I am still blogging but just!!

Hi folks,
I am still here, life has been good and busy, too busy. one of the reasons that I haven't had time to blog is illustrated here.
BREAD, my obsession with baking bread reached it zenith in April 2011. my friends Anne and Pieter bought me Dan Lepard's how to bake book, and I made 'mother starter' which is fatal as I need to bake at least twice a week to keep it going!!
BUT as you can see the results are pretty spectacular and if I may say so myself amazing bread. thanks you Anne, Pieter and of course DAN!!

Material Poetry and Eat Drink Art Design

Jean Nouvel Pavilion at Serpentine Gallery

RED!!!!!!
great space, specially with blue sky and green grass SPECIALLY in London

Bluebottle, Williamsburg, Brooklyn USA

NOT the flies!
This is an amazing coffee shop with in house roasting facilities (micro roastery?)
It's really beautiful and the coffee is amazing.
it feels like a 'warmed up' Apple store, with colour, marble, wood etc., but the 'come worship here' vibe remains, it is a catherdral for coffee worshipers.
I did the only decent thing and worshipped
SG 120
totally FAB
http://www.bluebottlecoffee.net/locations/berry-st-brooklyn/

Bedford Cheese Shop, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Just an amazing shop!!!

View of Strata from our balcony, June 2010

Amazing isn't it
Who ever have thought in Elephant and Castle something like this will be built

The Cake Committee Slices, Knysna South Africa, Maine and New Yourk City USA and of course the mother ship in London

The success of The Cake Committee globally!!


The following links are to the New York slice press

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/now-frosting-the-cake-commitee/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575339242623474932.html
http://www.cakespy.com/blog/2010/6/26/executive-sweetness-the-cake-committee-of-new-york.html

Coffee and aeropress

I have always had a love hate relationship with coffee, and there are only a handful of memorable cups of coffee that I have ever had in my life, one of them is in Italy a long time ago, in Framleigh house's restaurant where the Italian owners of the restaurant there made me a superb cup of cappuccino.
Recently in Washington DC I had a glass of Gilbralta, MY MY lightbulb momnet, of course it helped a lot when there is also such wonderful gelato as blood orange, Valrahona Chocolate etc etc. at dolcezza just off Dupont Circus
www.dolcezza.com
Back home, Vic Frankowski of Tapped and packed made me a mean cup of Gibraltar too! phew, very strong, he also showed me how the aeropress worked and I am now the proud owner of such a device and am drinking a aeropress made coffee as I type.
Here are the steps

Niven's

Just happen to pass by Niven's and had a quick bite to eat, ended up staying and chatting to the man himself.
GREAT food and decent coffee.
Do go if yo are near and around that area

Coffee at Tapped and Packed

Was introduced to Tapped and Packed by my friend Lu, and have totally fallen in love with them.
Don't know about you, but I love and hate coffee at the same time.
LOVE the intoxicating smell of coffee and then hate the disappointment when I drink it, it's never as rich and deep as the smell
NOW how ever, there is Tapped and Packed, wonderful coffee shop and so many ways of tasting and making as you can see on the menu I have included (that was just one page of many!)
as a postscript I just came back from Washington DC and went to this wonderful coffee and gelato shop there called Dolcezza, run by Robb and his wife who had just had a little baby.
Drank a 'Gibraltar' half way between a macchiato and espresso, adn OH my, the smell and the taste just marry!! and the gelato I hear you ask? As good as teh coffee and better i think
I had 2 scoops, Blood Orange and Intense Valrhona chocolate perfect combination.

www.tappedandpacked.co.uk
www.dolcezzagelato.com

lazzy blogger

can't believe it is nearly 3 month since I last blogged!
All is well went to HK for my mother's 80th birthday and Chinese New Year in Feb.
back to the UK for a short stay, then off to Maastricht for the TEFAF fair which is TOTALLY amazing.
It's like going to 10 top quality museum in one day. Sadly it is full of rich white people and I was one of the few ethnic minorities walking the fair.
Then off to NY next week!! yeah
it's been ages since I was last there so looking forward to it
The image enclosed is my latest production design for Royal Crown Derby, which will be shown in New York Table Top fair, 41 Madison.
Till next time

