Scandinavian Kitchen

North London Swedish School - they need your help

A group of London based Swedish parents are setting up a weekend school for Swedish speaking kids and really needs others to join and help support this excellent venture.

We received the mail below:

Norra Londons Svenska Skola – The North London Swedish School

We are a Swedish parent group in the process of setting up a non-profit Swedish Saturday or Sunday morning school in North London. The aim of the school is to keep the Swedish traditions and the language alive and allow it to grow through play, song and fun activities, as well as learning about Swedish history, geography and children’s literature.   


We are looking for Swedish parents of school age children to add to the parents who have already expressed an interest for their children to attend our school.  We are planning to start in February 2010, so please contact Mari West for further details and information: ainamariwest@hotmail.com

If this is of interest to you, do get in touch with Mari as soon as possible - the group needs to know the demand is out there for this kind of activity,

 

Do you speak Danish and want to work for LEGO?

We don't usually do job adverts - but we quite like the people at LEGO, they are cool.  And they are looking for some Danish speaking people at the moment - and they asked us if maybe any of our lovely customers knows someone who might be perfect for this job?

The role is in their Customer Service team - and applicants must be fluent in both Danish and English, spoken and written.

Job going at SCAN magazine

Our friends at www.scanmagazine.co.uk asked us to let you guys know about a job they have going for a Swedish speaksr.

Sales person required (native Swedish speaker) for Scan Magazine, London

Scan Magazine is based on Clapham high street, London. They promote Scandinavian design, travel and business. 

They need an enthusiastic team player who is highly self motivated to help sell advertorials and advertisements, primarily in Sweden. You need to be outgoing and have good relationship management skills. 

We don't believe in micro management, but we do believe that you will always do your very best. 

Job Start: 1st of September 

Please email thomas@scanmagazine.co.uk or call 079 200 138 68 to hear more about the position.

A new Swedish engagement

Princess Madelaine of Sweden has got engaged to her beau - his name is Jonas.

Congratulations to the happy couple - now we have two Royal Weddings in Sweden to look forward to (her big sis, Victoria, got engaged a little while back).  Time for a new hat, we think.

 

Here, Jonas, pull my right arm and I'll make farty noises...

JCC hosting a Fun in the Sun veent on 8th August

JCC, the young professionals arm of the Swedish Chamber, is hosting a Fun in the Sun day on 8th August - the event is also open to non-members, so it is a perfect time to check out what the JCC and Swedish Chamber is all about. 

More here Download Flyers

Happy Birthday, Helga

Helga is 100 years old - and what a fresh and youthful looking lady she is indeed, pictured here with all her family.

We made the food for her birthday party and learned from Helga's daughter that she will not be getting that all important telegram from the Queen (neither Danish or British version).  Why?  Because Lizzy only sends them to British citizens and Queen Margrethe of Denmark only sends them to Danes still living in Denmark.

We think that is a bit unfair, really.  So we've started a little petition - do click on the link and sign up and we'll forward it to Queen Margrethe when it is looking full - and ask her to reconsider.  It won't take her long to write a little card - and when you reach 100 years old, it should be a big deal and you should be made a fuss of by Queen and Country. 

CLICK HERE to sign the petition http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/lovelyhelga/

Concert at the Norwegian Church in London

There's a big Chrismas concert happening at the Norwegian Seamen's Church in London on Saturday 6th December at 19:00 - read more here

Tickets are £25 - and can be bought from the Norwegian Church.

Helpful site for ex-pats in Denmark

We found this good site for ex-pats living in Denmark

http://www.lifein.dk/

Scandinavian Christmas Fairs in London

Every year there are several organisations that hold Christmas fairs for both the Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Finnish communities in London.  These are really great events for all the ex-pats living in the UK and for a non-Scandi to attend it's a real cultural introduction.

Here's the low-down of this year's fairs and when they are taking place (this list will be updated as we find out more)

Finnish Church Christmas Fair            21-23 Nov and 26-29 click here

Danish YMCA &Church Christmas Fair  29-30 November click here

Swedish Church Christmas Fair           20, 22, 23 November click here

Norwegian Church Christmas Fair        21-22 November click here

These events tend to get rather busy but are really good fun and is a great way to not only met Scandinavians but also to support the community organisations that work so very hard all year round making sure people who come to the UK are not left alone and provide excellent fascilities ofr mother's groups, au pairs, elderly people and so on.  Do pop over and have a look and pick up some goodies.

