CITY FLOWER

Dress / Zara

Boots / Vagabond

Sunglasses / Zara

RED & YELLOW

Beret / Topshop

Tee / Profesh

Skirt / ASOS

Boots / Vagabond

FANCY FARE WITHOUT THE SNOBBERY @ PIDGIN

 I am usually no big fan of haute cuisine dining, the sort of Michelin starred food served over several (unsatisfyingly) small courses, often within a very intimidating environment, Pidgin however is different. For one it is located in the middle of Hackney and could easily be mistaken for the many hipster neighbourhood brunch places that have sprung up in the area in recent years, with its minimal, cosy, there are only 30 covers, and slightly shabby chic interior. But don’t be fooled by first appearances. This place was voted by many, including the Guardian, as the best restaurant around and I find it hard to disagree. I mean it isn’t a place I will casually go to on a random Friday, the set menu is £49 without wine (which starts at a very reasonable £22 a bottle), which isn’t exactly what I spend on a normal dinner out BUT here it is SO worth it. The set menu changes every week which means you will never have the same dining experience more than once, and they are more than happy to adjust their modern European menu to suit vegetarian and pescatarian needs.

Rather than feeling a little awkward and out of place when the waiter went on to explain the complex dishes served, like I had experienced at other fine dining joints, here there was a casual and welcoming vibe that made us feel at ease even when what appeared in front of us was far from average. Simple ingredients were elevated to something truly special and unforgettable (a plate of carrot, lime peanut, lemongrass and ricotta may have sounded simple on paper but utterly blew our minds), with every flavour fine-tuned to perfection. Yes, there were quite a few courses but these were spaced out well and never appeared too small so that we left utterly satisfied (helped by our waiter topping us up throughout the meal with their outstanding bread and butter). It isn’t easy to secure a reservation here, in fact we only got one by committing to a late Friday night dinner at 9:30pm here, but waiting a few weeks to get a spot is hundred percent worth the effort. 

Take someone you want to impress to Pidgin or take yourself if you want to truly treat your taste buds. Pidgin is one of a kind that everyone needs to have tried.

PROUD EUROPEAN

Jumper / Souvenir Official

Trousers / Monki

Shoes / Vagabond

PATCH-WORKED

Dress / Zara

Bag / Zara

Boots / Vagabond

My Favourite Pasta Bakes

I have been somewhat obsessed with finding the perfect pasta bake lately, it being the perfect meal to feed a crowd on a Sunday, all prepped and ready to go into the oven just as your guests arrive so that all that is left to do after a couple of drinks is to pop it for a couple of minutes before enjoying the fruits of your labour! Below two recent favourites, one a little more traditionally Italian, with ready made gnocchi and a fresh tomato sauce at it's core, and one that is a little more experimental, fusing the classic pasta bake with Mexican flavours which may sound odd but turned pretty darn tasty!

Hope you try at least one of them and let me know what you think! Both have been firmly added to my recipe repertoire!!

BAKED GNOCCHI WITH TOMATOES AND MOZZARELLA

SERVES 3-4 (more like 3)

· 500g store-bought gnocchi 

· 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

· 2 thinly sliced shallots 

· 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced 

· 1 tablespoon tomato paste 

· 1/2 tsp. salt 

· 1/2 tsp. black pepper 

· 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg 

· 2 cups fresh cherry tomatoes 

· 1 tin crushed tomatoes 

· 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 

· 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped 

· 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped 

· 1 tablespoon heavy cream 

· 240g fresh mozzarella cheese, torn into pieces

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees celsius. 
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, make the sauce. Add the gnocchi and cook according to the package instructions. Drain and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the sliced shallots and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste, salt, black pepper and nutmeg, cooking for about 30 seconds more. Add the cherry tomatoes, tomato sauce and balsamic vinegar. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5-7 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat. Stir in the fresh herbs, heavy cream and the cooked gnocchi.
4. Transfer about half of the gnocchi/tomato mixture to your prepared oven safe dish. Top with about half of the torn mozzarella cheese. Then add the remaining gnocchi/tomato mixture and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Transfer the dish to your pre-heated oven and cook for 10 minutes. 
5. Remove the baked gnocchi from your oven and allow it to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Top with additional fresh herbs, if desired. 

