OMG what a month... š¤©
I canāt believe its December already?! Where has this year gone?! November has been full of delights, I canāt wait to tell you all about them!
This has been a very busy month so buckle up for a load of recommendations about to come your way!
Debut Cookbook
First and foremost, the most exciting of the lot is that I have FINALLY been able to announce my very own debut cookbook!! āCooking Fast and Slowā is available for pre-order now, via the button below!
When I say finally, I donāt think you understand just how long (and how difficult) it has been kept under wraps for! We initially started having conversations about it in May 2023!! So well over a year and a half ago.
It has been the most wonderful, joyful experience, I almost wish I could do it all over again. To think that soon I will be a published author is absolutely insane. When my literary agent first set up the call with me to tell me he thought I had some real potential to be an author, I managed to keep it together on the call but as soon as we hung up, I balled my eyes out!
This has been such a huge dream and the fact that it has come true just feels totally wild and honestly it would not have happened without you! Your likes, comments, saves and general support of Nats Nourishments has led me to this delightful moment and I am forever grateful for it, so thank you.
Pre-orders are super helpful and such an important way to support me further, the numbers count towards the sales on publication day and obviously the more sales the better! I would really love to be a Sunday times best seller and more than that, I would love to keep writing cook books for you! So, every pre order counts and thank you SO much if you have already!
Mallorca Retreat
Something else that is quite exciting is that I have announced that I will be hosting a retreat next year in the spring!
I canāt say too much yet but it will be 4 days of chilled, relaxation time in a beautiful villa in Mallorca. I will be hosting cooking classes where we can all make something delicious, together!
There will be more information on this and sign-ups will be available soon, so keep an eye on the site as the news will drop there first!
Eating Out
This next part is something I highly recommend you do! Four of my oldest, best friends and myself have decided to start a supper club where once a month we will go to a new restaurant and each month someone new gets to pick it!
Our very first one was picked by yours truly and I chose the hot new spot that has opened in Chelsea called Bottarga. Itās the sister restaurant to Zephyr (in Notting Hill), which if you havenāt been to, you must!
They are both modern Greek food and they are both absolutely sublime. I would say that Zephyr has slightly better food but the service at Bottarga was 10/10. The staff were all so kind, funny and attentive, we really felt taken care of!
The highlights of the meal were the tarama, fried calamari, yellowtail sashimi and the lamb chops! We washed it all down with a delicious bottle of red wineā¦or 5 and finished with the chocolate cheesecake and the caramel tart. Divine!
This is one of the best ideas we have ever had, it means you know you are going to catch up properly with your friends at least once a month - and also eat well! We have also decided that every time we complete a full round of people choosing (every 5 months) we will do a trip abroad for the supper club! Most likely a train to Paris or Amsterdam as itās the easiest but exciting nonetheless! I will keep you posted on everywhere we go!
I was also able to visit Dishoom this month, they reached out and kindly invited me to try their new menu. Itās the first time they have made changes to their menu since opening in 2010! Honestly, every time I go to Dishoom itās delicious.
The new menu includes a heavenly Goan monkfish curry that was so delicious, but incredibly spicy! Beware! Our standout dishes were the chilli chicken starter, the black dahl and the chicken biryani. The price point is fabulous and the food is delicious, if you havenāt been, go! I hear they do an amazing breakfast that I am yet to try!
Supper Clubs
I was invited to two supper clubs this month, one by the Candid Club, hosted by a friend and the other was a collar dinner between a brand called Saucerer who make wonderful pasta sauces and Tomās Pasta which is a fabulous Italian restaurant serving - you guessed it - fresh pasta!
The Candid Club was held at the most incredible location in Lancaster Gate. The concept of the supper club is combining designers, artists and culinary talent. We were seated on one of the two long banquets tables, dressed with fresh rosemary, candles, wine and breadsticks and in between our delicious starters and main courses a fashion show took place. They used the aisle between the tables as a runway and the models wore gorgeous outfits and strutted down holding plates of the main course in each hand - very cool!
The Saucerer Supper Club shed light on just how delicious a lasagna can be! I had the best lasagna of my life, they use slow cooked, shredded beef shin and Saucererās hot honey calabrian pasta sauce to make it and then doused it in lashings of parmesan and it was pure heaven! The lasagne, and everything else we had, will be served on the menu at the Tomās Pasta locations in Hackney for the foreseeable and I highly recommend you go and check it out!
New Restaurant Opening
Another new restaurant that has opened up is called Canteen and it sits on Portobello Road, where the old Pizza East used to be.
It is beautiful! Snug gorgeous leather lined booths on the outskirts of the interior, a big high top communal table in the middle and then two different bar counters that you can sit at, we sat at the desserts and salad prep counter and got to watch the chefs scoop out big spoons of their delicious, rich chocolate mousse that they cover with olive oil and sea salt or toss together borlotti and tomato salad.
The food is European small plates, think sardines, sausage stuffed fried olives, veal ragu pappardelle and spatchcocked chicken and jus. Everything we ate was sublime, the ragu and the chicken were standout, also the focaccia! Sadly, we ate too quickly to take any good photos of the food!
Girls' Trip to The Cotswolds
Over the weekend that we had a huge storm in the UK, I took a girls trip to the Cotswolds with my closest girlfriends and it was genuinely the most wholesome weekend I have had in a long time! We stayed at this cottage that I found on the Luxury Cottages website.
Our cottage was called Withington Grange and it was so cute, cosy and comfortable, I could have moved in forever! We spent the weekend drinking wine, sitting by the fire and watching the rain pelt down on the windows outside.
We ate delicious breakfasts of soft boiled eggs, avocado, smoked salmon and berries and for lunch made a big cheese and charcuterie grazing board with lots of crudites, dips and grapes. The star of the show was the Vacherin Mont DāOr cheese, it is so smelly, soft and gooey and we completely devoured it!