Other Fairs to note:  This year the Danish Club in Dover Street will be holding a fair on the 18th of November - this is a fantastic opportunity to pop down to the club and meet old friends or indeed if you've never been, this is an open event and you can pop over and just have a nosy round to see if being a member is something you feel like doing. 

At this fair you will be able to buy lots of Danish food and goodies - from herring to remoulade to sweets - there'll even be hampers full of Danish food click here to be Danish - we'll be there and you can order stuff for Christmas or buy on the day.

There's also a fantastic Swedish Christmas fair in Barnes this year on 22nd November click here - we'll be exhibiting there and you can buy all the stuff you need or Christmas (if we run out, you can place orders).

Scandinavian Shopping Day in Barnes 22nd November

Saturday the 22nd of November 2008, from 10am to 3.30 pm at Kitson Hall in Barnes (South West London) there will be a veritable smorgasbord of Scandinavian treats on sale.

Ideal for the homesick Scandi or anyone who wants a new take on Christmas shopping. Swedish baby and kids shoes and clothing, arts and crafts, wallpaper, women fashion - high quality designer gifts and contemporary accessories for you and your home - typical Swedish food and delicacies.... and lots more. Address: The Kitson Hall Kitson Road, Barnes, London, SW13 9HJ

We'll be doing the food - and yes, we'll be selling all the usual suspects of grocery goods too.  We'll also be taking orders for Christmas food and deliveries.  So do pop by for your filmjolk, prinskorv and maybe a hug or two if you're lucky.

read more here

KIDSEN Scandinavian kids shop launch party

Wow, what a party.  We did the canapes for the official launch of the new Scandinavian kids store in Kensal Rise (just outside the station on 111 Chamberlaine Road).  It was so much fun and there were about a hundred people in the store. 

Here are some pictures from the evening - do pop by there to stock up on your Scandinavian brands: they do anything from all the Pippi Longstocking stuff to the new BRIO pram / buggy and all the really cool Scandinavian kids clothes brands such as Lille Barn, Ida, Mini a Ture, Flawless and many more. 

 

the lovely Corina, the owner of KIDSEN - holding onto the wall a bit!

Our man in London

Per Nordangard is a lovely chap.  Not only does he make sure the Swedes back home find out about stuff happening in the UK (he is the UK correspondent for Goteborg Posten, ed.), he also writes great books.

Per's new book is called Utrikeskorrespondentens London - dag for dag (The Foreign Correspondent's London) and it is a really lovely book in which he travels the country and stays in Fawlty type hotels, drinks good pints in strange pubs and such like.  We can really recommend it.  Unfortunately, it is only available in Swedish at the moment.  Well, it is brand new and has its official launch on 23rd October.

We have a signed copy to give away - just answer the following question to be in with a chance to win:

Per writes for which Swedish newspaper?

a)   Expressen

b)   Goteborg Posten

c)   Darlarna Daily Delightful Digest

Answer to iloveherring@scandikitchen.co.uk, please, by next Monday - winners will be chosen by drawing a name out of a hat/sock/cardboard box (whatever's handy at the time) from the correct entries.  There is no cash alternative to this prize and there's only one winner and the winner takes it all.  Staff at Scandi Kitchen cannot enter this competition.  Why not?  Because then Sebastion would just try to win everything and we just can't have that, can we?

Danish band TV2 playing in London 1 November

The Danes in the UK are gathering once again for another concert - one of Denmarks most well known bands are playing at Shepherd's Bush Empire on 1st November.  With hit songs such as Fantastiske Toyota (Yep, that's 'Fantastic Toyota') and Rigtige Maend Gider Ikke Hoere mere Vrovl (Real men will not listen to any more nonsense), TV2 has been around for many years and there's not a Dane who doesn't know of them.

Ticket prices are £25/£35 - you can buy tickets here here and you can read more here

We've got a pair of tickets to give away for this event courtesy of Danish YMCA - all you need to do is send us an e-mail and answer this question:

TV2's lead singer is:

1)    Steffen Brandt

2)    Steffen Brandmand

3)    Steffen Brande

Terms and conditions apply.  Winners name chosen at random - most likely by us pulling a name out of a hat or sock or old cardboard box or whatever we can find.  Only one entry per household.  There is no cash alternative tot his prize.  You do not have to be Danish to enter this competition but be aware that if you go to this concert, you'll be surrounded by Danes for the entire evening.  Scandi Kitchen staff cannot enter this competition, if they do, we'll have words with them. 

