Month: November 2024

Award-winning chef in coworking hub Kitchen Takeover

Award-winning chef in coworking hub Kitchen Takeover

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Scratch Cook Social, Kitchen Takeover, 1 Mill Street

A local chef is bringing his culinary skills to a coworking venue in Leamington as part of a Kitchen Takeover day next week.

On November 22nd only, visitors to 1 Mill Street will be able to order from an exclusively special menu curated by Rajesh Darji of Scratch Cook Social, throughout the day and as part of a fun trivia night between 6.30-8.30pm, with a host of prizes to be won.

It is the latest in a series of popular Takeover events at the coworking space which also houses a coffeehouse and Fluters Bar.

Scratch Cook Social offers bespoke private fine dining experiences and catering, for small groups, working with each client to tailor a menu that suits their specific requirements and dietary needs, but always steeped in traditional Indian flavours.

Having grown up as a 2nd generation Indian immigrant in London, Rajesh Darji established Scratch Cook Social in January this year after walking away from a corporate career following a period of reflection.

This pivot into the food space was borne out of his passion for creating exciting and tasty British-Indian cuisine, drawing on his experiences of living and working around the globe, while always acknowledging a deep appreciation and respect for his Indian heritage.

Raj said: “My working environment generally centres around my kitchen where I get to create and my home office where I spend my time catching up on admin. But, once a week I step out of these two zones and head down to 1 Mill Street which is open to everyone. You can only imagine my excitement when the team invited me to fill in for their great chef Marc while he takes a well-deserved break. I look forward to serving my particular style of delicious and nourishing cuisine to a, largely, new audience.”

The Menu includes a selection of dishes for Breakfast – until 11.30am – as well as Small Plates, Nourish Bowls and Healthy Snacks throughout the day.

Scratch Cook Social, Kitchen Takeover, 1 Mill Street
The one-off Menu for Kitchen Takeover Day at 1 Mill Street in Leamington

Catherine Callicot, General Manager, said: “We are super excited to offer something different to our Mill Street members and community and also have a very exciting Trivia Night happening in the evening, so Scratch Cook Social taking us into the evening is fantastic with small plates. We’re super excited about this new collaboration.”

As well as catering for events and special occasions, Raj’s culinary skills are also on display at regular pop-up events hosted by Café Desa in Regent Grove, Leamington, including, coming up, a five-course Winter Tasting Menu on November 29th and Desi Christmas on December 6th. Tickets can be booked HERE

Businesses urged to support new Feed The Hungry Christmas campaign

Businesses urged to support new Feed The Hungry Christmas campaign

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Feed The Hungry, Zimbabwe, Boxes of Hope Campaign

Coventry-based charity Feed The Hungry UK is appealing for local businesses to help fill a shipping container with enough food for children in Zimbabwe.

The new Boxes of Hope Campaign comes following a stark warning by the United Nations that over half of the nation’s rural population will be ‘food insecure’ by early next year. It comes in the wake of a food crisis that’s been exacerbated by a combination of recent weather extremes including extended droughts and soaring temperatures.

This Christmas, the humanitarian aid charity Feed The Hungry UK is asking businesses and organisations to respond to this crisis by filling a shipping container with enough food to provide 285,000 meals.

The challenge is for around 30 business partners to each raise £2,500 – enough money for 10,000 rice meals.

Feed The Hungry, Zimbabwe, Boxes of Hope Campaign

The Projects Director for Feed The Hungry, Gavin Kibble MBE, said: “We’ve worked in Zimbabwe for over 20 years and already have established feeding programmes in Harare. Because of the challenging conditions that have led to crop failure, we’ve started new programmes in more rural areas of Zimbabwe. Now, we’re regularly feeding 19,500 children every school day.

“These rice meals are cheap – just 25p per meal – but the mix of ingredients in each meal gives the carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals that a child needs to thrive. We’ve seen whole schools where malnutrition has been eradicated because the students are regularly eating this food. Businesses can give 10,000 of these meals for a donation of just £2,500.”

The Christian humanitarian organisation is regularly helping more than 485,000 children with meals, working with partners in 25 countries around the world to fight hunger due to poverty, war, famine and natural disasters. This is delivered home and abroad mainly through feeding programs and encouraging sustainability and Community Farming projects as well as holding packing events at the Halo Centre warehouse in Binley.

As part of the Boxes of Hope Campaign, for any company that can raise the money for the 10,000 meals, Feed The Hungry will come and run a food packing activity in which staff can pack the rice meals themselves. Packing 10,000 meals takes a team of 40 people around 2.5 hours.

Head of Fundraising for Feed The Hungry, Rich Smith, said: “We’re looking for companies of all sizes to take part. The donation for 10,000 meals doesn’t need to come from the business itself, but instead, we’d encourage staff to take part in fundraising as a team to raise the money. We’ve got online donation forms that can be set up for each company taking part so that you can see how much you’ve raised in real-time. And we’ve got loads of ideas to help you raise the money in enjoyable ways as a team.”

 

Feed The Hungry, Zimbabwe, Boxes of Hope Campaign

“Feed The Hungry run food packing events up and down the UK. We can come to your business and bring all of the equipment, ingredients and expertise so that your staff can help pack the meals that they’ve raised the money for. Meal packing is an amazing way for your staff to participate tangibly in helping to tackle world hunger, it’s a lot of fun and a great way to build your team.”

Organisations can contact the charity at: info@feedthehungry.org.uk or visit HERE to register interest and to get their own dedicated Boxes of Hope Donation Page for the company or team.

Find out more about Feed the Hungry’s work at home and abroad at: https://feedthehungry.org.uk/projects/