Author: Sarah Kemp

WIN a 2.5kg joint of Australian topside beef from Westin Gourmet

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THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED I still marvel at the Internet. I’ve always been a bit of a technology geek and I distinctly remember the time when the Internet was first installed at home. I would sit in my dad’s study for hours at a time browsing and talking to friends on MSN (sad I know). But at the time I never would have imagined that I would be buying clothes, holidays and even food from the comfort of my own home. Technology never ceases to amaze me. I’ve been toying with the idea of buying meat, fish and vegetables online for a while. After my trip to Riverford Organic Farm earlier in the year, I realised what a great way it is to shop. But having never taken the plunge to buy meat online before, I was happy to be contacted a few months back by Westin Gourmet, an online butchers that provides consumers with good quality cuts of meat at wholesale prices. I decided to test a few of the products and offer …

To and from Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love plane food. Most people look at me like I’m stark raving bonkers when I say it but I feel that I have a pretty good argument. I’ll always choose a meat dish because I know it’s going to be tender, never dry and always packed full of flavour. And the reason for this is that during the process of cooking and storing before it makes it to your tray, the meat has time to marinate and soak up all of the flavour. Before my trip to Hong Kong, I had only ever travelled in economy class. And although I can’t say I’m ever totally content in the comfort stakes, the food is always spot on – bar that time I had to endure a glutinous dish of pork congee for breakfast on a flight to Australia because there were no omelete’s left! So the first thought that entered my head when I was told that I would be flying Business Class with Cathay Pacific …

Town Hall Hotel staycation

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I lived in Bethnal Green during my second year at university. And although I left after a year, it still has a special place in my heart as it was the first area that I lived with a friend in a (rented) flat after enduring the squalid living conditions of rancid university halls. At the time I wanted to get away. Apart from a few pubs down to road in Shoreditch and some extraordinarily grungy clubs in Dalston, there was nothing else for me in the area. This was before the ‘foodie’ regeneration of East London. When I lived in the area, there was no Kêu!, no Shoreditch Grind, no Allpress Espresso, no Albion – you get the picture. There was also no Town Hall Hotel, although unbeknownst to me work had already started on the regeneration of the building to turn it into one of London’s most desirable hotels with a Michelin starred restaurant to boot. The building had lain dormant for 10 years before Singapore hotelier and restaurateur Loh Lik Peng bought it …

Back from Hong Kong

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I’ve had a serious taster of the life of Riley. And I rather enjoyed it. Some of you may be aware that back in September, I entered a competition to win a place on a press trip to Hong Kong to celebrate the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival, which took place from 27th – 30th October on West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade. I was one of the lucky winners and last week embarked on a 5 day whirlwind tour of the city with three other journalists from The Arbuturian, The Independent and TravelMail. All through the trip I was pondering how on earth I was going to cram everything that I did into one post. I can’t. So I have come up with a solution. As I have so much to tell, I will be posting a separate piece for each part of the trip – the hotel, the flights (yes, this deserves a post of its own – you’ll soon see why), the restaurants and a host of other weird and wonderful activities to …

Café Direct tasting

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Coffee. I love the stuff. Give me a creamy strong Flat White in the morning and I’m happy for the day. But although I love the taste, my knowledge is pretty limited. So I was glad to be invited to a coffee tasting by Café Direct last week. Despite the event being held at L’Atelier des Chefs, I didn’t realise that we would be donning our aprons and showing off our baking prowess. I was half an hour late and when I arrived to a flurry of bloggers running around the kitchen, cracking eggs, melting chocolate and frantically beating butter and sugar, I was confused. I then learned that everyone had paired off and each ‘team’ had been given one of three Café Direct coffees and been asked to create a dish using a host of ingredients provided. I was paired with the lovely Kate from What Kate Baked who had decided, after watching a recent Nigel Slater programme, to make chocolate bark using dried fruit, nuts and fair-trade dark chocolate. I was quite happy …