Kitchenorium at TEDxLeam: The Preparation
July 2017
At the Small Business Connect-Up held in the Chase Meadow Community Centre, I was chatting with Linda from Linda Scannell Photography and she told me about the upcoming TEDx Leamington Spa.
When she mentioned that the theme this year would be ‘Home’, I knew right away what my talk would be: ‘How to turn your home into a pop-up restaurant’.
This was immediately followed by something along the lines of ‘A TED talk? Oh, but I couldn’t possibly do that!’, until the following day…
At the Leamington Hour Live networking group Kimberley and Craig, two of the organisers in charge of TEDx Leamington Spa, gave a talk all about this year’s event.
They explained that the application process was to submit a video describing the subject of your talk in 20 words or less, and the deadline was only a few days away!
As soon as I got home from this event, before I could loose my nerve, I asked Joel to film me on my phone presenting my idea from our kitchen, and the following day I submitted my application:
August 2017
When the feedback email arrived in my mailbox I could see the first few words of the text: ‘After reviewing all the applications…’ and I thought to myself ‘Oh, that’s a no, isn’t it?’, so I was even more surprised and delighted when I opened the email to find that I had been accepted as a speaker!
Of course, I couldn’t tell anyone until it was officially announced. It was only a matter of weeks but it seemed like ages. In the meantime, I provided my written bio and two photos, as well as some video footage taken at Kitchenorium by a friend earlier in the year:
September 2017
Hooray! In early September my Speaker Announcement went out on social media. Here is how it looked on Facebook:
As the subject of my talk ‘How to turn your home into a pop-up restaurant’ is based on the social dining events which we host at our home in Leamington Spa, it was decided that my talk would be filmed in advance at a specially organised Kitchenorium event.
In preparation for being filmed, I attempted the 10 day video challenge set by Gary from Leamington Hour. The idea was to record a short video everyday for ten days and post them on social media. I managed to do seven videos and they weren’t on consecutive days, but it did help me to feel more confident when the film crew arrived at our TEDx Leamington Spa event. Here is my favourite of the seven:
October 2017
After weeks of planning and anticipation, the day of filming arrived, along with some nervousness!
The house filled up with eight specially invited dinner guests and six members of the filming team. We served a two course Italian menu with vegetarian option, and it was all caught on camera:
Just a few days later it was the Speaker Mixer – an opportunity to get together with the other speakers, performers, organisers, speaker coaches and volunteers. There was a bring-and-share buffet so I took along some of my famous chocolate brownies:
November 2017
Two weeks before the big day, the Dress Rehearsal was held in the event venue, and this was my first chance to see the video which had been edited from all that footage into a 5 minute documentary. It was an odd feeling watching myself up on a big screen, but also exhilarating!
Inspired by the ‘Home’ exhibition at local art gallery Slate, held in conjunction with TEDx Leamington Spa, I recorded a few videos on the topic of #HomeIsWhereTheArtIs and here is my favourite of these:
During the last 24 hours before the big day I was occupied with printing and folding Kitchenorium flyers to go into the event goody bags, and then helping out with filling the goody bags full of fabulous stuff:
Further information about TEDxLeam:-
5 Twitter Tips for Small Business
This is based on a presentation I gave in November 2017 at the Small Business Connect-Up which is organised by AtKat Marketing and takes place at the Chase Meadow Community Centre in Warwick:
Tip 1: Do as you would be done by
- Be polite and respectful of others
- When someone follows you, look up their profile and consider following back
- When someone shows you their support, send them a thank you
- When someone messages you, send them a reply
Tip 2: Don’t by shy
- Follow people you know
- Follow people you don’t know
- If you see something interesting give it a like and/or a retweet
- Say hello and engage with people
Tip 3: Mix it up
- I read once that only 1 in 7 tweets on a business account should be ‘buy my stuff’ tweets so that leaves plenty of room for everything else
- Use photos, gifs and videos in your tweets to add diversity and encourage engagment
- Send replies, use both the retweet function and the quote function
- Post at different times of day, and on different days of the week
Tip 4: Cross-post carefully
- Having your posts from other social media automatically appear as tweets often makes for very unappealing tweets which are unlikely to get much engagement
- It is possible to have all or some of your tweets automatically appear on Facebook which will display any attached links, and can be edited if necessary
Tip 5: Use networking hours
- Look for industry specific and/or local networking hours
- Remember to use the hashtag on all your tweets
- Say hello and start a conversation
- Be there during the hour – don’t schedule tweets if you aren’t going to be there
- Don’t necessarily try to engage with every tweet – it’s not usually possible!
