When I read that Anna (NE food blogger The Grazer) was opening up her own kitchen in Ouseburn I knew I would have to make a trip down there ASAP.

Cook House is situated on Ouse St and opened its pretty doors to the public on Wednesday 6th August. As I had this week off it was the perfect time to visit. Open weekdays for breakfast and lunch from 8:30 until 15:30, the menu changes daily with tasty, local, seasonal food on offer. When we arrived at 9:30 there were other diners enjoying the sunshine sat out front and also at the back where there’s a lovely decking area and garden.

Mum and I both ordered toast – I knew I wanted honey on mine, made by the Ouseburn bees (I KNOW!), mum had hers with homemade strawberry jam and both of us ordered pour over coffee (coffee is from Ouseburn Coffee Company – my favourite). Delicious!

This venture is being executed entirely by Anna and from the little chat I had with her it’s obvious that she is so passionate about it. I can’t believe she’s doing this on her own without looking remotely flustered. Impressive to say the least. Anna was preparing for the lunchtime crowd and told me she liked to be ready for about 11am. With a small yet deliciously varied menu, I love how many veggie options are on offer – everything sounds so tempting. On today’s lunch menu there was:

Salt Beef Sandwich with Homemade Sweet Cucumber Pickle and Mustard
Roast Cauliflower Salad with Almonds, Celery & Pomegranate
Feta, Courgette, Pine nut and Lambs Leaf Salad
Sweet Potato Salad with Ginger, Pecans and Herbs

Erm, can we say YUM? If I was popping back for lunch I’d go with the sweet potato salad. Mum was very interested in the roast cauliflower salad. The prices are very reasonable in my opinion too, our breakfast came to £8. For lunch, it’s £5 for the salt beef sandwich, and the salads are £4 or £6 depending on if you fancy a smaller/bigger portion. I’m always happy to pay a bit more for good local produce and I don’t think these prices are high enough (which I told Anna too!).

Cook House is an experience not to miss, built from 2 converted shipping containers (amazing) and located right on the Ouseburn River (near The Toffee Factory), there are fresh flowers on each table, with bowls of fruit and little framed pictures all over the walls. There’s so much to look at and the colour scheme just happens to be my favourite.

Having had a nose on the website: cookhouse.org, there’ll be a series of supperclubs from The Grazer and other chefs & there’s also going to be a Food School programme if you’re interested (I am!) with the first being a demonstration from Charlotte’s Butchery. Keep an eye on the website for ticket info.

I took so many photos while we were there, it’s too photogenic not to, but don’t worry, I won’t subject you to all of them… (I love the space invaders painted by Anna – during The Late Shows the containers were turned into a video game arcade – gutted I missed this!)

For a bite of something tasty to eat and somewhere super cool to hang out, pop down to Cook House. If you decide to visit I’d love to hear your thoughts. I LOVE it and will definitely be back to sample the lunch menu, perhaps followed by a slice of cake for dessert…

As always, thanks for reading!