Thank you to Kitchen Table Projects for inviting me to participate in their Meet the Experts evening to speak about blogging, food writing and creating press opportunities. What a blast! With a format similar to Speed Dating - every new food entrepreneur and start-up had two minutes to pitch their idea/ pose their challenge with the role of the expert to guide, bring insight and experience. Loved it! BTW: That's me in the far left-hand corner.
0 Comments
For one of the best history lessons in London, look at its streets. Ropemaker in Rotherhithe along the River Thames; Bread Street and Honey Street near Cheapside; Shoulder of Mutton Alley in Limehouse: all give a glimpse of the industrial life of London and where the city’s tradespeople and artisans congregated to practice their craft. So it rather fitting that one of London’s current generation of artisans has kept to this tradition by adopting the name of their street - Cobble Lane. Producing all British charcuterie, Cobble Lane Cured products are all cut, smoked, cured and hung on site in Islington. Adapting European crafts of curing meats to London using 100% British produce, they are one of the city’s growing list of artisans making products unique to the city. As for other C’s: our other favourites - and why not continue on the British charcuterie theme are Cannon & Cannon - those leaders of the meat revolution and Crown & Queue, London’s newest addition to the cured meat scene. A-Z reference: 49 4D What "C" do you have marked in your A-Z?
Andrew Edmunds is my type of place: it has all the familiarity of a local restaurant, offers a truly seasonal menu, has no pretence, and you feel welcome. So much so that it's a place that you'll want to return again and again once you discover it.
So why it has taken me so long to get there? I have no idea. It's a place that I have frequently walked past and have long been drawn to its quaint 18th Century exterior, outdoor tables on this quieter street of Soho, and hand-written menu. It has spoken an old world charm that I find immensely appealing; but somehow, I have always been reminded of its existence post-lunch elsewhere and so it has remained on my-do list. But no more I tell you after a fabulous lunch of Saturday made exclusively of entrees and a dashing semi-aged riesling. So what came to the table: a wonderfully spiced sobrasada with roasted tomatoes and rosemary served on sourdough toast; roasted heritage beetroot, ricotta, burnt butter breadcrumbs with sorrel (both pictured); pork and sweetbread terrine with fig mostarda (so delicious that I forgot to take a photo!), and whole sardines with harissa creme fraiche and pickled cucumber. And yes, we added hazel ice-cream at the end and a vanilla pannacotta with apricot. I suspect that Andrew Edmunds doesn't get the attention that is deserves and is somehow eclipsed by the latest and the new in the glamorous kaleidoscope that is Soho. However, with its old-world charm, Andrew Edmunds is an hidden institution of Soho - an experience to be savoured and experienced like all the very best of good food and wine. Address: 46 Lexington St, London W1F 0LP Phone: 020 7437 5708 Founder Tara Sundramoorthi talks about Kitchen Table Projects and its mission “to connect the best emerging artisans with the people who can’t wait to discover them”.
A retail incubator, Kitchen Table Projects launched this summer taking up residence at London’s Old Street station. For 12 weeks, emerging food artisans (“springboarders”) will go to market, receive mentoring and guidance from a band of experts, themselves experienced in taking an idea from the kitchen table to a successful small business. At the heart of the project is founder Tara Sundramoorthi. With an enthusiasm that could fill a room, and a drive and tenacity of a true entrepreneur, Tara’s passion for business and food comes in equal measure. Describing her own experience of running a food business, she shares “l never really understood what people meant by having a passion for something before that. I had never thought about something from the moment I woke up to the second of falling asleep. That was the experience of having my own business.”
Among the railway arches and surrounded by the housing estates of Bermondsey is London’s Spa Terminus, a unique community of traders, artisan food producers and wholesalers. Each Saturday morning, they open their doors to the public to share some of the best small-batch food produced in London.
|
ARCHIVES
February 2017
|