Michelin-starred chef Peter Fiori launches Coutts bank’s first ever cookbook

1/21
Liam Coleman19 September 2019

A Michelin-starred chef last night launched Coutts bank’s first ever cookbook, with recipes including ingredients grown from its very own rooftop garden.

Guests gathered at the bank’s headquarters in The Strand, and enjoyed canapés and dishes with herbs, fruits and vegetables all grown in the building’s Skyline Garden.

The garden contains around 18,000 different varieties of produce from wasabi to guava and Sichuan peppers – all of which are served in the luxury restaurant below.

Proceeds from sale of the volume, by Coutts head chef Peter Fiori and called ‘The Skyline Garden Cookbook: From Harvest to Plate’, will go to The Felix Project for the next week.

Aerial view from third floor as Felix Project was hosted by Coutts Bank in The Strand
Nigel Howard

Money raised from book sales on the night were also going to the charity, which was set up in 2016 by Evening Standard chairman Justin Byam Shaw, and distributes unused food to charities and schools. It has provided 8.5 million meals for children and those in need since its launch.

Speaking at last night’s event, Mr Byam Shaw said: “We currently supply 200 charities every year and in the next three years we want to cover the whole of London as soon as we can.

“The real aim is that no charity that needs our food is not supplied by us, in about two years. The support from Coutts and everyone here can really help go a long way to us being able to achieve this.”

Galician octopus ragout and black squid ink gnocchi, monkfish massaman sauce, pickled pineapple and peanuts were among the entrees enjoyed by guests at last night’s launch. Desserts included Sarawak black pepper macarons with rum, pineapple and passion fruit ganache and cinnamon and orange marmalade truffles.

Felix Project hosted by Coutts Bank in The Strand
Nigel Howard

Co-Founder of Quintessentially and the Government’s Food Surplus and Waste Champion, Ben Elliot, also spoke in support of the Felix Project and said: “I love the Felix Project, and all the work it does. I started as a van driver and it opened my eyes about three years ago to what an incredible charity it is, but also that it needed some real support.

“We all believe it is morally reprehensible that you could have all of this surplus that’s literally being thrown away and the project is doing everything it can to help to make sure it is used in a positive way.

“The book is a great idea and any more money we can raise for the project is only a good thing.”

CEO of Coutts, Peter Flavel said: “We try and be more than a bank and there’s lots of things we do to try and be a great bank, and events like this is about what we’re doing to be more than a bank.

“We’re here to celebrate the garden, our bees and the launch of our first cook book, and also the fantastic work the Felix Project does, and we’re hoping we can raise enough money to help feed thousands more people across London.”

Head chef at Coutts, and author of the book, Mr Fiori, said he wanted to see hundreds more rooftop gardens across central London in the next three years.

He said: “We wanted to create a book that really pushed the boundaries of what you can do in central London on rooftops in small.

“We’ve proved we can create this amazing urban rooftop garden and I want to put the word out there and want to help other people do the same thing.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT