It has been a while...

It has been quite a year... apologies for the lack of recipes and writings! I have been quiet as I have been writing a book and opening a restaurant, both of which now exist!

It turns out that these things take up quite a lot of time! I spent last summer writing my first book, 'Cook House - How to leave your job and open a restaurant even if you're not sure how'.

IT IS OUT VERY SOON on 5th September 2019, published by Head of Zeus. It is a collection of recipes and stories, charting the opening of little Cook House in the shipping containers and all the trials and tribulations along the way.

You can pre order copies now! and hard copies will be available from 5th September, the first ever copy is winging it's way to me now in the post and I can't wait to see it...

Copies are available online now from:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Oe7LER 

Waterstones: http://bit.ly/2YlczMF 

Blackwells: http://bit.ly/2JYE31t 

Hive: http://bit.ly/2GrpxhH 

Writing a book is incredibly hard work it turns out, I just had no idea, I love writing and documenting, but actually getting all of those words out, so many words, is just incredibly exhausting! I had migraines and many low points, but it is now all done! It is so exciting, and I really can't wait to see the final product.

We closed the doors to the containers on November the 10th and opened new Cook House on December the 11th. Now if I thought writing a book was hard, then opening a restaurant was ten fold. We managed and designed everything ourselves, tradesmen are unruly and untruthful at times and trying to get people to finish things or even just communicate things honestly was frustrating to the point of tears. We painted every inch of the building ourselves, on site every hour, with only instant coffee and Polish powdered milk for sustenance, and the occasional Gregg's.

Finishing the build and opening the restaurant happened at the same time, I literally ran from a meeting with the fire officer to my first service, having no idea where anything was or what I was actually going to do in the kitchen. Perhaps that lack of time to think was to our benefit, as there wasn't a second to get scared, we just motored in and haven't stopped since. We have found our way through trial and error, and with a very hard working, happy and experienced team, constantly helping us to improve. I couldn't be happier with the place and there is still lots more to come.

If you haven't been down you can find us on Foundry Lane in the Ouseburn, we are open Tuesday to Sunday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I will be back soon with some recipes from our new kitchen!

You can book a table by emailing us on cookhousebookings@gmail.com or phone us on 01912761093

cookhouse.org

I'm going to publish a cookery book!!

I am very excited to announce that my first book will be published next year! I have been keeping it under my hat for far too long! ‘COOK HOUSE’ will be a collection of recipes and the story of following my passion for food, published with the brilliant Head of Zeus in September 2019.

I have been working on my proposal since last summer, with the help of my agent Daisy at Lutyens and Rubinstein. The proposal described the concept of the book, which is a recipe book, but also the story of Cook House, of leaving one career to follow a true passion, I hope it will inspire other people to do the same, or at least dream. It also included a full recipe list and examples of my writing, example chapters and other little snippets I would like to include in the book, it was pretty lengthy by the end.

We sent it out to a list of chosen publishers in February and then waited nervously. I was delighted when Head of Zeus made an approach to buy the rights. I went down to meet the team in London a few weeks ago and am really looking forward to working with them. I will be working hard to put the whole thing together by the end of the year, you can follow the journey on social media and here on The Grazer.

I can't wait to hold my own book, it is hugely exciting. It is so surreal to think I will be able to go into Waterstone's and pick it up, with my name on it. I still can't quite believe it!