 

Guess which one of these boys just came back from a week in Majorca?

Little shops we like #4

Anna Wetterlin is a Swede, living in London.  She set up her own company designing and selling Swedish style children’s moccasins – meaning no more slipping and sliding for the kids running around inside.

With a background in fashion, Anna set about designing the wonderful little Moccis, as she calls them.  Moccis are made of ecotex certified materials and the leather soles allow the little feet to move freely and for the baby’s muscles to develop properly. 

Anna’s Moccis are doing well and are currently available in UK, Ireland, Germany and Sweden.

You can find out more about Anna’s super-cute Moccis here

Pinot Noir wine tasting at SK

 Ray the Wine Expert struts his stuff on the dancefloor.

Wine tasting?  I thought I was going out for rye bread...

It was such a drag, but we got through it: No less than 8 different kinds of Pinor Noir wines for Ray the Wine Expert's special tasting event the other evening - and now we all know our New World Pinots from our Burgundy Pinots.  For those of you who do not know, Ray the Wine Expert works for the International Wine Challenge and was voted Young Wine Writer of the year last year.  He is incredibly passionate about hwat he does and we really enjoy his lessons.

As you know, from time to time we have a few events on at SK - it being wine tasting or Scandinavian Mother's evenings or networking events.  Let us know if you have something you think needs an event and we can talk.

For now, we're buying large qualities of good Pinot at our local wine merchant and pretending we know more than we do when we're at the pub.

For those interested, the Pinot that got most talk throughout the evening was a 2006 Californian pinot by none other than Francis Ford Coppola.  And they say that a name doesn't sell?  Actually, it was lush. 

Next lesson is November 6th and will be "Australian" - space are, as per usual, very limited.

Little shops we like #3

This post refers back to an older post about nice little shops

One of the things we get asked about most from the people in the Scandinavian community is childcare.  Generally, in the UK, this can be a bit of a minefield but it gets harder when you need childcare that speaks the same language as your kids and you don't happen to be living in your own country.

Nordic Childcare is set up by Minna and Minna from Finland - both are highly educated childcare specialists and have worked with children for many, many years.  Nordic childcare and babysitting provides ad-hoc babysitting as well as planned ones - and they can also find bespoke Nannies and Aupairs who have the linguistic skills families may require.

All Minna and Minna's people are not only CRB vetted (police checked), they have strict reference checks and most are either studying towards childcare qualifications or already have them.  We have heard good stuff back about Nordic Childcare after passing on their detials to people who have enquired via us.

You can contact Nordic Childcare on the address below or pop along to the Mamma Evening this Thursday where they'll also be there.

Nordic Child Care Ltd, 235 Fulwell Park Avenue, Twickenham TW2 5HD

By email:       info@nordic-childcare.co.uk

By phone:      020 7221 7079 / 07833 761658 / 07779 290385

 

Preben and Preben

Our Swedish friends love making fun of the Danes almost as much as the Danes love making fun of the Swedes.  Here's a good old clip (Sw-Danish only, sorry)

A stark warning - be careful when at Scandinavian Kitchen if Henrik and Sebastian are around, they love nothing more than to re-act this entire sketch, so don't get them started.

Mamma mia

Mother's get-togethers at Scandi Kitchen - a nice place to meet, chat and let the babies play

It can be hard as a new mother sometimes to find places to meet up with other mothers (especially one that allows prams, crying and breastfeeding all at once). At Scandi Kitchen, we have both Scandinavian Mother's meet-ups with babies during the day - and once a quarter we have Scandinavian Mother's evenings where we meet without the children (and sometimes drink a glass of wine or three).

Our space downstairs can hold around 8 prams/kids plus mums (any more and it gets too cramped). Let us know if you want to attend one of the groups we have already - or if you want to start arranging your own one.

