Tag: great western arcade

Talk: Squaring Up with Gizzi Erskine

aroundbrum, brummiegourmand, nonfood, Sponsored

Something rather Square and American has come to Great Western Arcade in the shape of Square UK’s  first ever pop-up shop,  and follows in the footsteps of Square’s first physical store in New York, which opened last month.

To celebrate opening in Birmingham they have also had a few speakers over the last few days including Ree Ree Rockette (lifestyle blogger) and Paul Hardwood (Birmingham Brewery Company), who’s talking on Thursday 14th September.

 

I had chance to hear the amazing Gizzi Erskine talk about her life and career with Birmingham’s own amazing Full to the Brum (Laura)

IMG_20170911_185223_160

It was a fantastic talk, covering her bohemian upbringing, and her mothers introduction of world food to her diet at a different age. Her difficulties with completing her normal education and then moving in to being a trained body piercer.

We then moved on her enrolment at Leith’s Cookery school being the most intense and fulfilling experience of her life and balancing cooking in professional cooking with completing her course.  She was also lucky to work at St John with Fergus Henderson  provocateur of ‘Nose to Tail Eating’ and her first day at work boning a goat.

This led to her becoming a pioneer of Pop-Up cookery with her friend and fellow St John employee Abby at an art gallery in Brick Lane in 2001. With three course dining and a pay what you want ethos.

Gizzi also won the intern prize at Leiths to work at Good Food magazine and was lucky to go to the Good Food show in Birmingham as a warm up act for Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay, and from then on was being chased to become a TV Chef, starting behind the scenes on Full on Food with Heston Blumenthal and Richard Corrigan, and then on to Ready, Steady, Cook. She found her feet on the second series of Cook Yourself Thin and the battles between being an authentic chef and meeting TV’s demands.

She’s now taken her early inspiration of Eastern cuisine into her latest show (Gizzi Erskine Seoul Food airing now on the Good Food Channel), and her love of Bao buns via way of Dave Chang (Momofuko), and the amazing boiling pot of fusion cuisine in New York.

We also learnt about her experience in setting up K-Town,  a pop-up eatery inspired by New York’s Korean quarter in Shoreditch in 2012, the story of how Korean Fried chicken came to be, and how she’s now looking to Malaysian and Thai food and how that wave will soon hit the UK.

 

IMG_-cx2hv9

An hour wasn’t long enough to hear her talk and was great to see the warmth, wit and genuine passion for food coming through and I’ll be attempting to make food from her books at some point in the near future, where she gives lots of technical advice.

A big thank you to Square for giving me a heads up about the talk (free and open to the public).

IF YOU POP DOWN BEFORE SATURDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER AT 6PM

Local business owners will also be able to pick up a free Square Reader if they visit the pop up shop and sign up for Square in September.

OPENING HOURS:

Square’s pop-up shop will be open from 4th – 16th September from 09:00 – 18:00 Monday to Saturday and 11:00 – 17:00 on Sundays.

There’s one more free masterclass being held (tomorrow at the time of writing) and I urge you to get down if you have chance.

FREE EVENT

  • Thursday 14 September at 18.30: Birmingham Brewery Company’s Paul Hardwood will talk about the challenges and joys of giving up your job to follow your dream – in his case to launch a ‘Brummie Beer’ range – a tasting of which will be held after his talk

WHERE: The Great Western Arcade, Unit 6, Colmore Row, Birmingham, B2 5HU

With the Square card reader, businesses can take card payments with no monthly contracts or hidden fees, and get their money the next business day. It takes minutes to get started, and sellers can quickly and securely begin accepting chip & PIN and contactless payments from Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

Square’s card reader costs £39 +VAT, but to celebrate Square’s first UK pop up shop, local business owners can get a free Square Reader if they visit the pop up shop and sign up for Square in September.

For more information visit www.square.com/westmidlands

 

When: 11/09/2017

Where: Square UK Pop Up Shop, Great Western Arcade, Unit 6, Colmore Row, Birmingham, B2 5HU

Who: Square UK, Gizzi Erskine,

News: Square opens new Birmingham pop-up shop offering free events and masterclasses for local businesses

brummiegourmand

So, there’s something SQUARE coming to the neighbourhood, so I thought I’d let you know.

 

testimonial2.gb-676ef749ab329f2d854dd0e88a6b42eb

A new pop-up shop is opening today in Birmingham’s Great Western Arcade. The first of its kind in the UK, the Square pop-up will run until the 16 September and follows in the footsteps of Square’s first physical store in New York, which opened last month.

The pop-up will offer a selection of products from local businesses across the West Midlands region, and representatives from Square will be there to answer questions about products and services.

Great_Western_Arcade_Temple_Row

Open daily, local business owners will also be able to pick up a free Square Reader if they visit the pop up shop and sign up for Square in September.

OPENING HOURS:

Square’s pop-up shop will be open from 4th – 16th September from 09:00 – 18:00 Monday to Saturday and 11:00 – 17:00 on Sundays.

