Peterborough

Pic n Mix Peterborough returns from January 2020

15th December 2019 By Scott Coe Leave a Comment

‘Pic n Mix’ returns to the “When Polly Met Fergie” restaurant and bar in 2020 with its mix of comedy, music and spoken word artists from around the country.

On January 17th, their headliner is the International award winning performance poet Dominic Berry. Dominic was 2017’s Glastonbury Festival Poet in Residence, and winner of the 2017 Saboteur ‘Best Spoken Word Artist’ award. Joining him is Peterborough’s very own Keely Mills. Comics include Umar Haque and Lewis Harlock, with music from the Candy Nettles duo.

Then on January 31st it’s the turn of the Some Antics takeover from Leicester, which also features Leamington Spa festival’s Mike Took.

On February 28th it’s a celebration of local laureates and bards, including Wisbech’s Elisabeth Sennitt Clough, St Ives very own Chris Morgan, and Louise Hallian from Spalding.

Pic n Mix Peterborough returns from January 2020 (Art by Sean Reidy)

With further dates and acts to follow throughout 2020, we’ll be looking forward to some sweet entertainment.

Pic n Mix takes place monthly upstairs at the ‘When Polly Met Fergie’ restaurant and bar, located in The Westgate Arcade, Peterborough, PE1 1PY. If you’re also thinking of food beforehand, you can see the plant-based menu on the When Polly Met Fergie website.

Credit: Artwork by Sean Reidy.

Free Family Fun At Peterborough STEM Festival 2018

12th October 2018 By Dan Thornton Leave a Comment

For the third year in a row children from 5-16 and their families will be able to enjoy a free day of fun. And learn about science, technology, maths and engineering at the same time. Peterborough STEM Festival 2018 is the biggest event yet, with more than 3,000 people expected to attend the KingsGate Conference Centre on Saturday 13th October.

There are loads of reasons to attend. The speakers include TV presenter Maddie Moate and Horrible Science author Nick Arnold with interactive shows. Along with mathematician Katie Steckles, futuristic fashion from KonichiwaKitty, and Tom Rocks Maths.

And there are loads more exhibitors with things for everyone to enjoy. Main sponsors Anglian Water and BGL Group have interactive engineering and tech-based escape rooms. There’s a Sahara Force India F1 car and simulator provided by Codem, forensic science with University Centre Peterborough, a Mad Science show in collaboration with Anglian Water, the RS Components Titan II truck full of the latest technology, and more.

There’s retro gaming, 3D fantasy worlds, building the best paper plane, an introduction to coding, making your own musical glove instrument, hands-on science experiments cartography and map-making, building bridges and learning about amphibians and reptiles with a VR experience. And probably other activities that aren’t listed above.

Check out the videos below for some of the highlights from previous years:

Peterborough STEM Festival 2017:

Peterborough STEM Festival 2016:

Peterborough STEM Festival is involved with Ada Lovelace Day. Which is a global celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths. It’s founded and organised by the team at Digital People in Peterborough, a non-profit group originally set up to run a monthly tech meetup in the city. And it’s supported by some great sponsors, including Anglia Water and BGL Group. Not to mention a tremendous bunch of volunteers who give up days, weeks and months of their time to enable the Peterborough STEM Festival to happen.

There’s also a growing calendar of related fringe events, including a Schools Challenge Day, First LEGO League and STEM Roadshow.

To find out more about attending, sponsoring, exhibiting or volunteering now or for future events, check out the Peterborough STEM Festival website.

And to find out about attending, sponsoring, presenting or volunteering with Digital People in Peterborough, then go to the DPiP website.

House of Feasts Restaurant Review

30th May 2018 By Dan Thornton Leave a Comment

When you think of gastronomic destinations, Peterborough might not be the first place that springs to mind. For a city of around 200,000 people, the choices have always been a little limited. But that’s changed over recent years with a number of new restaurants opening. One of the most notable has been House of Feasts, which began offering European and Polish rustic fine dining in June, 2017.

It’s actually located in Eye Green, which is a short 10 minute drive from the city centre. And noted chef Damian Wawrzyniak recently invited a group of bloggers and journalists to sample a new 12 course tasting menu to demonstrate why it’s definitely worth the journey.

House of Feasts Smalec & Sourdough Bread & Pickles

Damian has a comprehensive pedigree as a chef. He’s been voted a UK Top 10 Food Pioneer by BBC Good Food, appeared on the BBC Mary Berry Easter Feast programme, gained experience at the world-renowned NOMA, and was a Head Chef at the London 2012 Olympics. And he’s also recently become the first chef to be awarded the Polish Knights Cross, a prestigious award equivalent to an OBE in the UK. He also cooked for Prince William and Kate Middleton during a Royal visit to Poland, including the traditional Polish Smalec pictured above.