Find out more:-
- Follow Kitchenorium on Twitter
- Follow AtKat Marketing on Twitter
- Follow Chase Meadow Community Centre on Twitter
- Find out more about Small Business Connect-Up on Eventbrite
October 2017 at Kitchenorium
Hey there, here’s what we’ve been up to at Kitchenorium in October…
Kitchenorium’s First Birthday
Well here we are, Kitchenorium is now one year old, so it’s true what they say, time really does fly by when you’re having fun!
As a birthday celebration, and after some contemplation on the subject, we’ve finally created our official logo, which you can expect to see more of as we integrate it into our business identity:
TEDx Filming – Thursday 5th October
Menu:
Ricotta cake
Chicken cacciatore with rosemary potatoes
***
Vanilla ricotta cake with butterscotch sauce
Review:
TEDx Speaker Mixer – Sunday 8th October
That’s me holding the ‘T’ for TEDx!
Fancy photography by fellow TEDx Leamington Spa speaker Amrit Singh.
Tapas Tuesday – 10th October
Menu:
Galician almond cake
Patatas bravas, fried aubergine & stuffed peppers
Garlic prawns & lamb meatballs
Moroccan hummous
Butter bean & bulghar wheat salads
Iberico cheese & Serrano ham
Olives and fresh bread
***
Galician almond cake
Review:
Lucky Dip Dinner – Friday 13th October
Menu:
Tarragon chicken
Smoked mackerel fishcakes
***
Tarragon chicken with rice
***
Pot au chocolat
Review:
Slate Art Gallery HOME Opening Night – Friday 20th October
In collaboration with TEDx Leamington Spa, Slate Art Gallery is holding an exhibition on the theme of HOME, and I attended the opening night with my friend Jess who has her jewellery on display.
Read more about the exhibition here.
See more from Meg Rose Jewellery here.
250 Facebook Supporters – Tuesday 24th October
Woohoo! We’ve reached 250 likes on our Facebook page.
We like to post lots of food photos, info about upcoming events, menus, booking links and general goings-on in the Kitchenorium.
If you haven’t already, give us a look-see and a like, ta!
Book now for November & December
Thanks for reading, stay in touch
Subscribe to our email newsletter: SIGN-UP
Send us a message: CONTACT
Follow us on social media:
September 2017 at Kitchenorium
Hey there, here’s what we’ve been up to at Kitchenorium in September…
Get Together – Sunday 3rd September
Menu:
Carrot & orange cake
Chocolate brownies
Victoria sponge
Coffee & walnut cake
Raspberry pavlova
Lemon polenta cake (gluten-free)
Carrot & orange cake (vegan)
- Left-overs were donated to Helping Hands for their soup kitchen.
- A spontaneous collection raised £35, and this was donated to Shelter:
Review:
TEDxLeam Announcement – Monday 4th September
Network & Nosh – Wednesday 6th September
Menu:
Network & Nosh
Red pepper & goat’s cheese tart
Gougere
Baked camembert
Potato wedges
Stuffed mushrooms
Smoked mackerel pate
Salad nicoise
Chunky coleslaw
Dips & crudites
Olives & fresh bread
***
Hazelnut meringue
Review:
Video Reviews:
Simon from ST-IT Limited
Fiona from FiMarketing and Katherine from AtKat Marketing
Japanese Curry Club – Friday 15th September
Menu:
Katsu chicken curry
Tempura prawns
***
Katsu chicken curry
***
White chocolate & matcha tart
Review:
Muddy Stilettos Review – Monday 18th September
Catherine, the editor of Muddy Stilettos in Warwickshire, joined us at Kitchenorium for our inaugural Network & Nosh event.
She wrote a wonderful review of her experience, which you can read here on the Muddy Stilettos website.