In addition, Square will host a series of free events and masterclasses for local business owners at the pop-up:

FREE EVENTS:

  • Thursday 7 September at 18.30: Alternative style blogger and salon owner Ree Ree Rockette will share tips on the importance of social media for small businesses and how to build an online following.

  • Sunday 10 September at 14.00: Local creative community Badego will be host a meet up and record a podcast episode featuring businesses who have grown thanks to technology like Square.

  • Monday 11 September at 18.30: Chef and best-selling food writer Gizzi Erskine will share what she learned from building her food business.

  • Thursday 14 September at 18.30: Birmingham Brewery Company’s Paul Hardwood will talk about the challenges and joys of giving up your job to follow your dream – in his case to launch a ‘Brummie Beer’ range – a tasting of which will be held after his talk

WHERE: The Great Western Arcade, Unit 6, Colmore Row, Birmingham, B2 5HU

 

hero.extra-large.gb-9a1e2cf785f13203bab7a50b636f85ad

With Square, businesses can take card payments with no monthly contracts or hidden fees, and get their money the next business day. It takes minutes to get started, and sellers can quickly and securely begin accepting chip & PIN and contactless payments from Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

Square’s card reader costs £39 +VAT, but to celebrate Square’s first UK pop up shop, local business owners can get a free Square Reader if they visit the pop up shop and sign up for Square in September.

For more information visit www.square.com/westmidlands

 

Mâcher at Miss Macaroon

brum bites, brummiegourmand

Great Western Arcade is attracting a lot of food highlights to its Victorian arches. From some of the world’s best sandwiches in Anderson & Hill deli, fresh sushi in Sushi Passion, great coffee with York’s Espresso Bar, award winning Loki Wine, vegetarian speciality restuarant 1847 and soon to be opening The Charter Rooms (Langley’s Gin‘s cocktail bar), it’s turning into a foodie destination rather than just a walkway.

 

Newest member to the throng is Miss Macaroon and Wifey and I were lucky enough to be invited to their launch night. Founded by former Purnell’s Patisserie chef Rosie Ginday, this is a business with a heart, as well as a sweet-tooth.

 

img20161028171317

 

Created not just to sell sweet treats combined with prosecco, it’s also a social enterprise. They provide employment and training programmes aimed at youngsters, who may have slipped through the education system, are care leavers or find themselves homeless, through every macaroon sold in the shop or their online store with even customisable options available.

 

 

Whilst Rosie talked to us about Miss Macaroon’s mission to make the world a better and sweeter place, we munched on some of the delicious treats, with Salted Caramel, vanilla and dark chocolate. Light yet packed full of flavour, they were delicious and went well with a glass of prosecco.

 

We also had chance to have a go at decorating our own with edible cold paint and some very delicate painting brushes. I had a go at the Twitter bird but failed, whilst Wifey did better with her geometric pattern.

 

We also had an opportunity to create our own recipe and whilst I was waiting, I grabbed a few snaps of possibly the world’s most colourful counter. The decor in such a bijou shop was artfully done, with a beautiful window display.

It was then my turn to lend a hand with my creation, and choosing my ganache from the spinning record desk display!

img20161028174103

I went for:

  • Chocolate Shell
  • Tiramisu Ganache
  • Smoked Sugar
  • Poire William Syrup

img20161028174728

I named it  Café Gourmand in honour of the French combination of mini desserts and coffee, to match the chocolate and tiramisu combination.

Whilst Wifey went for:

  • Matcha Green Tea Shell
  • Dark Chocolate and Passionfruit Ganache
  • Smoked Sugar
  • Mango Syrup

img20161028174336

For her fruity  combination, it was Matcha Made in Heaven.

It’s  great to see something different from the normal cafe or bar. The Miss Macaroon shop currently seats eight customers inside, and a further six alfresco are to be added in spring next year.

img20161028174234

To keep those customers occupied, 30 different flavours of macaroons, all freshly hand piped, baked and hand filled at its dedicated kitchen in Hockley will be available. On the beverage side, Prosecco, carefully matched to the sweetness of the macaroons by Connolly’s Wines, is available, along with hot chocolate by Valrhona and ‘Aurelio’ golden artisan beer by Two Fingers Brewing Co, who direct their profits to Prostate Cancer UK.

With a world first ‘personalised’ option, where customers can have logos, words or even their face printed on their macaroons in under one hour, they even can do a pantone colour matching service. It’s great to see Birmingham being their first location and I look forward to many more with their aim of 100 stores  by 2021.

Disclaimer: For this evening, I was a guest of Miss Macaroon, this provides no bias to the post. This blog is my own personal opinion and strives to provide an independent view, promoting, enjoying and reviewing the range of exciting food and venues in and around Birmingham.

 

When: 28/10/2016

Where: Miss Macaroon,  Great Western Arcade, Colmore Row, Birmingham. B2 5HU

Who: Miss Macaroon