 01367850174 and visit the Thyme website.

Come for a deliciously mixed up taste of Britain and Bengal! Romy Gill - of Romy's Kitchen in Bristol - and I have teamed up to bring you a menu of both exotic and familiar flavours. At one of London's most elegant pubs, The Drapers Arms in Islington. We hope you can join us!

Tickets and menu available from Edible Experiences

Feast on the flavours of June with the London Cooking Project and Oliver Rowe. Come to the latest in his series of Food For All Seasons suppers celebrating seasonal food and his book by the same name.

Oliver Rowe - the man behind Konstam at the Prince Albert, London’s first locally sourced restaurant – has long been an advocate of seasonal eating. June’s menu will feature recipes from the book to bring out the best from the produce that June has to offer. 

Food for All Seasons, which will be published by Faber & Faber on the 16th of June, is a personal and informative wander through the food year and can be ordered here. Copies will be available to buy on the night. 

Profits from the supper club help to fund London Cooking Project’s community projects. 

BOOK TICKETS HERE.

Menu

- Deep-fried courgette flowers with Stichelton and Honey 

- Pea, lettuce and bacon soup (v) bacon optional

- Mackerel with warm beetroot & red onion salad, barley and cucumber, lovage & crème fraîche.

- Pernod-poached cherries with lavender ice cream.

At the end of the month I'm excited to be at Hay Festival in conversation with Sabrina Ghayour and John Mitchinson.

Ghayour follows her iconic cookbook Persiana with Sirocco: Fabulous Flavours from the East. I will be discussing imaginative seasonal cooking in the run up to the publication on the 16th June of my book Food for All Seasons. 

Friday 27 May 5.30pm  |  Venue - Oxfam Moot
More information and booking here.

On Saturday 21st May, The London Cooking Project will host the last of my Food for All Seasons meals before the Launch Special in June. As ever, it will feature a four course menu focussing on the freshest, local, seasonal ingredients.

May is still a tricky time of year - the main summer harvest has yet to arrive but the cruelty of April is slowly becoming a distant memory. Asparagus continue to make it all better, and elderflower arrives soon to back it up. Peas and broad beans are on the horizon, and spring lamb is a seasonal highlight.

Book Tickets.
 

The art of preserving food is inherent in so many cultures and in recent years fermentation and pickling have become increasingly popular in the UK. These techniques were elevated to an art-form and a trend thanks to such talented entrepreneurs like Kylee Newton, the founder of Newton&Pott. In this very special edition Kylee teams up with KinoVino to celebrate the joys and wonders of pickling.

Join us for a hands-on pickling demo, where you get to learn how to make Kylee’s signature gin pickled cucumbers. We will then delight you with a screening of a classic New York romcom, Crossing Delancey, a.k.a romancing the pickle. The night will culminate with a fabulous dinner curated and prepared by Kylee and one of KinoVino’s favourite chefs, Oliver Rowe. Trust me, together they make an absolute dream team. Guests will be treated to bespoke cocktails featuring Newton&Pott produce as well as special party gifts to take home. You will also get the chance to get a signed copy of Kylee’s acclaimed book ‘The Modern Preserver‘ and treat yourself to more of Kylee’s creations at our special pop-up pickle shop.

Tickets are available here HERE

Palm2, 152 Lower Clapton Road, London, E5 0Q

Price: £70 (inc. pickles workshop) // £45 dinner

How healthy is our food? In an age of salads washed in chlorine and factory ‘food solutions’, what guarantees are there that what we eat isn’t detrimental to our health, and what can we do about it? Food writer Joanna Blythman, author of Swallow This and How To Eat, and chef Oliver Rowe, author of Food for All Seasons, debate the issues with Steven Gale.

7.30pm at Omnibus | 1 Clapham Common Northside, London, SW4 0QW

Tickets and further information here.

Bristol Food Connections will be returning for its third year from Friday 29th April to Saturday 7th May, embracing Bristol’s independent spirit and supporting the farmers, chefs, food projects and businesses that work tirelessly to put good food on our plates.

The festival includes feasts and banquets, discussions & debates, cooking demos and community events covering everything from cooking skills, to soil, children’s events to foraging walks, all designed to help the public to engage with the social, environmental and economic challenges we face in feeding our growing population.

I will be hosting a seasonal session in the Riverford Yurt, sharing tips for living seasonally whilst demonstrating some simple year round cooking techniques.

Full information and booking on their website.

On Saturday April 23rd, The London Cooking Project will host Food for All Seasons: The Hunger Gap, featuring a four course menu focussing on the freshest seasonal ingredients.

Traditionally a difficult time of year in the seasonal calendar as many crops have yet to be harvested, but supplies of the stored fruit and vegetables, like apples and beetroot, are rapidly dwindling. Wild garlic is in abundance, as are many salad leaves. This months menu will be green and lean, healthy and full of verdant flavours.

Tickets for the April dinner are available here.

23rd April at 7pm
London Cooking Project, 1 Ethelburga Street, London, SW11 4AG

This is the second in my series of seasonal suppers hosted by the London Cooking Project.

If you missed the first one then you missed an evening of gorgeous food, great wine and a lovely atmosphere.

February's meal will be no different. The menu will be as seasonal as the last, picking delicious highlights from the best produce the season has to offer.

As ever I'll be focussing on ingredients grown and reared in London and the South East, with mutton from amersham, and most other produce from the home counties. Rhubarb will be from Yorkshire. 

Tickets: £40pp - available from Grub Club here

KinoVino host an unforgettable Christmas dinner party inspired by one of the most iconic food films in history – Babette’s Feast. Enjoy the screening of the film enveloped in the scents and tastes of French and Nordic cuisines. Treat yourself upon arrival to an array of festive cocktails curated for this night only, enjoy the film in our unique pop-up cinema, and indulge in a gourmet feast, featuring the iconic dishes from the film.

Book here >