The London Kitchen Project, based in a beautiful former ice factory, has a very simple aim: to harness the joys of food and cooking to benefit the local community.
Their mission is to develop and nurture young talent, lifting kids – and indeed adults – into genuine opportunities for a career in the food business.
And for those not planning on going the whole hog and making cooking a vocation, there’s still masses that can be learned about nutrition, food production and sustainability, plus the satisfacton of sitting down to a plate of own-cooked grub.
London Kitchen Project founder Dickie Bielenberg worked as a school governor focusing on food and health for many years and as a trustee of the Organic Research Centre focusing on the journey from ‘field to fork’, so he knows his onions.
“I wanted to bring all these aspects together into a cooperative style, sustainable, community-based project,” he says of the LKP. “We’re aiming to create a platform that will benefit many parties in both food and education.”
So look out for a huge variety of events, supperclubs, pop-ups and cookery classes that anyone with a passion for food can get involved in, with all funds pumped right back into community projects.
One of the first partners is charity The Mini Cooking Club, which puts on Saturday workshops aimed at young children, families, adults and individuals with mental health concerns living in South London.
And the four kitchen stations and a dining area are available to hire, raising more vital funds, with a scholarship programme in place offering discounted rent on kitchen hire to up-and-coming chefs and food start-ups.
The whole thing sounds, well, delicious.