Cookbook Cafe's New Kids Cook With The Edible Playground Project & Trees For Cities

Cookbook Cafe (www.cookbookcafe.co.uk) at InterContinental London Park Lane has partnered with the Edible Playgrounds project (part of Trees for Cities) to launch the Seedling Series Kids Cook programme, which celebrates ingredients and teaches kids where food comes. Executive Chef Paul Bates has created a series of twice-monthly seasonal classes for kids aged 5-8 that are designed to be educational, interactive, and most importantly fun!

The series starts on 9th March 2013 with Sprouting Seedlings, where kids will learn to make an edible garden that celebrates the arrival of spring. Other sessions include Bee Happy, which teaches budding little cooks how to make a honeycomb mousse, the need for bees, and why there are resident honey makers on the roof of InterContinental London Park Lane. During Jersey Royal season, kids get to make their very own Mr Potato Head (complete with seaweed hair) and find out how potatoes grow, and where they come from.

                                                                                         

Kids get creative with mini-wooden spoons, aprons and chef hats, and at the end of the session they will receive a selection of seeds so they can continue their exploration at home.

Sharon Johnson, Chief Executive of Trees for Cities states ‘with fruit and nut trees being eradicated from schools and public spaces there has been an increasing sterilisation of our urban environment. Vegetable gardens and outdoor classrooms engage children with nature and ably demonstrate where food comes from. The new Seedling Series will help raise awareness of our mission and reinforces what we stand for’.

The sessions take place on select Saturday’s during Cookbook Cafe’s award-winning brunch, where parents are free to join in and get their hands dirty or sit back while the children are entertained. The Seedling Series is available to children attending brunch and costs £10 per child. Saturday brunch runsfrom 12.30 - 3.30pm and costs £49 per adult, £15 for under 12's and is complimentary for children under 6. In addition to an ongoing partnership with the Edible Playground project, there will be an optional donation for each guest to the programme.

About Cookbook Cafe

Cookbook Cafe offers upscale market table fare that champions British seasonal and sustainable ingredients in an interactive culinary experience. The restaurant, which was awarded ‘Three Star Sustainability Champion’ status from the Sustainable Restaurant Association, offers an English Counties menu and market table during the week that celebrates local suppliers. At weekends the spectacular brunch that features bottomless Cremant, Bellinis and Cookbook Cafe signature Bloody Marys.  For more information visit www.cookbookcafe.co.uk

About Edible Playgrounds

Edible Playgrounds are new food growing and learning spaces in the grounds of inner city schools that will provide diverse, multi-purpose and creative outdoor teaching spaces in areas where children have very limited access to the natural world. Trees for Cities want to transform playgrounds from drab to fab – exciting, interactive learning spaces, where pupils have the opportunity to learn about growing food and related environmental issues in a supportive and creative learning environment; and of course play in stimulating surroundings. Children who grow up in deprived inner-city areas are at risk of spending very little time around nature and research suggests that this can lead to diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses. Edible Playgrounds are always created in combination with a programme of environmental workshops that aim to engage the whole school. These involve the children, teachers, parents & governors in the design of the space, the planting of the trees, plants and seeds, maintenance of the spaces and teach the children about related environmental issues such as biodiversity, food miles and climate change.