Jamie’s Kitchen

Moving on with the London travel chronicles I started here, I thought I’d mention my trip to Jamie Oliver’s kitchen/store in Clapham Junction.

Clapham Junction is one of those neighbourhoods that has been gentrified and taken over by yuppie couples and their strollers. It has pretty shops and loads of nice restaurants and cafes where you’ll find yummy mummys hanging out in their support circles. It’s a lively area and the perfect place for Jamie Oliver’s new kitchen/store called, Recipease.

My friend Dawn said we could go there and cook and eat and they’d provide all the ingredients we’d need for whichever of Jamie’s recipes we wanted to try. No prep work or clean-up would be involved.

“Let’s go!” I said.

But at the half kitchen, half store, we realized our spontaneity wasn’t such a good idea. The kitchen was fully booked for the day and while we were there, an office cooking class party was going on.

So Dawn and I just looked around the store at the prepped meals like soups and curries and pizzas you could buy and easily cook at home and the Jme cooking and dining ware and other knick knacks. Dawn bought a jar of homemade cranberry sauce for a Thanksgiving dinner party we were going to that evening. I briefly considered getting the squirrel whose mouth would hold your nut while a yank at its tail cracked it but decided otherwise.

So in case you were thinking of taking a successful cooking trip to a place where people call the Naked Chef by his first name, remember to book ahead on their website. There are two locations, one in Clapham Junction, Battersea, London and one in Western Road, Brighton. You and your friends can decide to cook with only his recipes as a guide or take a class.