Bad blogger!

We have been so busy with work I haven't had time to blog.  We are looking at a new exciting venue in Cannes for a "pop-up" supper club.  Will check it out and report back.  Meanwhile the weather seems to be getting hotter and I need to get up earlier to cook and run.  All good fun though.  Hopefully will have a date soon so please come back and have a look.

Paella à la plage. Photos

What a great night. Thanks everyone - We met such  great people and also thanks to Nick Payne for these great photos! You can check out his site here

A huge thank you!

Sorry it has taken me so long to "blog" but life was a little hectic over the weekend what with feeding and entertaining 50 friends and then moving out of our house at 10am the next day and so we have been recovering slowly! I want to say a big "thank you" to everyone who eventually came along on Saturday night to our house, and not to the beach in the end. It was a difficult decision to make as we were so disappointed to move the venue at the last minute but I have to say it was a good call as the weather turned sour.

The night was a huge success thanks to the crowd of people who showed up. Such an eclectic bunch, it was a joy for us to entertain you all in your house.  Talking of entertaining I thought that Mike and Vonney were fantastic, thanks you guys for bringing your instruments and talent for us all to share.  Just wondering now how and when to do the next supper club.  We will post a date as soon as we have a plan so keep watching.

Now we are in Cannes and loving it.  The beach is a stone throw away and we are right in the middle of Le Suquet.  This is the place to "people watch"  The character's of Cannes are in abundance here in Le Suquet and my morning run is a lot of fun thanks to the joggers and "folk" I meet along the way.  When I lived in Bournemouth I used to run along the promenade a lot of the time and  there was a lady who used to pirouette between the two piers everyday, I think she was an ex-ballet dancer but I never thought I would see anything like that again until yesterday when I almost fell over watching an elderly gentleman ballroom dance in his speedo's.  He was there at the beginning of my run and still 30 minutes later on the way back happily spinning around and around "toute sol" with not a care to who was watching, I'm going to love living here!

Pushing 50!

Despite me being busy cooking for a private party tonight and Saturday, the 'Paella a la Plage' enquiries still keep flooding in and we are now fast approaching 50 people for our soiree on the beach. Exciting stuff and we can't wait to meet so many new faces. I will write more when I have time but thanks to everyone for the great support and see you all on Saturday week x

Paella a la Plage in Cannes. 19th June. Book early to avoid disappointment!

So it's official, our first underground supper club on a beach in Cannes. The theme is simple, Tapas, Paella and Sangria. Thinking of Eton Mess for pudding and the Rose will be included too. Start time is going to be 7pm, guide price 30 euros a head. We will let you know after you have booked exactly where on the beach it's going to be. We have some musicians coming along too which should be fun and a bit of singing if anyone fancies it! We KNOW it's going to be a laugh so please come and join us.

Also after the success of hot wraps etc. at the Lifestyle expo I would like to advertise my Red Radish Mobile Cafe. So if you know of anyone who needs an on-site Cafe for the day or week at any exhibition please let me know. The usual treat's will be on offer. Hot wraps with Brie and Bacon, Steak and Onions and Tuna Coriander and Lime. And of course the cupcakes,brownies and carrot cake. Just a bit of a change from Ham and Cheese Baguette!

What a weekend!

I've always wanted to run a little cafe so when Alison from Riviera Coaching asked me to do the catering for the Career and Lifestyle expo in Valbonne I jumped at the chance. As it was going to be visited by lots of Brit's I thought I should do the kind of food us Brit's do occasionally miss.  So as one of the children was coming home from boarding school for Half Term I decided to put in a sausage and bacon order to Tesco's to be delivered the day of her flying home.  It worked very well and the sausage smuggler arrived home with 150 sausages and a ton of bacon!

Luckily we had our lovely friend Nigel 'wannabe-catwalk-model' Hindle coming to stay for the weekend who actually thought he was going to sit in the sun and relax but I had other ideas! He made a perfect grill chef and spent the whole weekend making bacon and sausage sandwiches, couldn't have done it without him. We also sold a mountain of cupcakes, carrot cakes and chocolate brownies and the steak, caramalised onion and mozzarella hot wraps were a huge hit along with my quiche and salads.  So a very successful fun weekend.

Next secret supper dates are coming soon but we are thinking of the weekend of 18th or 19th June and it's going to be on the beach somewhere. Just planning it at the moment and will post the date as soon as we know for definite.

