Why are you in London? I Love the town and the cosmopolitan life here. With all the international cuisines on offer London is like the worlds biggest larder, for shopping, cooking, and eating.

Do you have a favourite neighborhood restaurant you would recommned to a friend? Yes, No. 1 Thai, at 1 Dalgarno Gardens in North Kensington. This very authentic Thai restaurant is situated at the back of Ladbroke Grove and has the cheapest and best Thai food outside of Thailand. It’s run by a husband and wife team. If you desire vino then you must bring your own bottle as alcohol is not served on the premises. There is a great outside garden area which backs onto a lovely park. You can dine and watch the sun go down - it’s a little piece of heaven.

What dishes do you recommend? I love the Massaman or Penang curry, however the Pad Thai or Tom Yum are also excellent dishes. My intention is to try a new dish every time I go there and so far every one has been sensational.

What do you generally like to have in your fridge? Being German I of course have Black Forest ‘Speck’ in my fridge together with pickled cucumbers. However I could never be without Chilli Jelly;this sweet but spicy jelly is fabulous on cheese toast and is also outstanding with ice cream. An absolute must have in the fridge.

What do you have in your fridge at this moment? Smokey Tomato chutney, Thai green curry paste, chilli jelly, speck, pickled gherkins, Dijon mustard, paprika oil, pomegranate molasses, tamarind paste, fresh horseradish, Anilla’s Korma curry paste, coconut butter and cream,and my homemade vinaigrette dressing.

What is your favourite cook book? The food of India by Murdoch Books, this book is written by quite a few authors who travelled through India and wrote the best authentic recipes of the local cuisine; it’s worth every penny.

What is your favourite dish? My very own Hungarian Goulasch with Spatzle and sour cream.

Please share your favourite recipe with us?

Hungarian Goulasch
Ingredients:
1lbs beef diced, 1lbs sliced onions, 1lbs skinned and deseeded finely chopped tomatoes, 4 cloves of chopped garlic, 1tblspn of crushed caraway seeds, 1 handful fresh Marjoram or 1-2 tblspn dried marjoram. 3 tblspn Hungarian Paprika sweet.

Preparation:
Fry meat until brown on all sides, they add onion and fry until golden brown. Then add tomatoes and cook the juices out. Add the garlic and spices, Place all the ingredients in a big casserole dish and add beef stock to cover. Let it simmer for 1.5 hours or until meat is really tender, serve with potatoes or Spatzle (our traditional pasta from the Black Forest) and a dollop of sour cream .

What would you never eat? Tripe can’t stand the leathery stuff at all.

What is your most important kitchen tool? My big granite pestle and mortar. I could not live without it.

What is your all time favourite drink? Sorrel, sometimes called Hibiscus. I came across this drink in the Caribbean. Take a few flowers and place them in a big jug, pour boiling water over it and let it infuse for 30min. Serve over ice, or with a shot of rum or brandy. Either way its thirst quenching, slightly sour, and a great long drink to sip as you watch the sun go down.

What inspires you? The smell of my spices when I open either the shop door or the warehouse door. It’s different everyday and gives me the motivation to blend new spice mixes almost on a daily basis.

What would you cook for someone you are looking to impress? Osso bucco with porcini risotto.

What would you want your last meal to be? Chicken Mole! That Mexican chocolate sauce over chicken is to die for.

Have you ever dreamed about a restaurant with no menu (or a menu of your own creation)?

1. You just walk in, see lot’s of great fresh produce, meet the chefs and talk about what you desire to eat, your mad cravings and hunger.

2. You call up on the day you want to dine in our restaurant and talk to the chefs, or via a virtual chef on the website, and then you design your own menu. You arrive at the CBC and your desired menu is prepared and waiting for you.

3. What would be on your restaurant menu?

Share with us your favourite dishes via a short comment on this blog. I would like to collect as many of your favourite dishes as possible and see what we all have in common, or not. We want to know your everyday favorites. Peanut butter sandwich with strawberry jam, spaghetti with tomato sauce, cheeseburgers, classic chateaubriand with bearnaise sauce, foie gras with sauternes jelly?

Let’s see what you dish out and we will attempt to whip up and place these dishes you crave on our menu for the day of your reservation.

Cheers

P.S. My favourite meal at the moment is Veal Scallopini al Limone, served with fresh taglierini, followed by a rhubarb crumble to satisfy my sweet tooth.

I got to know Mark Edwards back in my days at the Badrutt’s Palace Hotel in St.Moritz, the infamous ski resort located in the Swiss Alps. In 2002 we opened the restaurant Nobu at the Palace. Roland Fasel, was Hotel Director at the time (and is currently the GM at the InterContinental London) and was the initiator and visionary in bringing Nobu to this exquisite mountain resort. Needless-to-say it was a match made in heaven and an immediate success.

