Japanese Supper Club at the home of Luiz Hara

Perched on the fringe of the London foodie network I had heard about supper clubs for some time, so when my foodie friend Caviar Girl invited me to come along to a Japanese home cooking supper club at the home of The London Foodie Luiz Hara I wouldn't dare decline.


For my loyal readers; mum, sister, friends and people who land here via bounced google searches I best explain what a supper club actually is. It's simple really, ordinary people who ooze passion for food open their homes to cook for strangers. For me it was a much more enjoyable, trendier, less chavy version of Come Dine With Me, with amazing food next to people you not only want to be surrounded by, but actually find quite inspiring.



Having done a little twitter research on Luiz Hara, I thought I knew what to expect from my host and the evening however I was even more impressed to arrive at his beautiful home in north London, and be greeted by a team of professional volunteer wait staff with a tray of PomPom takoyaki and a g&t. We gathered in the lounge, chatted to our waiter and glanced excited looks at each other before we were led downstairs to the dining room to meet our host. Luiz was welcoming, kind, enthusiastic and above all a wonderful and generous host.

We were seated at the long, stylish canteen style dining table for our first course, pitan dofu. I'm going to be honest, the silken tofu topped with chopped century eggs, ginger, soy and sesame oil freaked me out a little. I'd not tried century eggs before but I'm not one to shy away when it comes to food. I tasted it and it wasn't at all bad.



Next was my favorite dish of the evening, salmon sashimi with wasabi soured cream and fried shallots. It was perfect, The balance of flavours was amazing, fish smooth and frightfully fresh with the unevenly cut pieces reminding you just how incredible this homemade dish was. As the next course came out Cavier Girl and I had to conceal our excitement... It was a Japanese hot pot. We are slightly obsessed with this style of dish, it's our go to comfort, girly catch up food. I've had good hot pot in China Town, Clapham and recently in Holborn but this cod and seafood nabe in a white miso and soy broth was by far the best I've tasted.



The courses that followed were of an equally delicious, innovate and impressive standard. Melt in your mouth pork belly with japanese radish (cooked for over 48 hours in a dashi and soy broth) accompanied by Japanese fried rice and Tamagoyaki (omelet) followed by aubergine dengaku, that we were delighted to hear was Luiz' own take on the dish. He had experimented after trying something similar in a restaurant near his home. After all of this we were gluttonously full, but still polished off desert - home made green tea, red bean and sesame ice cream.

The entire evening was an amazing experience, with outstanding food made with passion you could taste. Luiz is an amazing chef, and I do encourage everyone to try out his supper club. It is also worth a mention, that this man is so passionate about food that he lends him home out for Grazing Asia super clubs. @MalaysianByMay, we'll be at yours next.



Photos by Catriona Mills.

One Easter at the seaside

Crafty crafts day: How to make bunting

Spring is here, seemingly earlier then it was last year, so why not make some bunting to pretty up the garden for those sunny afternoons!



But, what will I need? you may ask.

- String or twine, enough for the full length of your bunting
- An assortment of pretty fabrics, I do like floral or summery patterns such as Kath Kidston. You'll need enough for the full length of your bunting. Four fat quarters will make you yards (or about 5 metres) and give you a nice assortment of colors and patterns
- Thread and a sewing machine or an eager attitude for hand sewing (you could also substitute the sewing for iron adhesive such as Heat n Bond)
- Iron, fabric scissors and a small safety pin

Method

Step One
Lay out your selections of fabric and iron flat. Once it's free from creases fold it in half, then in half again, and again, and again, and again, and so on until you have one small rectangle of fabric. Then iron the folded small rectangle flat. Unfold and you'll be left with the creases marking out your small rectangles you can then cut.

Step Two
Cut loads and loads of rectangles from your crease marked fabric.

Step Three
Set yourself up at the sewing machine and sew a half centimeter hem along the top of each piece of fabric. You'll need to thread your string through the hem later so leave enough space to avoid the personal frustration of not being able to get the string through.



Step Four
Break for scones. It's super fun crafts day after all!