After a lovely relaxing weekend it's all go again!

Well what a lot of fun was Friday night!  After three days of cooking and making the garden look beautiful we were really excited for the film crew to come and shoot at our 4th supper club.  A huge thank you to everyone that came along and participated in our evening, I have to say we couldn't have had a more perfect group of people, all looking like movie stars!  The setting was perfect, Wayne and the boys spent the whole day hanging tea lights and jam jars from every branch they could find and the canopy of our oak tree when lit up looked stunning!  Thank you guys for all your help, as everyone knows I only take credit for the cooking, the scene setting is never really anything to do with me and I have to say Wayne always makes it look magical.  By the way if anyone would like to rent the space at the bottom of the garden for parties it's available!

Today I am starting to think of the cafe I am running for two days this weekend coming.  It's going to be another busy weekend but am really looking forward to it.  The very dynamic Alison Rentoul is running the The Career & Lifestyle Exhibition  Everyone who is anyone is going to be there.  I am going to do my usual quiches, salads and cupcakes but also we will be doing hot wraps and bacon and sausage sandwiches.  We are celebrating the 1st birthday of FR2DAY two with a few glasses of wine and a canape or too early evening Saturday, all welcome between 6pm and 8pm.

Hope to see you all there.  Bye for now

TV Supper Club - May 21st

This time our Supper Club is going to be on TV!

With half of the Film Industry in town, why would Red Radish want to miss out? How do you fancy some great food and the opportunity to become a TV star? That's what is on offer from Red Radish Supper Club next week. Their ‘Secret Supper' on Friday May 21st will be featured in a Travel Channel series in which UK television presenter Joanna Sinnott (Below) journeys from the North of Scotland to Southern Portugal - via the Cote d'Azur! Ok - it's the long way around - but can you blame her?!

Jo will be riding a Triumph Bonneville down through the Mercantour and along the Cote d'Azur, taking in the Cannes Film Festival - and we at FR2DAY intend tipping her off about a ‘Secret Supper' in the hills. The poor woman will have been ‘wild camping' for days - so she'll be famished! What better way to replenish than by gorging from one of Chef Lucy Bird's delicious menus?

We'd love you to join her - don't worry the cameras won't pick up on any bad table manners - they're there to record Jo wolfing down her meal and chatting with whoever wants to talk to her - about her travels, the Cote d'Azur, the price of cheese - whatever you fancy! She's also looking for somewhere to sleep - no houses or campsites allowed - just a piece of open ground where she can park her bike and pitch her tent - how's that for distinctly ‘unluvvie' behaviour?

There are only a few places left for this broadcast ‘secret supper' - it'll be a fun evening - they always are and Lucy is promising a four-course-feast!

Better hurry up and book your table now!

This post was copied from the original feature which appeared on FR2DAY.com

Menu for Friday 21st May 2010 - Still keeping everything crossed for the weather!

Menu

Slow Roasted Tomato Soup with Rosemary and Sel Gris de Guerande Foccacia

Classic Prawn Cocktail

Chicken stuffed with Creamy Pesto, Herb de Provence Potatoes and Ratatouille

Banoffee Toffee Pie

We will be providing a welcome glass of wine or two but please make sure you bring as much as you want.

Minimum donation of €25.00 per person but feel free to pay more if you think it worth it. There is an interesting independent article on supper clubs here

Please note that as the evening is being shot for a TV PROGRAMME all guests will need to sign a release form that they are happy to be filmed.

The subject of the programme is a film festival party so please come as 'GLAM' as you can but bear in mind that we are hoping to film in the garden so make sure you will be warm enough.  We will have an open fire to keep you warm!

Starts at 20:00 as we are filming it would be great if you could all be a punctual as possible please.

Directions can be found on the tab at the top of this page

Menu in the making

Sorry I have not put up the menu yet, I have had a busy week working in Cannes doing everything from catering to cleaning!  We have got two very beautiful "shabby chic" apartments in Le Suquet Cannes and have had a mad rush to get them ready for movie type people who are renting them from us.  A few teething problems were quickly ironed out and we now have very happy tennants! So happy in fact they have invited us along to the premiere of their new movie showing tonight in Cannes.  So with friends in tow, all dressed up in "glad-rags," Cannes it will be tonight.

