Eat a lot: Hüttenpalast, Kreuzkölln

The first time I was at Hüttenpalast for lunch was last summer, when I sat in the garden and had something lovely with beetroot in. Today, to my delight, their ever changing weekly menu had beetroot on it once again.

Hüttenpalast is a caff with hotel attached (or maybe it's the other way around?). Do check out the hotelly bit in the back garden: the big shed with caravans, wooden cabins and huts looks amazing. Bit noisy I reckon to stay there, but very pleasing to have a mosey round.


Hüttenpalast, Hobrechtstraße 66, 12047 Berlin (Kreuzkölln), Mon-Sat 8am-6pm, Sun 8am-4pm, huettenpalast.de

Cook a lot: Fast, fresh, simple. by Donna Hay

I first 'met' Donna Hay in the shape of her magazine when working for Jamie Oliver in London. It was one of the mags that were eagerly awaited by everyone in the office. Once in, it would be fought over, disappear for days on end and finally pop up somewhere with drool marks on the pages.

Donna's books are like fat versions of her magazine: summery, whitewashed pictures with lots of pastels and impeccable food styling that somehow doesn't make you feel inadequate just by looking at it, but convinces you that your plate/table/life can look this good too.

Went to a place to see a band

Today I went to see friend Matthijs in a recording studio in Berlin. Twas exciting. I mean, see a band recording an album? Very rock and roll. But really, I went to see a bunch of bearded men wearing hats and smoking fags huddled together in a small room full of dials and buttons and leads and guitars. It couldn't be more manly if it'd been a showroom full of Ferraris... Still, I got to listen to some just-recorded music, got blogged about (see Woods on Fire website) and felt very rock chick. I left wanting to bake them something nutritious, or bring some flowers to make this space that they'll be living in for two weeks solid a little nicer. Boys... bless them.

Butter me up

My latest kitchen 'gadget' is this cute little butter dish. It has the exact same look as the plate next to it, which was a lot more expensive (and a gift from my lovely mate and stylist, Judith) so you can imagine my excitement to find a whole range of very similar looking crockery at Butler's here in Berlin. Actually, it's so similar I can't spot the difference, apart from the branding on the bottom. I'll have to hide my shoes to stop myself from going back and buying the lot!