Step Five
Attatch a small safety pin to the end of your string and begin to thread on the pieces of fabric. Mix the patterns up a bit, it'll look better in the end. Keep threading until you've reached your desired bunting length.
Tip: keep the string on the ball instead of trimming your desired length to avoid coming up short



Hang your bunting in the garden, and enjoy a pint of cider in the sun.

Ends.

E Mischkin's: Über sexy cool eating

Russell Normal does indeed strike again...

I set out this evening with the intention NOT to make the above statement. I wanted to form my opinion of the brand new (perhaps now not so new), über cool Mishkin's based on what any foodie would form an opinion on... Food, service, experience etc. It was only after a long walk to digest my massive meal that I realised I couldn't steer away from the statement.

E. Mishkin's is the 5th Soho restaurant Norman has opened in 2 years, and with the anticipated whispers on the London foodie circuit well before its opening, how could it not be a success. Norman has managed to do what any great artist does; make his mark on a booming industry... As dare I say an avant garde restaurateur, perhaps? He certainly has become his own brand.

Mishkin's oozes the same style and pizzaz as Norman's four other establishments(Polo, Da Pollo, Polpetto, and Spuntino), and screams retro New York chic. Keeping to this theme, upon arrival you can opt to sit at a table or at the counter(perfect for the solo diner) before a plastic menu is slid in front of you. Short, but sweet the menu is quaint yet still surprising, perhaps most impressingly is the cocktail selection... All gin. If you've ever read a single tweet from me you'll know I'm a maniac when in comes to gin. Of course I was going for the full pitcher. It was fresh, fruity and delicious. We had two.

After much deliberation we finally ordered; Reuben sandwich, cod cheek popcorn, meatloaf, baked mac and cheese, pickled herring on beetroot, plus a side of sauerkraut. Worth a whopping amount of prise is the Reuben salt beef sandwich, it was huge, greasy but not sickening, salty and cheesy. Another highlight was the medium rare, perfectly cooked and flavoured, neat and tidy meatloaf that sat in a dainty four bite portion perfectly hugging a runny egg.

I feel we ordered well, which is unusual for me as I can never make a decision, yet this perfect combination of what was possibly too much food made the meal tasty, unique and above all belly busting. After a few long hours of grazing and drinking we paid our bill and made the unanimous decision that we would definitely be back.





Images courtesy of The Skinny Bib.

Find out what Foodie-at-large Jay Raynor thought of Mischkin's here, in his review for The Observer.

If you go down to the woods today

If you go down to the woods today, you'd better not go alone.... because there is likely to be a massive party going on!



Dragging my muddy wellies through the forrest under the torrential rain, Latitude Festival chucked me knee deep into a joyous world of actual good music, arts, theatre, comedy and more! Highlights included The Naked and Famous and Foster The People, and now I just can't stop listening.

Want to see some videos? YES PLEASE.

The Naked and Famous



Check out Alisa Xayalith's hair.... It's "Karen O, Yeah Yeah Yeahs" meets my dream hair, but I promise this is not the only reason I love this band.



Foster the People





Can we go again please.

Happy birthday little birdie

Yesterday was Blushing Birdcages' first birthday. To celebrate we went for cupcakes at Brick Lane. Photos after words...



I know it seems indulgent to devote an entire blog post to cakes, but these are likely to be the best cupcakes you will ever eat (that's right, I said it). Kooky Cakes frequent the Sunday Up Market at Brick Lane right at the end of the car park eatery stretch. Each cake is 'kookier' then the one before, rolling cookies, cupcakes, slices, biscuits and whoopie pies into one great big barrel of joy for a sweet tooth like mine. I suggest you go there, now. Or next Sunday. Buy a cupcake, I don't want to ruin the surprise but expect oozy fruity jammy goodness to run out the middle and icing that actually taste like fruit.

The great easter egg hunt of 2011

The English summer has come and gone, it happened, I promise you. Do you remember Easter? That hot weekend in April where we all had BBQs in the park, drank cider and stripped down to our bathers no where near a beach? That was Summer!

I did spend some time with my lovely friends in West London over Easter, and we had the most delightful easter egg hunt! Oh, to be 5 years old again.