In the seasons pre-opening phase we received the first food market list with all products required for Nobu to operate and immediately began sourcing the items desired. We realized quickly that this would be an extraordinary task trying to locate these products domestically. The fact that Switzerland is not part of the EU made matters worse. We were able to obtain a majority of the items from JFC (Japan Food Company, who import all products from Japan) who have depots in the UK and Germany.The main challenge was then to convert the codes for the food items from EU to Swiss codes for import and taxation purposes. We were able to achieve this with through our connections and with the help of many of our suppliers.

The day before Nobu was scheduled to open we had most of the ingredients we needed to operate apart from rice and a few additional specialty items. The remaining missing items had just arrived from the UK and were waiting to be picked up at Geneva Airport on the other side of Switzerland. I organized a DHL courier to drive it to St.Moritz where it was snowing heavily. The courier phoned late in the evening and informed me that he wouldn’t take the risk of driving over the snow loaded mountain roads of the “Julierpass.” So I got in my car and drove in the middle of the night to the other side of the mountains to take over the freight. We made it back to St.Moritz by 3am where Mark and his team were preparing the mise en place for the opening on the next day. The Nobu team were anxiously awaiting the last items to arrive.

In the beginning of this year we met over a vodka tonic in the hotel bar and discussed the opening of the Cookbook Cafe and the launch party. I asked Mark if there was any chance of honoring us as a guest chef for this industry event. (Mark, thanks for your great support on the night of the launch!!). The event was a huge success thanks to Mark’s contribution. Following is our foodie interview with Mark Edwards, the genius Head Chef of Nobu London and partner of Nobu Matsuhisa.

(Above: Image of the South ramp of the Julier Pass road on a sunny day)

(Below: Mark Edwards with Executive Chef Michel Gehrig at the CBC launch)

Here is the interview:

Why are you in London? It’s one of the top gastronomic cities in the world
What is your favorite neighborhood restaurant that you would recommend to a friend? Hot Stuff in 9 Elms
What is the best dish Hot Stuff puts out there? Menu changes every day
What do you always keep in your fridge? Champagne, quality cheese, smoked salmon
What is your favorite cook book? Roman Cookery by Apicius
What is your favorite dish? A dish that someone else has prepared for me with their heart and soul
What do you never eat? Monkey Brains
What is your most important kitchen tool? My hands
What is your all time favorite drink? Vodka tonic (and we had so many of them already!)
What inspires you? Researching the history of regional peasant dishes
What do you cook for someone you like to impress? Something very simple
What would be your last meal? The executioner slowly braised over an open fire

Would you share your favorite recipe with us?

Steamed John Dory with Wild Garlic, recipe for 4

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Join us in celebrating Easter with your family in their finery for a wonderful brunch replete with Bellinis, Iced Tea Martinis, Bloody Marys and lots of lovely provender to please your perspicacious palates.

Our Chef has prepared a fabulous from the best Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon and Caviar to Cornish Easter Lamb with Spring Garlic and Thyme and more, you can look at the menu by clicking: easter-sunday-brunch-menu.pdf.

Chill and relax watching Park Lane and the world going by…whilst your children will delight in the Easter Egg decorating corner and copious near-coma producing cakes and candies whilst you and your significant other(s) are welcomed with a complimentary glass of fine Champagne to be followed by limitless lashings of the above mentioned beverages and lots of lovely offerings from our eclectic kitchen.

So don’t delay! Reserve your space today for our Easter Brunch. Spring into the season with us! We have a lot of bookings already and its picking up rapido!!

Here are the activities coming up in the next 3 month:

April 17 at 11am - 12.30pm:

Cooking workshop with Executive Chef, Michel Gehrig, get inspired with various easy to make but effective and impressive spring time cocktail party and small plate dishes to cook for your friends on any occasion. £15.00

April 24, from 11.30am - 2.30pm:

Our special of the day will be the Austrian world famous speciality Wiener Schnitzel or thin escalopes of veal, breadcrumbed and pan fried. What is the secret behind a perfect crispy, golden crust? Pop in to CBC for a light lunch and learn from our chefs all the secrets behind Wiener Schnitzel. from £15.00

April 26, from 7.00pm

Cookbook Cafe Kitchen Party, join us to have a dinner full of activities, various cooking stations and tasting sections, try Michels Ceviche with Tequilla shots, Stirr the Risotto pot, Roll the Sushi and use the blow torch to caramelize one of the several creme brulees! Muddle mojitos and caipirinhas and discover the secrets of mixology. £35.00 includes all food, wines and cocktails during the night.

While sitting down with my family and friends this Palm Sunday we were discussing what we will be serving up next weekend for our Easter Sunday family lunch. The following recipes are what we decided on and I thought why not share them with those of you who are pondering on the same thought. Our menu is as follows:
Cucumber salad with creme fraiche dressing, Roast leg of lamb with pancetta, sage and rosemary, and Fresh strawberries with sour cream and brown sugar. (more…)