October Roundup 🥘 BTS on what I've been up to this month!

Hello, I can't believe we're into November already!

I wanted to share with you all a few bits from October, which I've kept back for my newsletter - it was a month FULL of events, cooking and eating!

Events

First off, we celebrated the debut cook book launch of my very good friend, Elly Smart from @Ellysplate. She makes the most amazing plant based, super comforting and healthy recipes, perfect for as the winter months roll in.

Her cookbook is colourful, playful and all of her recipes are straight forward and highly attainable. I met Elly through this weird and wonderful online industry and she has become one of my closest gal pals and it brings me so much joy to celebrate her success!

Keep an eye out for her book, it would make a wonderful Christmas present! You can purchase it through this link.

Another launch event was Alfie Steiner from @Alfiecooks who has launched a delicious firecracker ramen in Wagamamas. Really tasty, go and get one if you can but beware, it’s called firecracker for a reason!

Very excitingly, I launched two bagel flavours and a soup in B Bagel, across all of their locations. A smoky harissa squash and tofu bagel, loaded up with creamy hummus and pickled onions. The second was a delicious chai spiced peanut butter and banana bagel, to hit that sweet spot after something savoury.

We had a fun launch party at the beginning of the month, got all my favourite foodies in the room and chowed down on the bagels for the evening along with some drinks and lots of laughs.

Eating Out

Throughout the whole month, although I attended lots of fun events, I only ate out at two restaurants (very unlike me, I try to average at least one a week).

Dorian was first, a gorgeous bistro situated at the back end of Notting Hill (my old stomping ground before moving further west).

If you are dining out at Dorian, prepare to put down a small mortgage in return for a meal! It is definitely on the pricier side, you are probably looking at between £100-£120 a head, depending on your liquids of course, but it is worth Every. Single. Penny.

Michelin star Chef Max Coen really knows what he’s doing, sit at the bar so you can see the magic happen and order the venison tartare rosti and the caviar rosti to start and then for mains go for all the sides and a steak. This is kind of what they are known for, you won’t regret it (not a very veggie friendly restaurant).

The desserts are delicious, namely the pistachio and caviar ice cream (sounds weird but my god it’s good) or the french toast!

The wine list is extensive, I usually go for a carafe of something like a chilled red to go with said steak.

The second restaurant I visited has been around for ages, I have simply not gotten my act together to go and visit, it’s called Berenjak.

It’s a Persian restaurant in Soho and they have recently launched a pop up at Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds.

Persian food is a real soft spot for me, I spent 4 years growing up in Vienna, when I was six until I was ten, and one of my best friends, Sophia, was half Persian. Her dad owned a Persian restaurant where we used to load up our plates, after school, with saffron rice, skewers, breads and dips and eat until our hearts content.

Berenjak took me right back to those childhood memories, we had the mint yoghurt dip, hummus, all the breads and pickles along with the saffron and yoghurt marinaded chicken skewers and of course, crispy saffron rice with LOTS of butter, also known as Tahdig. So delicious!

Highly recommend, perfect for sharing with lots of people and reasonably priced. If I lived nearby, I would frequent the establishment once a week at least!

Hero Ingredients

In between eating out and going to events, I have obviously been cooking at home a lot and I wanted to share with you a few of my Hero Ingredients of the month!

First is Mamak Curry Leaf & Roasted Cumin Curry Paste from a brand called Rempapa Spice Co.

I found this on Delli (great place to source interesting condiments etc), it’s the most delicate, flavourful spice paste I have tried in a while.