Have you heard about the Woodlands Community garden? www.woodlandscommunitygarden.org.uk. We catered for their first aniverasy party this weekend and had a great time. Our children played in a prefect playground for learning, they discovered how to make a house using woven willow and enjoyed the freedom to run around with other children their age in a way that is so rarely possible these days.

It is a magic project which is building bridges with the local community, its schools and residents while developing awareness of the important ecological issues of or time. All that & they are making a really great garden out of a derelict site which had been collecting cans and bottles since the 1970′s.  

You can find it on West Princes St close to St George’s Cross. Most of the structure of the garden seems to be in place and as spring unfolds it will fill with colour new interests and have a few good things that can be eaten to crop.

The communities of Strathbungo & Pollokshields would do well to make reference to such a successful initiative. They have managed in these hard times to secure some funding for next year which is great news.

Take the kids, go for some great food at the one and only Asia Kitchen and have a walk round the corner to discover this lovely Glasgow garden.

Japanese woodblock prints by Gardner and now Japanese culinary traditions on Sunday the 13th at 6.30. This Month Cookie is turning Japanese.

Our guest Chef Sasaki Makoto  will take over Cookie and DJ Chef.

Sasaki will be preparing a 3 course tasting menu using the best of Scottish fish and other ingredients.  He will be able to tell you about each dish and give you a better introduction into the art and tradition of Japanese Food.  Of course Japanese food is not all about raw fish, Sushi and Udon Noddles.

It has always focused on the best ingredients prepare with particular beauty and seasonality  (shun). Just words we want to hear at Cookie.

Both Kanto and Kansai regions which are defined by strong and delicate flavours.

You will be able to get an introduction to all this and more at Cookie on Sunday.

We will be celebrating the Great Bard next week. Burns Night at Cookie with live music and not just Haggis. If you can do your piece there is a drink on the house. On Tuesday 25th with yer souter Johnnie in tow

The barter scheme we ran this year was a big success. It saw us exchanging on a whole variety of produce: from soft fruits to summer salads, edible flowers such as nasturtium and more. We would like to capitalise on this and also structure things a little better for next year.

If you contributed this year and would like to continue next year please get in touch. Lets hear your thoughts on what is the best way to go about bartering for goods.

We are really interested in using the food you grow and any surplice you may have. We would also like to hear from people who would be prepared to grow for us. That is people who would be prepared to grow certain items for us specifically and dedicate a little of their production to become alternative suppliers for Cookie?

Promote urban agriculture. http://www.sustainweb.org/cityharvest/

In addition to these thoughts, we have an allotment which we are looking for partners to help out with. So anyone who is interested in getting growing and is of a communal spirit drop us a line.

The production team from the Hairy bikers has been in touch with us and will be in Cookie on Wednesday evening.

There will be a new show running at T time on BBC 2 from the Autumn and they are looking for families to cook as part of a cooking competition to find “Britain’s Best Cooking Family”. Not unlike our own Chef Wars event. We were wondering if you or any body you know would like to compete.

Chef Wars could be a warm up and spring board to greater things. The studio lights await.!!!!!!

Here is a link to the new program. If you are interested please let us know and come along on Wednesday.

http://www.hairybikers.com/index.php?action=latest_news&article=163

It has been about a year since we came up with the concept for Cookie. We were on a family holiday to see our friends at cooking club in Vienna. www.kochklub.at We had magical weekend with the Austrian sculptor Walter Pichler and drove on to Italy. We brain stormed ideas in the car, the name…why Cookie? The Southside, the premises, an empty street, a Thomson building in distress.

The ideas behind Cookie were and are personal and professional interests of ours. Its approach to food comes from our family experiences and  our European connections. Our professional interest in community building, public health, design, art, ecology are all part of our other jobs.

We recognised Nithsdale Road had been a little forgotten and neglected as a commercial road but it had this fantastic double sided property. It is a road of great potential and we hope that in opening a commercial activity like ours we could become a impetuous for regeneration. The back backbone of our idea is a simple one, to create a restaurant with interest which we would be happy to eat in with our kids and our friends.

Cookie has come a long way since then. With lots of ideas under the bridge, some things worked, some things didn’t and some things need time to mature, developing understanding and trust.

Some of our ideas are just getting going, like educational programs, the film club, and the use of bartering for locally produced fruit & veg.

We have been working hard to get things right at Cookie, bring in professional front of house staff to ensure service at Cookie improves. We have been listening to our customers and been taking action to make sure things are tweaked and improved.

Our initial Cooking Club idea needed time to mature, and it is currently hiding under the surface in our popular Chef Wars events. This gives amateur cooks a chance to cook for fellow members of the public, trying out family recipes and their best dishes.

We hope that in time on Monday and Sunday nights the restaurant can be used in a more collective way.For the second half of this year we have an interesting Calandar of events and ideas:

Collective Jam making on the 15th and 22nd of August with NVA

Harvest Glasgow on the 28th at Tramway

Pasta Making in Clarkston library in September and Apple day in Rouken Glen park on Saturday the 11th of September

We hope to open a Farmers market stall in East  Renfrewshire

Stand up comedy will make an appearance in the restaurant after the Edinburgh Festival

On the 21st of September we have a wine education evening with Dr Pamela Clayton and invitation to form the Cookie wine Club.

As October roles in we hope to have the Film club up and going with a junior after schools version linked to Tilda Swinton and Mark Cousin’s 8 1/2 foundation

As always we can be booked for your party or event and our outside catering is growing to popular demand.

On Sundays we hope to introduce a regular Hog Roast when it doesn’t rain and free range roast chickens too available take away or have Sunday lunch with us.