Eating Better
By Laurie Roche and Seema Vekaria
Hear from Batch Cook Club’s Laurie Roche and Seema Vekaria about a series of exciting monthly gatherings at the new Bedminster Community Hub.
At Batch Cook Club, we’re all about making cooking enjoyable, social, and accessible. That’s why we’re so excited about our monthly Cook and Eat events at the new Bedminster Community Hub. These gatherings are more than just about preparing meals—they’re about building connections, learning new skills, and enjoying delicious food in a welcoming space.
Our Cook and Eat events are designed to bring people together over the shared experience of cooking. Each month, we bring our pop-up kitchen to the Hub on East Street for people to gather and create a delicious, budget-friendly meal from scratch. Once the cooking is done, we sit down as a group to share the meal, creating a sense of community and belonging. And in the spirit of batch cooking, we make enough food for participants to also take a meal home to enjoy later.
Each month, we focus on a different theme or recipe, ensuring there’s always something new to try.
In November we made boujee pesto quinoa bowls with the group, demonstrating how easy it is to use a hand blender and everyday ingredients to make a delicious pesto. Our next class on Wednesday 4 December will feature Seema’s creamy coconut and chickpea curry – perfect comfort food for this time of year!
Whether you’re a seasoned home chef or you’re still figuring out how to boil water, these events are for everyone. We guide you every step of the way, sharing tips and tricks to make cooking healthier, easier and more enjoyable.
Open since September, The Hub shares premises with the Bedminster Library of Things, at the entrance to the former St Catherine’s Place shopping precinct on East Street. While the site awaits redevelopment, local charity Share Bristol has transformed an empty store into a bright and welcoming, safe place for all kinds of free or low-cost activities including: dance classes, cookery courses, arts and crafts workshops, music, health, fitness, wellbeing and bike maintenance.
We’re open for business and want the Hub to be the go-to place to go to in East Street. So if you’re looking for something different, interesting and enjoyable to do, or if you can run a session to reach and engage people, we’d like to hear from you. All ideas considered!
James Burden, Community Hub Coordinator
The project is funded by Bristol City Council and the West of England Combined Authority to create a fresh triple win for this part of Bedminster and Southville:
Upcoming Cook and Eat events:
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So, what change do you want to see happen that will transform food in Bristol by 2030? Do you already have an idea for how Bristol can make this happen? Join the conversation now.
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