My Winter Weekend: Entrepreneur & Author Charlene Prempeh
@CHARLENEPREMPEH
FRIDAY
On a Friday night, we do the school pick-up and then it’s all about cooking a great family meal. My dream Friday evening would actually be watching an undiscovered film on Netflix while eating a St John's doughnut.
At this time of year, we’ll often make a curry. Although I started the new year cooking a beach BBQ, as I was so excited about the new Northdown butcher in Margate. One of my favourite cookbooks to use is Yiayia: Time-Perfected Recipes from Greece's Grandmothers. My food soulmate bought it for me, and I’m obsessed. There’s a courgette and zucchini paste that I make and eat with everything from Torres crisps to lamb shanks. One of my most-used ingredients is Noma's Smoked Mushroom Garum. I use it to make a simple rice noodle and broccoli dish sing, and sometimes I fling it into a curry. It’s one of those ingredients that make all dishes taste sophisticated.
We have a house in Margate, so we tend to spend a lot of our weekends holed up there. The sea is an endless source of peace. I’m currently obsessed with High Dive, a new Mexican restaurant on the high street. Kirstie and Ben who run it are the kind of dream hosts who should have their own TV show and the décor is all Kvadrat/Raf Simons corduroy wonderfulness. On top of all that joy, the food is delicious. Dare I say it’s the best Mexican I’ve ever had?
HIGH DIVE
SATURDAY
We split our time between London and Margate. In London, I live right by Arsenal stadium. It’s such a great area to live. When it’s not matchday, the outside of the stadium is a good place to let your kids blow off steam after dark. Even when the space is empty, it feels special.
If we’re in London for the weekend, I would start my Saturday with a yoga session. I go to yoga in Camden with an old friend most weekends, and we walk around after the class trying to swallow down a forest-coloured green juice. Next, I tend to take my son Lucky to his musical theatre class while I eat too many pastries in Ottolenghi. After that, we often pass the afternoon exploring a gallery or museum.
Saturday night is all about dinner with friends. This time of year generally feels less about group celebrations. I tend to have more intimate dinners and lunches with close friends. It feels like a month of real connection. If I’m staying local, I love to go to Westerns Laundry (I always have the fideo pasta). If we’re heading somewhere more central, I love Noble Rot. The menu changes loads, but the set lunch menu is honestly the best bargain to be had in London. Finally, if I can get a reservation, I’ll head to Kurisu Omakase. It does a wonderful set menu that’s always a surprise.
I really like a margarita – it hits the spot every time. For home, I recently bought a pre-made bottle of strawberry and lychee margarita by Kocktail – it was really good. One of my insider tips is Indiebeer on Holloway Road. It specialises in mead, and I can confirm that it's delicious.
MARGATE; @WESTERNSLAUNDRY; HIGH DIVE
SUNDAY
If I was on my own one weekend, my dream set-up would look like yoga, reading, shopping at the farmers market, cooking – repeat. Chapel market takes place on Sundays and there's a goat’s cheese stall that will blow your mind.
Sunday morning is all about Jolene. The site on Hornsey Road is all it's hyped to be. My go-to order is the cheese and chutney croissant. Then we might go for a walk around Primrose Hill, where I’ll wear my warm sleeveless Rick Owens puffer.
We’ll usually make a Sunday roast at home – I prefer it to having one in a restaurant or pub. I cannot understand why people don’t play around with spices when roasting a chicken? Sometimes I’ll jazz mine up with sumac, sometimes a Malaysian satay – and on wild days it’s shichimi togarashi, an incredible Japanese spice blend. What you will never find in my oven is a plain salt-and-pepper affair.
Sunday nights are for relaxing. We’ve almost finished Slow Horses. It’s so well written and we’re both desperate to know what really goes on at MI5. On my current reading pile is last year’s Booker nominee The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, The Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen and 14 copies of The New Yorker from 2023 that are still resting in their plastic packaging…
For more, visit VibeCalledTech.com & follow @CharlenePrempeh
@JOLENE_NEWINGTONGREEN
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