But despite his accolades, House of Feasts mixes tasting menus including the ‘Feast 5’ and ‘Feast 7’ with more affordable set menus and roasts from £18 per person for two courses, and outdoor events including hog roasts and barbecues. And the vast majority of ingredients come from nearby East Anglian suppliers, including Damian’s own garden on some occasions.

The House Of Feasts: ‘Feasts 12’

The menu for my visit actually consisted of 13 courses. And that certainly wasn’t unlucky as it allowed the dishes to cover a wide range of British and Polish influences. Obviously it was a considered selection, which encompassed a variety of meat, fish and vegetable delicacies in a way which allowed the meal to flow from one combination to the next.

And it started strong, with an Aged Beef Tartare, accompanied by a cured egg yolk and pickles. If House of Feasts occupies a light, airy and pleasant former pub location, the food delivered the impact you might be needing. The beef was perfect, and the dish was lifted by the sharpness of the pickles to be the perfect starter for me. In fact, I could have quite happily eaten 12 more portions and not tired of it.

House of Feasts Aged Beef Tartare

The tartare was followed by the Smalec, which is a traditional Polish pork lard spread. The House of Feasts interpretation is made from three cuts of British Pork with apple, herbs and in-house made pancetta. Plus a choice of Sourdough bread, charcoal bread, and pickles.

Charcoal then reappeared as a Tuile de Pan, alongside a beetroot puree and lemon pear to accompany another of the highlights of the Feast menu, which was a Cured Herring. I’ve tried various cured and pickled herring dishes in various trips to Europe, and this was certainly one of the best. Delicately balanced, moreish, and just delicious.

House of Feasts Cured Herring

Next up was the visually impressive Leek Tree in tempura, with a light cream and smoked cheese. Served on hot coals, it provided a break before the double act of Beetroot Cured Salmon, followed by a particularly nice Sea Bass with fermented asparagus and lovage leaves. If the salmon was another delicate fish dish with leek ash and star anise cured beetroot, the sea bass was perhaps even better.

It was time to move towards the meatier end of the menu, via a Potato Cottage Cheese and Ash dish with spinach and potato ash to lift what might have otherwise been a little too plain, even as a palate cleanser and respite. And with hindsight, it was a good break in the menu before we were served a deliver Short Rib of Beef with preserved elderberries and cured carrot, a wonderful Lamb with preserved nettles from Damian’s own garden and a lamb jus, and a Brined and Slow Cooked Pork Belly with Pickled Tindora. In the midst of this meat trio, there was an unusual vegetable dish with ‘All about Parsnip’ involving lemon preserved, honey cured, and pickled examples of a generally overlooked vegetable.

House of Feasts Short Rib of Beef

Just about the only criticisms of the entire meal came with a perhaps slightly underdone example in my trio of parsnips, and a pork belly which was perhaps a tiny bit over. Which meant both dishes were only good, rather than amazing. But when it’s up against the sublime Beef Tartare, Cured Herring, Sea Bass and the extremely tender and tasty Lamb, it’s hard to keep perspective about any dish which is good but not great.

Finally came the desserts and two more highs. First was a Faworki Mille Fuille. The combination of the French pastry slice with deep-fried Polish pastry worked brilliantly. It’s possible to order home-made sourdough bread for collection from the House of Feasts online shop, but I could quite happily order a box of the Faworki Mille Fuille and finished them before I finished the 10-minute drive home.

House of Feasts Faworki Mille Fuille

The final of the 13 courses was an aerated chocolate mousse which rounded everything off nicely. And it’s fair to say that after so many delicious plates of food, it was almost a struggle to finish the final spoonful. Although I probably could have been tempted by just one more plate of tartare or another mille fuille.

The House of Feasts Tasting Menus are available on selected dates, and start from £48 for a five dish selection accompanied with Amuse Bouche. Normally, you can choose from the A’La Carte Menu from Wednesday to Saturday, and the Sunday Roast, along with the special events offering a more set menu at a lower price. It’s certainly something I’d recommend as a treat for anyone with an interest in amazing food and casual fine dining. Damian has also opened a similarly modern Polish-influenced restaurant named Jan in Clapham, London, so it’s proof that you don’t need to travel to the capital from Peterborough any more to experience extremely high quality food from an accomplished and renowned chef. You don’t even need to drive down to Cambridge. Instead you just need to take a trip out to Eye Green. And if you’re not from the area, it’s more than worth making a detour and a stop-over for.

House of Feasts is located at 41 Crowland Road, Eye Green, Peterborough, PE6 7TP. Find out more and make a reservation, book a wedding or BBQ, or purchase from the shop on the House of Feasts website.

Disclosure: The above meal and drinks were provided to us for the purposes of unbiased and independent coverage.