Best served with a refreshing Aperol Spritz of course!

ONE-POT ENCHILADA PASTA

SERVES 4

Ingredients

500g pasta (I used Barillag gluten free fusilli)

2 jars of ready made enchilada sauce (El Paso does a great one)

1 can of refried beans

1 cup crushed tomatoes

1 cup of vegetable broth

1 big tin of sweetcorn

3/4 can of black beans (drained + rinsed)

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

salt and pepper, to taste

120g grated cheese (I used cheddar)

TOP WITH...

Sour Cream

Fresh coriander and chopped spring onion

Chopped Tomato

Finely Diced Jalapeño

Serve with lime wedges for a burst of citrus flavour and freshly made guacamole on the side!

1. Preheat oven too 175 degrees celsius. 
2. To make the sauce combine your enchilada sauce and refried beans in a large saucepan and whisk together to mix well. This unsuspecting combo amps up the flavor, adds luscious thickness, and boosts the protein/fiber content of your zest red enchilada sauce.
3. Add crushed tomatoes, vegetable broth, and chickapea pasta.
4. Bring to a boil, then add corn and black beans (as much as you'd like!) and season with chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper.
5. Cover and reduce heat to low/simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Transfer to to glass baking dish and cook your pasta. Drain your pasta and mix everything together in the baking dish.
7. Sprinkle cheese on top and transfer everyything to the oven for about 10 minutes or until hot and melty! 
8. Top with all your favourite toppings and enjoy! 

CHINA TANG

Sunglasses / Zara

Top + Skirt / Zara

Bag / Zara

Earrings / & Other Stories

SQUARED

Dress / ASOS

Shirt / New Look

Sunglasses / Zara

NEW MODERN

Jacket / Pull & Bear

Shirt / New Look

Cords / The Cords

Trainers / Nike

MY ULTIMATE GUIDE TO WORKING OUT

I was enrolled at one of Germany’s best ballet schools for two years before I moved to the UK. I have to say it was a pretty gruelling regime – 2 hours day, 6 days a week with Russian teachers that had no problem grabbing my leg and making the splits happen whether you were ready for that or not. And as weird as it sounds I ABSOLUTELY loved it. I mean I am perfectionist and loved being pushed to the limit, quickly becoming one of the best students in the class. I was unsurprisingly devastated therefore when one day, as fate would have it, we packed up our lives and moved to England, not London, no, a tiny village between Hastings and Rye, were finding ballet taught to the level and professionalism I got used to was near impossible.

My instant reaction was I guess a sense of giving up, eating a lot of gross English food because I had never tried it before (quickly also realising that I hadn’t been missing out), not doing any exercise other than the little bit we did in PE class and inevitably loosing the toning that years of ballet had let to. During my university days I used to look bewildered at people that would choose to go to the gym rather than eat brunch on a Saturday and limited my exercise to walking (though I have to say I have always walked a lot, something my granddad drilled into me with epic Sunday walks) and was yet to ever actually step foot into a gym, let alone plan my week around which classes I can make it to.

So what changed? Grown up life happened and with that stress, anxiety, problems sleeping and sitting at a desk for 8 hours or more each day came along and I began to realise how much I missed the release and escape exercise had always offered me. Of course not everyone is super sporty and for many doing yoga once or twice a week will offer exactly this break from daily worries. For me however it was also about the physical exhausation and sense of achievement and improvement week on week that certain exercise classes offer.

I now go to 4-5 classes a week mainly after work on a weekday and in the mornings on the weekends and I have never slept better, been more focused made more of my days – after all if you have a 9am Saturday class you are going to not waste your day in bed! I am not one to preach and if exercise isn’t your thing then this blog post won’t change that but I did a lot of trialling and testing of different classes and gyms in the process of discovering what Kind of exercise i enjoy and actually found it a quite daunting experience to start with which is why I wanted to write up this little guide and maybe encourage a few of you to give them a go to!

THE GYM

There are a lot of fancy gyms in London that will cost you a small fortune to be part of and to be honest most of them are in my eyes not worth it. I was a member of Virgin Active gyms for half a year as they had a under 25s deal going but it was still pretty pricy (over £70 a month), plus i was only able to go to my home gym and none of the other Virgins around London. Classes were always super booked out and while facilities were I guess quite fancy I was never really using the steam rooms or GHD straighteners so really was not getting my moneys worth.

