Hackney – The Cultural Exposé

Somewhere you should go… Mick Élysée’s Safari lunch

The Cultural Exposé — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 10:04:23 +0000

We’re taking a walk on the wild side next Sunday at a pop-up in Hackney where a Congolese chef will be whipping up an adventurous menu of gourmet dishes and treats. Élysée’s Safari Lunch at Marsden’s Bistro will feature curious delicacies like pan fried alligator and grilled ostrich to prove the versatility of these unique meats – and given this guy’s been schooled in France and worked with the mighty Michel Roux and Michel Toulousi, we imagine he’ll do it all justice – we can’t wait!

The pop-up takes place monthly from 6th April. For more info, visit: www.facebook.com/la.tentation.5/posts/623209831101348

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Somewhere you should go… Toast and Roast

The Cultural Exposé — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 11:00:49 +0000

Sundays can be tricky. Sometimes all you want to do is relax and not have to make an effort to do anything at all. Or sometimes you want to keep the energy of the weekend and check out new places and try new things. If your weekend has been a bit too boozy, you might even find yourself fantasising about a big roast dinner—just the thing to soak up all the alcohol from the past few days. Or maybe nothing rounds up the weekend perfectly like a glass or two of good wine.

A Grape Night In has the Sunday solution for everyone with their Toast & Roast series. Each Sunday, the ladies behind the wine-pop up are selling tickets for a long, relaxed roast dinner at Studio Gi in Hackney. There’s a different meat served every week while veggie options are also available. Chef Ricardo Prestes takes the roast to the next level, though with the “meg” featuring as the starter (such as a beetroot tart), the “meat” as the main (one week features a slow-roasted lamb shoulder with parsnip & potato mash with curly kale) and the “sauce” becoming the dessert (such as a chocolate tart with crystallized horseradish). Best yet, the meal begins with a glass of bubbly to kick the meal off and a wine pairing for each course. After the food is all eaten and the wine drunk, there’s even a pub quiz at 6pm. (Words: Barbara Cole)

Toast & Roast is taking place every Sunday until 15th December. For more information visit: www.edibleexperiences.com

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What we’ve been up to… Stories, Broadway Market

Matilda — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 10:00:04 +0000

At last, somewhere to work, rest and play has come to London Fields in the shape of Stories, a clever little bar that’s come from the people who brought The Book Club to Shoreditch. So unsurprisingly, it attracts a mid-week crowd of hip, MacBook-toting creatives, sipping skinny lattes to meet deadlines, while we imagine weekends will see an onslaught of the usuals that make up the market’s hectic traffic, and who’ll pop in for a spiked juice or smoothie.

On a recent invite, we had the pleasure of sampling the Brunch menu which has a decent share of early day options, such as the buttermilk pancakes, bacon or cumberland sausage on a brioche bun, or a humble English brekkie on toast, all for a mere six quid. But it was lunch we were after, so tucked into the smoked haddock & colcannon fishcakes with poached egg and salad (generous and flavoursome) and the lamb burger with triple cooked chips we could have eaten twice over if we weren’t so full. And the best bit? Both are less than a tenner.

As for drinks, the idea of an alcoholic smoothie seemed a little bit too tempting to resist – and while Don’t Be A Strawberry Fooled (fresh strawberries, pineapple juice, santa teresa gran reserva rum, coconut water) could have been sweeter, we didn’t mind the spicy kick of Show Me Your Melons, made with watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, santa teresa gran reserva rum, mint and chilli.

With top-notch food and drinks, Stories should effortlessly pull in the crowds because of its simple appeal and the fact it’ll be running regular events, like its Shoreditch sis. It might become the new hipster’s paradise, mind you, but for now it’s a welcome new kid on the block that’s too friendly to not like. (Words: Matilda Egere-Cooper)

For more info, visit: www.storiesonbroadway.com

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