Cookie Catering Launches!  Cookie has joined forces with John Shields the award winning chef to give Cookie Catering real flavour, passion and the professional ability to deliver.

John has been catering for many years for the private jets that go through Glasgow Airport. Whether it be for Bruce Springsteen, Prince or a Captain of industry his culinary output needs to be on time and of the highest quality. This kind of work keeps him on his toes and makes him flexible. Qualities we were looking for in developing a new Catering business. We share a common interest for great Scottish products and a desire to make food tell its story.

Cookie now has the dimension to cater for large events with a dedicated team under John’s command. The culinary quality and interest that Cookie has brought to the Southside is now on the road and ready to be brought to you.

The strength of our cuisine is based on the quality ingredients that we use, whether these be from Scotland or Italy. Unpretentious classic British food meets Europe with a twist.

We are constrained by space at Cookie and our link up with John and his team gives us a whole new dimension. We are working with an already proven Head Chef and Caterer which means we enter this business with eyes wide open and a strong knowledge base.

John began his career as a chef at The Buttery. During his time at the Townhouse Hotel he gained two AA rosette awards for its outstanding cuisine. He then moved East to further develop his culinary expertise at the Michelin Bib accredited Pompadour restaurant in the Caledonian Hotel, Edinburgh. John was nominated in 2009 for New Restaurant Chef of the Year.

Cookie Catering tel 0141 423 1411

We have always had some kooky wines at Cookie. Our House red will be familiar to many of you, it has been missing for a while now due to lack of time to make a trip. Not to worry, Alessandro’s house is on its way. We have reserved 2000 lt of the stuff for the coming year. We tasted it and are now ready to ship it, packed with almond blossom and bottled with a Cookie label.

We have been freshening up our cellar at Cookie and decided to introduce a few new arrivals to our shelves. To go with these we are putting together accompanying small dishes which bring harmony to the ensemble and illustrate the qualities of the wine. So if you are looking to enjoy a bottle of wine with a friend why not come in and try something new.

The first to mention is a Pinot Blanc by Joseph Cattin. On the palate, the wine is light, soft almost creamy, delicate and subtle, Alsace is a great wine region and this pinot blanc deserves it’s Gold Medal (2009 vintage) - General Agricole Contest of Paris 2010. It is simply lovely and a great all rounder.

Number two is our name sake Kuki. When we heard the name we had to try it and it doesn’t let you down. It had to be good as this is our first concession to Non European wine. It is a Malborough Sauvignon blanc from New Zealand. Crisp and refreshing with all the gooseberry and passion fruit you would expect with a tingle in the finish.

Brachetto D’Aqui. Someone told me this was in last months Vogue magazine as the wine to drink this summer. We didn’t find the article on the web but it made us smile to know we are well ahead of the game by stocking this great and very different sparkling rose. It is truly is a wonderful bubbly fruity wine which will make you smile. It is all strawberry but not a fragolino. At 5% vol it’s not going to knock you out. It is the perfect summer opener. Surprise your friends. 

In the Red department we have added two interesting and missing actors to our list. The first is a beautiful Bordeaux with a blend of 75% Cabernet Franc and 25% Merlot.  Chateau la Croix St Benoit from 2009. You wont get better claret for under a tenner.

Barbera D’Alba from Mascarello. It must be the summer black truffles we brought back from Amelia last month sending subliminal messages. We can’t charge a restaurant mark up for this wine as nobody would buy, it so we have just applied a corkage rate to keep the price down and allow you to enjoy one of Italy’s great red wines. A plate of prosciutto, a bruschetta with truffle oil and a couple of pieces of Parmesan. Bob’s your uncle.

We have 2 events this week that might be of interest to you and your friends.

On Tuesday night 6.30 pm we will be holding a Cheese and wine. £15. The evening will present a range of wines that Cookie directly imports from small producers in Europe.

Our second event of the week is on Sunday 6.30 pm  with our 5th Chef Wars happening. This is the monthly cooking competition where 3 chef fight it our for a range of Cookie prizes.£20 gives to 3 main course and 3 puddings and a great night.

We will be holding a cheese and wine on the 21st of September at 6.30 pm £15. Please book with the restaurant.

The night will introduce the wines we directly import ourselves. These come from small producers in Italy, Austria & Romania. In conjunction with our tasting we will have a guest speaker Dr Pamela Clayton from Glasgow University who will speak about the state of the European wine market and the issues of marketing small European wine producers.

We will launch our newly bottled house red by Alessandro from the Sandonna farm in Umbria  and bring back our favorite white, Gruner Veltliner from Mr Schmid of Pillichsdorf in Austria.

Our new arrivals

will be from Romanian. Romania is the fifth largest wine producer in Europe today but hardly known outside its borders as 95% of its production is drunk domestically. Its wine industry is going through a revolution with some fantastic wines beginning to see the light across it borders. We will bring you native grape varieties such as Feteasca Neagra & Regala and the ancient Cramposie from Prince Stirbey.

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.

Cookie’s Menu frees up, as things come into season.

Our menu has changed to bring in some fresh ideas. We have restructured the menu to give a clearer definition between starters and main courses. A variety of delicious starters or light lunch ideas are given room as well as interesting seasonal salads .

Here are a few of this weeks specials: Grilled duck liver with Rhubarb Chutney and Camomile smoked salmon. Elder-flower sorbet and Rhubarb brulée.

Our off sales will see a few new names next week

Brachetto d’acqui appears for the summer. This is lovely red, bubbly, strawberry wine. Fruity red fizzy low on alcohol. “Must be nuts….a fruity low on alchohol wine in Glasgow?” Someone said to me… Cookie. It is perfect way to start the evening. “This is perhaps the most delicious, charming wine made today that few people know about.

“http://www.wineloverspage.com/italwineguide/brachetto.phtml

The Gruner Veltiner is now on its way from Mr. Schmid in Austria. So spritzer your evenings with this fantastic mineral melon and lemon wine and pretend you are looking down from the Viennese hills at the Danube.

“while savvy wine lovers have been in the know on Grüner Veltliner for a while now word is also starting to reach those that like wine but don’t necessarily spend all their free time geeking out about it.”

Chef War Round Two!!!

Sunday the 18th. £20 Sunday evening 6.30

3 Chefs 3 mains and 3 puddings.

Book now for this popular sell out event or sign up to cook. You will be given a full training in kitchen by our guys, tips galore and a chance to demonstrate your culinary talent. Last time Martin grabbed the prize with his Lobster and halibut linguini followed up with a Fruity Panna Cotta but Gail and Nick were close on his heals with, Grannies fish, pavlova and bananas and green curry.

Chef Wars