Food is great. That we know.

But (and here’s where I get all Jamie Oliver 2005 so frigging brace yourselves) food that shared in a place that gives much needed skills to really improve lives is where the magic happens. I’ve been watching the Community Kitchen, a social enterprise model, morph into a space that has so much potential for good, where people can “experience the benefits of cooking and eating together, regardless of finance, confidence or ability.” In the daytime they run community cookery programmes for people with mental health issues, dementia, learning disabilities and anyone that can benefit from cooking, learning life skills for well-being and sharing food together.

Behind this is Brighton and Hove Food Partnership a non-profit organisation that have worked on community food projects in the area for over a decade from community gardens, food wastage campaigns and neighbourhood meal sharing clubs.



It’s also a beautiful space available for hire and they also run cookery courses and classes, the profit from which goes straight back into the work the partnership do with masterclasses from the city’s best chefs, on-trend skills such as fermented foods and make your own charcuterie, seasonal workshops and well-being focused classes.



My cooking weak spot is baking though so a cake decorating masterclass with Kane McDowell from one of my favourite local Bakeries, Sugardough, was the one for me.



We were led through how to make a Genoise sponge and strawberry syrup, before being shown how to create a perfect semi naked cake (where the cake peaks out from the frosting). And never will I cut a tiered cake unevenly again which was worth turning up for alone.

Then the fun bit with pretty piped Italian meringue frosting and tricky chocolate writing (no evidence I’d studied typography and been a graphic designer for over 15 years AT ALL).



Dodgy type aside, I was very pleased with the cake, the kids thought I was pretty heroic when I brought it home for demolishing. It definitely has given me some confidence and skills to push decorating a bit further. Aside from learning, it was a really fun way to spend an evening and really relaxing too.

The Community Kitchen is a brilliant place for so many people in Brighton. I liked how they started the event by sitting everyone around the huge communal table for some lovely breads, dips and nibbles to break the ice and get the evening started. There were so many different people there, couples, singles, friends and a mum and her Bake-Off obsessed young son (who was having the time of his life!).

Visit events for upcoming events and to find out more about The Community Kitchen see bhfood.org.uk.



Community Kitchen113 Queen’s Road

A little while back Dan from The Set Restaurant asked me if I'd cook for a charity event at the restaurant. My inability to say no (to anything - seriously, I have issues) had me agreeing before I could process what exactly I was getting myself into. Turns out it was for the Too Many Critics dinner which is an annual event in aid of Action Against Hunger - the charity who save the lives of malnourished children. Since having kids of my own, it pangs me even harder to see any child suffering, particularly for a basic need most of us have the luxury of taking for granted on a daily basis. So it's an absolute pleasure to be involved in raising money for such a worthy cause.

The dinner involves six food critics, writers and bloggers to each cook a course for a room full of acclaimed chefs who will be judging us for a change. Feeling the heat in the kitchen with me is Andy Lynes, Tom Flint (Food Booze Reviews), Euan MacDonald, Rosie Swaffer (Rosie Posie Puddings and Pies) and Eshe Brown (Foodie Eshe). Having successfully been hosted in London and Manchester, this is the first in Brighton and we'll be cooking for the local chef and food industry elite; the calibre of which makes me quite uneasy!

Now I'm quite happy in my kitchen cooking for friends and family and I don't think I'm too shabby at it, but this is something else. And in a professional kitchen. And for 34 covers. I don't think my spaghetti cacio pepe is going to cut the mustard here.

What has been nice is focusing on a dish and working at it - I have the vegetable starter so have dug into my Italian heritage and crafted a dish which celebrates Radhiccio, a really underused vegetable here. Italians love bitter flavours more so this could be a room splitter but I'm hoping to make it work!

100% of proceeds, including ticket and bar sales, will be going to AAH and there will be an auction to top up the money raised. The restaurant suppliers and The Set are kindly providing the venue, sponsoring ingredients and Ridgeview, Black Down Spirits and Sheridan Cooper will be sponsoring the alcohol.


Anyway, I'll try and Instagram or Tweet from the event, if I'm not crying in the cupboard that is. You can follow updates via #TooManyCritics #charitycriticsbrighton

There's a huge drive to shun the big brand chain coffee shops and to support independent cafes, but what if we went one step further?