We are keeping everything crossed for the weather next Friday as our favorite place to party is at the end of our garden in Chateuneuf. Wayne, the scene-setter, will be hard at work from Wednesday ordering the staff (photo) around.  I will be putting the final touches to the menu and hopefully will post it tomorrow.  Bye for now and have a great Saturday! x

If your names not down you're not coming in!

Sorry for falling off the radar but life has been 100 mph lately but the good news is we have another supper party date.  But not just any old supper party it's during Cannes Film Festival and it's being filmed!  Weather permitting it will be a candle lit dinner in our garden, maximum 28 people and the dress code will be "dressy!"  Can't give too many details but sounds like it should be a lot of fun!  The date is going to be Friday 21st May.  I will post the menu as soon as I have written it but in the meantime you would like to come to come just let me know.

Saturday nights rain check

The Chef said...

So sorry to say that Saturday night has been postponed because of travel problems! Fear not though we are trying to put another date on for next weekend! So sorry to disappoint. Lucy Louise

23 April 2010 10:48

Friday is now sold out!

Thanks to everyone who has booked!

Booking's for next weekend

The bookings have started to come in for next weekend which is great. Please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to book Friday or Saturday.  I have been asked a lot about payment and I know what the Brit's are like about "doing the right thing!" So I am going to give a guide as people want to know.  So for next weekend guide will be 30 Euros.  It will vary as the cost and hours of cooking vary too.  Can't wait to get started on this menu, my kind of food!

Next Suppers - Friday 23rd & Saturday 24th April

Kir Royale

Canapés of Parmesan and Rosemary Shortbread with Roast Cherry Tomato and Feta

Chestnut Veloute with Celeriac and Smoked Bacon

Goats cheese Soufflés with Red Onion and Balsamic Marmalade,

Pan-fried Duck Breast with Redcurrant and Red Wine Jus

Rhubarb Crumble with Vanilla and Ginger Ice-cream

Homemade White Chocolate Truffles and Espresso

A day of rest.

Well I think it went well, I have met some new friends, laughed a lot and today is Sunday.  Time to put my feet up. Can't wait to start writing the menu for the next supper club!

Sat up too late with friends!

In a way I am glad we have less coming tonight.  18 for tonight and that will be the limit.  Every 1st of January my resolution is learn to say "No," but I never learn but tonight we will just be 18 and no more.  Luckily I have most things prepped so it should be a bit easier today....better get moving.  I love the smell of the roasted spices in my kitchen.

First night tonight!

Started nice and early and as the day has gone on more and more people have called and now I have 28 for tonight!  A manic day and a bit of a rush at the last minute but the dining room looks lovely with masses of candles and bunches of wild flowers from my over grown garden at the moment. Onion bhaji's, samosas, soup,curries and all ready....here we go!

Ready,steady, lets get cooking!

This is the bit I like, I've been and bought all my lovely ingrediants, they are all sorted in my kitchen, Radio 2 is playing and I'm off!  Mango chutney is so expensive here I am making my own followed by the 3 hour reducing of the infused milk for the kulfi.  Shortbreads next followed by mincing the lamb for the kofta's and so on.  Late to bed and and early start tomorrow ready for Friday.

So Indian it is then!

So the big question is what to cook for the first party.  Even though Indian is not really my thing I know loads of people struggle to find somewhere to eat it so I'm going to start with that. Indian and Spices and to finish, kulfi ice cream with pistachio and cardamon shortbread followed by Chai Tea.

Here is the full menu -

Malaysian Sweet Potato and Coconut soup

Samosa
Onion Bhaji
Masala Vada
Chilli Tiger Prawn
Served with a Carrot and Black Mustard Seed Salad

Spicy Chicken Masala
Lamb Kofta in a Tomato and Yogurt Sauce
Dal
Aloo Gobi
Spiced Pilau Rice
Served with Homemade Mango Chutney, Raita and Naan

Mango Kulfi with Pistachio & Rosewater Shortbread

Homemade Vodka Chilli Chocolates

Coffee or Chai

Fancy coming for supper in France? .....Julia Child would have loved it!

My daily run is my thinking time and the thought that jumped into my head today was why not start a supper club here on the Cote D'Azur like all the trendy folk are doing over in London and NY!  So as always my acorn idea Wayne turns into an oak tree idea and we are off again!