Private Dining – Saturday 23rd September
Menu:
Boeuf bourguignon
Smoked mackerel pate with melba toast
***
Boeuf bourguignon with potatoes boulangeres
***
Profiteroles
Review:
Book now for October
Midweek Meat-Free: 4th
Celebration Dinner: 7th
Tapas Tuesday: 10th
Lucky Dip Dinner: 13th
Day of the Dead Feast: 31st
Thanks for reading, stay in touch
Subscribe to our email newsletter: SIGN-UP
Send us a message: CONTACT
Follow us on social media:
August 2017 at Kitchenorium
Hey there, here’s what we’ve been up to at Kitchenorium in August…
WeFiFo Host Ratings
Kitchenorium’s Rating Scores
On WeFiFo hosts are rated on four criteria: food, vibe, contact and value. Until recently only the first three were displayed on the host’s profile, but this month it was updated to include the forth one – value.
My highest score is in the value rating at 4.9/5 and this can now be seen on my profile:
Tex-Mex Tuesday – 15th August
Menu:
Margarita cheesecake
Chicken pozole soup
***
Halk rack of ribs with potato skins & refried beans
***
Margarita cheesecake
Review:
Pudding Party – Friday 18th August
Menu:
Raspberry ripple vacherin
Superfood salad
***
Peach & amaretti brulee
***
Lemon Posset
***
Raspberry ripple vacherin
Review:
Private Event – Wednesday 23rd August
Menu:
Italian chicken
Mozzarella & citrus fruit salad
***
Italian chicken with parmesan risotto
***
Build your own ice-cream sundae – a base of vanilla ice-cream with the choice of assorted toppings: meringue pieces, brownie pieces, caramelised hazelnuts, chocolate buttons, chocolate sauce, raspberry coulis, roast peaches & shot of espresso
Review:
Fully Booked
Fully Booked
For the first time, one of our upcoming events is fully booked!
It’s the free to attend Get Together this coming Sunday.
Well, who can say no to free tea & cake?
So, our next goal is a fully booked paid event…
Book now for September
Thanks for reading, stay in touch
Subscribe to our email newsletter: SIGN-UP
Send us a message: CONTACT
Follow us on social media:
July 2017 at Kitchenorium
Hey there, here’s what we’ve been up to at Kitchenorium in July…
Midweek Meat-Free Wednesday 5th July
Menu:
Potato gnocchi with fresh pesto
Tricolore salad
***
Potato gnocchi with fresh pesto
***
Hazelnut torta
Review:
Indian Feast Saturday 8th July
Menu:
Salmon tikka with tarka daal
Onion bhaji with raita
***
Salmon tikka with tarka daal
***
Mango lassi sorbet
***
Tandoori chicken with potato, cauliflower & aubergine curries
***
Chocolate & earl grey torte
Review:
Tapas Tuesday 11th July
Menu:
Crema catalana
Patatas bravas, fried aubergine & stuffed peppers
Garlic prawns & lamb meatballs
Moroccan hummous
Butter bean & bulghar wheat salads
Iberico cheese & Serrano ham
Olives and fresh bread
***
Crema catalana
Review:
Brookhurst School Fair Friday 14th July
We donated two tickets to Kitchenorium as a raffle prize for the Brookhurst School Fair, and received this heart-warming letter of thanks:
Letter received from Brookhurst School
Review No.64
We received the most epic review of our Italian Feast from last month:
Book now for August:
wefifo.com
Thanks for reading, stay in touch
Subscribe to our email newsletter: SIGN-UP
Send us a message: CONTACT
Follow us on social media:
June 2017 at Kitchenorium
Hey there, here’s what we’ve been up to at Kitchenorium in June…
Curry Club – Friday 2nd June
Menu:
Bengali fish curry
Bengali lentil soup
***
Rezala chicken curry with pulao rice
or
Bengali fish curry
***
Spiced semolina pudding
Review:
Italian Feast – Saturday 3rd June
Menu:
Baked semolina gnocchi
Baked semolina gnocchi
***
Crab & dill risotto
***
Aperol granita
***
Tuscan lamb stew with rosemary potatoes
***
Panna cotta
Review:
Muddy Stilettos Awards
This month, we were one of five finalists in the Muddy Stilettos Awards for Best Restaurant in Warwickshire.
Having been nominated in the first round, I was surprised and delighted to be voted through to the final.
As a pop-up restaurant that’s only nine months old, and competing against traditional restaurants, this is pretty amazing.
