Slow Food UK

Slow Food UK is a non-for-profit organisation that focuses on sustainability and locality to source delicious food. Its focus is to reconnect people with where their food comes from and to help them develop a better understanding about provenance.

This week marks The Slow Food UK Week (18 to 24 June), and to champion its cause the organisation is running a number of foodie events in conjunction with its 53 Slow Food UK Chef Alliance members who are committed to the Slow Food cause. The events are listed on its website and are open to the public. I attended an event on Monday evening hosted and cooked by Francesco Mazzei (L’Amina), Giorgio Locatelli (Locanda Locatelli) and Angela Hartnett (Murano) at L’Amina called ‘Eating the Italian Way’.

L to R: Francesco, Cat Gazzoli (CEO, Slow Food UK), Angela and Giorgio

Dishes included an al dente and creamy risotto carnaroli with roasted quail and grana padano, a gamey Portland hogget lamb from Dorset served with wild garlic mash and minted artichoke and peas and a fantastically spiced wood oven roasted pineapple with a deliciously creamy salted caramel gelato. Coffee and biscuits followed. The food was tasty, especially the risotto and the gelato, but most impressive of all was that most of the ingredients had been begged and borrowed!

Risotto

Hogget

Oven roasted pineapple and salted caramel gelato

Thank you Slow Food UK.

Taste of London at Regents Park

Today marks the beginning of Taste of London at Regents Park, an event which epitomises what a great dining city London has become. Taste of London is now a staple fixture of the London food scene since it first started nine years ago, and this year’s line-up features the greatest number of Michelin chefs in the history of Taste of London. The Michelin restaurants include Le Gavroche (Michel Roux Jnr), Gauthier Soho (Alexis Gauthier), Rhodes 24 (Gary Rhodes), Club Gascon, Petrus, Maze, Benares and Tamarind. Debutante restaurants that are making their first appearance at Taste of London include Pollen Street Social (Jason Atherton), Bar Boulud (Dean Yasharian), Whitechapel Gallery (Angela Hartnett), The Corner Room (Nuno Mendes), Barbecoa (Jamie Oliver & Adam Perry Lang) and Cinnamon Soho (Vivek Singh). Furthermore, there will be a smattering of famous international chefs including Wolfgang Puck and David Chang (Momofuku).

In addition to the host of restaurants that will showcase their offerings, Laurent-Perrier champagne are sponsoring a number of masterclasses involving champagne, food and flowers. Sponsors British Airways will also be running an ‘Executive Club Lounge’.

What a great celebratory week of food in London. Here’s hoping for some sunshine in London for the rest of the week for Taste. Taste of London runs from 21 to 24 June.