Happy New Year

During this long absence, I have been to South Africa, saw the inaugural 1st ever out of London 'The Cake Committee' meeting. totally surreal, hot, sunny, shorts and floaty dresses (not together) and a Victorian guest house on the waterfront! What a mix
Go to www.thecakecommittee.com and see it on facebook
Design in South Africa is great, Capt Town is full of interesting things, but for me, Gegor Jenkins ‘s work really stand out, though I find his website VERY annoying.
www.gregorjenkin.com
Christmas and New Year was full of food and lazy sofa time, well not all lazy, as I learned how to bake meringues, which was one thing that I never mastered.
Happy New Year every one, and just to remind you there will be another new year on Feb the 14th, Chinese New Year, and it’s the year of the Tiger.

lazy blogger!

Hi

Apologies for no postings as of late. i have all the pictures but not the time to do it!

Design week was good, with a surprisingly good 100% design show. Frieze art fair to come and as usual lots of food pictures.

in haste

Hi,

This is the US Food and Wine Article

The writer Jen Murphy has work very hard for over 18 months to enable this and I want to publicly thank her for her persistence and hard work.

We met in Ireland and she was very perceptive and clear of what we are about and what she wanted out of the article.

Enjoy reading it.

Peter

The Cake Committee Inaugural Event

Hi,

It was a real dream come true moment for me yesterday.

A brief history. I was SO fed up with ceramics one day that I decided to buy a van with natasha Daintry and drive it round London selling cakes (might still happen!), and Brian my partner stepped in to say why don't you form a cake committee and get together friends to bake and sell cakes for charity.

BINGO!!

The Cake Committee was formed with Natasha Daintry, Dave Clarke, Jinny Ngui and I as the founding members, and then others joined later. With Brian Kennedy as the Chair.

As you can see the cakes are wonderful and the opening bar was set VERY high.

The invited friends all gathered and had a wonderful time eating too much of course and throughly enjoying themselves in the mean time.

What really moved me was:-

the effort that every one put in re the baking

and the tremendous response from those who attended

A BIG thank you for those who baked and came to eat, and for those of you who missed it

the next one is on the 18th October, and the Christmas one is on the 13th December.

All at Pullens Yard, Elephant and Castle

and we have been written up in

Chowhound: For Those Who Live to Eat

already and very favorably too.

Will keep you all posted as we approach the next one

DO look at

http://thecakecommittee.blogspot.com/

to keep up to date.

Peter

The Cake Committee

Together with 13 other KEEN bakers, I started The Cake Committee and would dearly love people to join the face-book page ( I know! sad old git), well the most active member is Jinny and she is young and hip, she set up the FB page.

it is for us bakers and feeders to get our 'fix' and also collect money for good causes

1st meeting is

16th Aug, 09 2nd is 18th Oct, 09 and CHRISTMAS is 13th Dec, 09

all the the Pullens Community centre at Iliffe yard, Crampton St. London SE17 3BT

Peter

The coolest bar in London

Allow me to name drop re Franks Campari Bar

This is one of the coolest venue I have been to for a long time.

It is in Peckham, on the multiplex multi story car-park.

The brain child of Hannah Barry, with the structure designed by Paloma Gormley (daughter of sculptor Antony), food supplied by Frank, who is the grandson of the food writer Arabella Boxer.

You can be cynical and think it is all connections and no substance, well that will be VERY wrong! Great coffee, tea, and food. all at great prices and the view on the top of the structure is just divine, so is the art.

I LOVE the route to the bar, you have to have faith to believe that the this smelly dark lift will work, let alone it will get you somewhere.

Have faith and trust and you will be rewarded.

Do go as it is a pop up ending on the 30th September, 09

Peter

CLAY

A serious gallery like Bernard Jacobson in Cork street is showing ceramics, you know that the medium has arrived.

The show is ok, "artisits" showing clay work, over all it is SO worth seeing .