Peterborough STEM Festival 2016

12th September 2016 By Dan Thornton Leave a Comment

Peterborough is a somewhat strange place. It seemingly existing in the middle of a triangular vacuum created by Cambridge to the south, Norwich to the east, and Leicester to the west. A cathedral city home to historic discoveries like those at Flag Fen, it’s mostly known for having an effective ‘Parkway’ dual carriage ring road and massive warehouses for the likes of Ikea to get easy access down the A1M.

And despite the rich history of the area, it’s too easy to be blinded by the new town developments of the 1960s and 1970s which saw tonnes of concrete poured into the centre of Peterborough, and large housing developments around the outside.

Which is a lengthy way of explaining why so many good things about the city are largely unknown unless you live there. In addition to some good pubs and restaurants, there’s lots of outdoor space and sport. And over the past few years, there has been big investment and growth in technology.

Peterborough STEM Festival 2016

And having lived in Peterborough until recently, that’s why it’s so cool to see a STEM Festival launching in the city on October 1st, 2016.

If you haven’t heard the term STEM before, it stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. And the day is a free family-friendly event to encourage more children into following those subjects – particularly girls who are generally under-represented.

The day has been entirely organised by volunteers who largely come from the monthly Digital People in Peterborough meetup group (disclosure: I co-founded it several years ago, and then let better people actually run it while I moved 120 miles away).

And blimey, does it look interesting! If you, your friends, or family are a tiny bit geeky. Workshops include playing with Raspberry Pi and MakeyMakey boards (including making your own arcade game), speakers include physicists, mathematicians explaining game theory and more, and there are other exhibitors and demonstrations including robots etc.

So basically it’s a chance to embrace your inner geek in a free and friendly environment. You do need to register for the free tickets in advance so the volunteer team can manage numbers etc, and you’ll also need to book up for some of the workshops as they’ll probably be pretty popular…

But if you’re anywhere in the vicinity, then check out the Peterborough STEM Festival website and make some plans.

Drink, Drank Punks startle Peterborough: Anti Flag At The Cresset, Feb 23, 2008

11th April 2008 By Disposable Media Leave a Comment

The Peterborough music scene was left Red, White and Brainwashed when Anarcho-Punks, Anti Flag hit The Cresset venue.

Renowned for supporting anti-racism, anti-fascism, and anti-war movements, the band from Pittsburgh, United States dawned on the city to show fans how to really stick two fingers up to society.

Before they even had chance to flood the stage with their chaotic blend of hard guitar riffs and battering drum strokes, lucky fans across the area had their chance to get up close and personal with the band as they freely wandered back and forth through The Cresset.

Kicking off the show with a rather skatanic performance were local band, Brassphemy, who wowed the crowd with their uplifting style.

Saxophone, trumpet, synthesiser, guitar and drum sounds pulsated through the room and really got the crowd dancing. Their flair for music and passion for what they do shined throughout their performance. Without a doubt, the band is going to go on to achieve great things in the near future.

Brassphemy who are from Bourne, Lincolnshire will also be joining ska legends, Sonic Boom Six on tour in March.

Next up was All Idols Fall who, in comparison, to the opening act was rather different. Bringing a set of rock heavy sounds to the stage, their music sparked off a miniature mosh pit.

Although they had a lot of enthusiasm and were completely focused on getting the crowd moving, unfortunately their style deemed to be less popular with the audience.

Bringing life back to the stage, were the ever popular, The King Blues. Infusing ska, reggae and punk attitude to create a cocktail of beats, the London based 6-piece pray to “unsettle the rulers of this country” with their ‘rough and radical’ style.

Performing tracks from their album, Under the Fog, The King Blues delivered a fantastic presentation of heart-felt, show stopping tunes including crowd favourites, Mr Music Man and Come Fi De Youth.

The moment everybody was waiting for finally arrived, four of the finest examples of punk rock scattered on to the stage to deliver spirit thrusting movements before a wild and hefty crowd.

Spitting out heavy punk lyrics and politically angst messages, Justin Sane and the guys dragged the Peterborough audience through a whirlwind of chaos.

“Raise your fist in the air and tell George Bush, tell Tony Blair and tell everyone out there we say ‘no’ to war, ‘no’ to racism and ‘no’ to homophobia”

War Sucks, Lets Party! Fans dived to the stage to salute their Captain of Anarchy, front-man Mr Justin Sane who was unfortunately feeling too good during the night.

However, bassist Chris #2 kept the fire burning as they blasted out tracks such as Die for Your Government, 911 for Peace, 1 Trillion Dollars and new songs from their fully pledged album, The Bright Lights of America.

Reciting lyric for lyric and thumping fists in the air, the rioting crowd campaigned for peace and unity. Ending the night on a high note, the guys jumped off stage to ‘high five’ and shake the hands of their keen supporters.

A night of inner rage, passion and heart-felt messages – go and see Anti Flag action for yourselves.

By Nicola Fox

Peterborough STEM Festival 2017:

Peterborough STEM Festival 2016:

The House Of Feasts: ‘Feasts 12’

Peterborough STEM Festival 2016

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