Great Get Together – Saturday 17th June
Cinnamon buns
We held a free event offering tea and cake in celebration of the Great Get Together.
Victoria sponge cake, coconut macaroons and cinnamon buns were gobbled up by our guests.
We are considering making this a regular get together… stay tuned!
Review:
Kindled Spirit Charity Dinner
We donated two tickets to Kitchenorium as an auction prize for the Kindled Spirit charity dinner, and were invited to attend the function at the Stratford Manor Hotel with catering by Itihaas.
Kindled Spirit do a fantastic job helping people who have been victims of human trafficking.
New friends!
At the event, we had the pleasure of meeting lovely Lisa from Leamington Therapy Centre and stylish Sarah from Public Marketing Communications.
Thank you to everyone for a wonderful evening!
Private Event – Thursday 29th June
Menu:
Selection of hold & cold tapas
Patatas bravas, fried aubergines & stuffed peppers
Garlic prawns & lamb meatballs
Moroccan hummous
Butter bean & bulghur wheat salads
Iberico cheese & Serrano ham
Olives & fresh bread
***
Crema catalana
Coming up in July:
Thanks for reading, stay in touch
Subscribe to our email newsletter: SIGN-UP
Send us a message: CONTACT
Follow us on social media:
Girls Night Supper
Menu:
A light and wholesome supper incorporating many autumnal fruits and vegetables, complimented with flavours of fresh herbs, citrus fruits, earthy savoury spices and warming sweet spices.
Cocktail: Marmalade Mule
The combination of marmalade vodka, a squeeze of fresh lime and ginger beer offers comforting flavours of seville orange and ginger on arriving in from the cold.
Amuse Bouche: Cream of Cauliflower Soup
To warm the taste buds before sitting down to dinner – a small helping of cauliflower soup, drizzled with cream, and served in little cups for ease of sipping.
Starter: Mozzarella & Citrus Fruit Salad
Slices of mozzarella alternated with pink grapefruit and orange, garnished with fresh mint and rocket, and dressed with lemon vinaigrette.
Fish: Smoked Mackerel Pate
The umph of flavour and texture from the smoked mackerel softened with a little cream cheese, lemon juice and parsley – delicious! Garnished with watercress and a twist of lemon, and accompanied by crusty homemade bread.
Veggie: Creamy Garlic Mushrooms
Sliced portabello mushrooms sauted gently with garlic, parsley and cream, served with crusty homemade bread to soak up all that flavoursome sauce.
Refresher: Pear & Cardamom Granita
Subtle, delicate, delightful.
Main: Squash, Sage & Pancetta Risotto
Roasted red kabacha squash, along with fresh sage, pancetta and a generous scattering of parmesan transforms a simple risotto into a sumptuous main dish.
Veggie: Harlequin Pie
A layered filo pastry pie with a filling of harlequin squash, chestnuts and a little mascapone, served with watercress and pea shoots.
Dessert: Stewed Plums with Cinnamon Ice-cream
Deliciously sweet and fragrant stewed plums complimented by homemade cinnamon ice-cream which softens in the warm fruit and melts in the mouth.
Petit Fours: Honey & Pistachio Pastries
Served with a choice of fresh mint tea or filter coffee.
Tex-Mex Night
Starter: roast squash (crown prince) soup
The crown prince squash looks similar to a pumpkin but with blue-green skin, so we came to affectionately refer to it as the zombie pumpkin! The flavour when roasted is similar to butternut but subtly distinct and works nicely with some warming spices.
Main: chilli con carne with rice
Made with fresh red chilli, roasted red chilli and a ‘walking’ scotch bonnett – you throw it into the pot whole but with string tied to the stalk so you can pull it out once the desired level of heat has been reached.
Veggie: stuffed peppers
Big orange-red peppers stuffed with a stewed vegetable filling of shallots, courgettes, tomatoes and roasted romano peppers, and topped with cheesey bechamel sauce and breadcrumbs.
Dessert: mississippi mud pie
The perfect opportunity to make a dessert I have long been day-dreaming about. Using this recipe, with a few tweaks of course, the result exceeded all expectation. It was one of the most decadent, intensely chocolatey and squidgy textured desserts I’ve ever made.
Recent Comments