Author: Sarah Kemp

Recipe – Steak San Marino

Published by

This is the first in a series of recipes that I will be posting from a challenge that my ex boyfriend and I set ourselves when the Olympics came to London – we attempted to cook a dish from every country that took part in the games and called the challenge Eat the Olympics. We only made it to 170 something out of 204 but had some incredible experiences along the way, including a supper club and trips to Marrakech and Brazil. Steak San Marino was one of our favourites and we scored it gold. Ingredients: 1kg topside beef steaks Plain flour 2 tsp salt 2 tsp ground black pepper 1 x tin chopped tomatoes 100ml red wine 1 medium onion 4 carrots 3 tsp dried mixed herbs 1 bay leaf 1 tbsp hot sauce Method: 1. Peel and chop into chunks the onion and carrots 2. Cut the steak into four serving portions 3. Combine the flour and salt and pepper and coat the steaks with the flour mix. Coat the bottom of an oven proof …

Okan, Brixton Village

Published by

Where Okan, Brixton Village What Small but sweet Japanese street food restaurant in Brixton Village serving okonomiyaki with a wide variety of toppings along with a wide selection of Japanese home cooking dishes. The experience It has been a couple of years since I ate at Okan in Brixton Village, but I found an old photo and realised that I never did a post and I really feel I should considering the amount of times I have recommended this restaurant to people. It’s no surprise that nearly every time I have visited Brixton Village I opted for a Franco Manca. But on this particular visit I was with someone who had a huge love for Japanese food. I can’t remember fully but I’m sure I wasn’t exactly thrilled about skipping pizza for an omlette. Okonamiyake is the most popular street food from Osaka and translates to ‘as you like it’. It is a savoury pancake with a cabbage and batter base and finished with a special brown sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, green seaweed flakes and bonito …

Vapiano, Soho

Published by

Where Vapiano, Soho What The third Vapiano site in London follows the same concept – homemade pasta, pizza and salad dishes cooked fresh in front of guests. Each dish is ordered using a smart card system, which is tapped onto the till every time you order, meaning an easy and efficient paying system as you leave the restaurant. The experience I bet you think I’m going to talk about a big, juicy pizza here, don’t you? Well, guess again folks; I managed to restrain myself from ordering a pizza and instead opted for a pasta dish and a salad. We arrived on a Thursday evening at 6.30pm and grabbed a seat on one of the tall communal tables straight away. The friendly host asked if we were familiar with the Vapiano system and provided us with our payment cards. For those who aren’t familiar with the system, you order what you want to eat from one of the three stations – pizza, salad, or pasta, and touch your card on the reader. When you are …

My First Meetup – Photographic Explorers, London

Published by

It took me a whole year to get my act together, but last last night I finally attended my first photo meetup. A few of us headed down after work to meet the group at Tower Bridge and we spent three hours wandering around the area, snapping away on our cameras, before heading to the local pub to share our photos and have a natter over a couple of beers. I have been interested in photography since I was a wee nipper but I didn’t get my first camera until I was into my 20s. I have to be honest, it doesn’t come easy to me and I find myself getting frustrated when I’m out and about, but the saying is true – practice makes perfect. Last night I was shooting with two cameras – a Nikon 1 J3 and a Canon 600D and you can see the rest of my pics on my flickr. Find out more about the Photographic Explorers meetup here.

Pizza Union – Super Fast 12″ Pizza

Published by

Where Pizza Union, Spitalfields What The UK’s first Italian all-day Pizza Bar. Thin and crispy artisan pizzas, inspired by the thin and crispy pizzas found in Rome, baked in three minutes in a traditional stone pizza oven. Pizzas are ordered straight from the counter, while a host of long, bar-style communal tables help create a buzzy, informal dining atmosphere to fit with the Pizza Bar’s contemporary industrial look. The experience I have a problem. I can’t stop eating pizza. I ate a total of six pizzas last week – SIX!!! Why is that a problem, I hear you say. Well it’s not the fact that I’m not getting the nutrients I need from fruit and veg and my waistline is expanding at a rate of knots just in time for my holiday in Ibiza, it is that I just can’t seem to stop. I’m always up for finding new pizza establishments and quite frequently travel around the capital to find the best. I tried Pizza Union a couple of months ago and although this is a …