You can of course take a more flexible approach to booking classes with something like ClassPass although I found the selection of classes on offer not amazing and actually ended up being fined £15 for not attending A class even though I had been there so never renewed my trial. It did allow me to try some class venues I’d always wanted to try like Frame although again I was pretty underwhelmed, with classes too full and equipement actually by now a little dated.

After all this trial and error I ended up getting a membership at Nuffield through a friend’s recommendation and I couldn’t be happier. You pay around £65 a month (although I got a discount being local to one in east London) and get to use all their gyms and classes around the UK. The gyms may not be super fancy but my local one has a swimming pool, is super clean and offers a great selection of classes. Even better, for evening classes I can use the one near my office in Covent garden and can reserve my classes over an app that let’s you book a week in advance. Classes are always busy but if you are clever by booking ahead you will always get a spot and honestly the instructors are as good, if not better, than at some of the more fancy gyms I have tried. Right now I do about 80%-90% of my classes with them so about 3 to 4 a week and with that am getting pretty great value for money. I can only wholeheartedly recommend Nuffield.

MY TOP 3 CLASSES:

BODY ATTACK @ VARIOUS

If I was to pick my favourite exercise class it would undoubtedly have to be body attack and it’s mix of high energy interval training combined with athletic aerobic movements as well as strength and stabilization exercises. Why? Well it may be a pretty intense 45 minutes to an hour (depends where you go) work out but it’s bloody fun and an incredibly good stress release. You jump around to fun tunes and learn a serious of moves that each class is build around alongside your classic lunges, not really thinking about the up to 700 calories that you work off each during each class. If I’ve had a bad day at work I genuinely look forward to putting my phone away and getting stuck in here. You may make a few mistakes to start with and struggle a bit but it really doesn’t matter as no one will judge. Most people become quick converts to body attack and will come every week and I don’t blame them! It is available at most gyms that offer classes and for me it is very much about finding a good instructor and a fun class to join more than anything else.

BARRY’S BOOTCAMP

Barry’s bootcamp is a known as celebrity favourite (apparently David Beckham loves going) and has had some major internet hype over the years, many claiming it is the best workout in the world. I mean it isn’t cheap, one class will cost you £20 but after only one sixty minute session so far I can already see why people come back week after week. Why? Well Barry’s boot camp makes you push yourself to the absolute max and then come back to for another session to do even better. The setting takes a little getting used to, being more reminiscent of a nightclub then a gym, darkly lit with loud rap tunes blurting out of massive speakers to accompany your instructor telling (and in some instances yelling) you what you should be doing. The group is split into two with half the class starting on the floor with weights and the other half going up on the treadmills. This followed by 4 intervals of switching between the two stations and being pretty ruthlessely pushed to your limits whether it is continuing to increase speed on your treadmill until you think your legs will fall off or lift weights until you can feel your breakfast coming back uo (top tip don’t eat before, I did and it was NOT good).

BLOKSCULPT @ BLOK

Blok is relatively new to the workout offering in London and currently has two locations, offering a range of different boutique work out classes in rather snazzy modern surroundings. I tried the new Shoreditch branch a few times and particularly loved Bloksculpt, a hybrid full body workout that will leave you sweating. Here it isn’t about running around, rather you start with a pyramid of exercises (burpees, mountain climbers etc etc) and repeat them until you get to the bottom of the pyramid. After this you use a range of weights and resistance bands to really work your core and glutes, all to a super fun soundtrack (think Madonna and hip hop). Stephanie who runs the class on a Sunday at 10am was a particularly great instructor and the main reason why I came back several times. A minor criticism- the classes are booked up to the max and the studio can seem a little crammed but definitely one worth doing if you wanna get those abs going.

PINK ON RED

Shirt / Arket

Top / ASOS

Skirt / & Other Stories

Earrings / & Other Stories

Boots / Vagabond

PRIMARY COLOURS

Scarf / Zara

Jumper / & Other Stories

Skirt / Zara

Boots / Vagabond

Jacket / Ikks