Fancy running a Norwegian meet-up group? Perhaps you are a Swedish nanny or au-pair who wants a place to meet other like-minded colleagues for coffee with the babies you look after? Want to meet other Danish mums in London? A Finnish parent but have nobody else for your kids to practise their Finnish with? Let us know, we'll help you set up your group

Picture from the Danish Mother's group that meets on the 2nd Monday of

every month and last Friday of the month at Scandi Kitchen.

L to r: Alexander, Astrid, William and Johan.

Crayfish are in! Kräftor are here!

Our crayfish have arrived early - and are now in the shop.  Time to party and arrange a kräftskiva, we say.

Price for non pre-ordered boxes are £9.50

The babies are on general sale in our shop from Friday noon on 15th.

Svensk kräftskiva season in London

NOTE ADDED 15/8 - Crayfish are in!  Kräftor are here!  Available in shop now - get yours before they go.

This post refers back to an older post as well

Kräftor : It is  the season as we're really getting into the mood at Scandi Kitchen.   Yahoo.

We're still taking orders for Crayfish - we're getting the first delivery on 19th August (we may even get some next week already, but we'll keep you posted about that if it happens). 

The price is £8.50 for pre-orders pr box and the price in the shop will be £9.50 if you have not ordered - but we strongly suggest you put an order in as these babies tend to jump off the shelves.  Order yours by sending a mail to iwantfood@scandikitchen.co.uk

If you're planning a Swedish kräftskiva / Svensk kräftskiva, then you need the following:

• Crayfish / Kräftor - you need about 11-12 per person for a main course - so if you budget 1/2 box per head then you'll probably be ok.  The crayfish the Swedes usually buy are cooked and then frozen - so all you need to do is defrost them (be aware, though, that they need about 24 hours in the fridge to defrost properly so take them out the day before).
• Aquavit - to be authentic, have a "drink for every claw".  We also stock different kinds of aquavit at SK.
• Bread - lots of toasted white bread and lots of crisp bread - we are really into Leksands at the moment, but stock abotu 30 kinds so there's plenty to choose from.
• Beer - We prefer the Scandinavian Carlsberg or Tuborg, but then again, any lager is good lager as long as it is cold...
• Västerbotten cheese - a year old aged cheese, not unlike parmasan but without the smell of feet.   The cheese is eaten inbetween to fill up - you are unlikely to be full from just 12 crayfish and with all that aquavit you'll need something to soak it up.  You can also make something called Västerbotten pie - it is a bit like a quiche lorraine without all the other stuff (i.e. the lorraine bit) you normally put in, just with the cheese.
• Silly crayfish hats and bibs and lanterns depicting the Man in the Moon
• Nutcracker or seafood cracker to get to all the good sluff in the claws...
• A good bunch of friends and an entire evening - a Crayfish party is not a short event, it can go on well into the night.

When you pop by the shop to pick up your stuff, you can ask any of the people who work here and they'll be happy to help you out with anything you need.  They are nice like that, you know.

Arrange the crayfish in a big bowl in the middle of the table and decorate with lots of fresh dill...  Serve cold.

Scandinavian Party in London 16th August

Don't forget - the next Scandinavian Party in London is on 16th August at the Motion Bar and Club at Victoria Embankment.  These parties are always a great way to meet other younger Scandinavians, or indeed, meet Scandinavians.

If you fancy going along, send a mail to guestlist@scandinavianparty.com.  You can find more details about the event and how to buy tickets here

P-T Job going at SKANDIUM - do you speak Finnish and Swedish?

Skandium is looking for a part time head office staff member

The furniture and design store Skandium is the UK and Republic of Ireland representative of the well known Finnish design brands Marimekko and iittala, as well as operating two Skandium and one Marimekko shop in central London. They will also open an own operated concession in Selfridges in September 2008.

Skandium  have a vacancy for a (15-20 hours per week) junior person to work side by side with our Ops Manager and to assist our Managing Director, mainly to help out with financial and HR admin, but also to give general backup to all head office staff. As many of their suppliers are based in Finland and Sweden, knowledge of one or both of these languages is preferable. The workplace is in Wigmore Street (near Oxford Street/Bond Street). Work hours are 09.00-18.00 and excludes weekends.

Please email your CV including all the usual bits to: karl@skandium.com

What do the Scandinavians miss from home? (apart from the weather...)

We are often asked by our local London customers what our best selling Scandinavian products are. Well, we did a bit of looking in people's shopping baskets over the past week or so and here are the result:

• Danish food:  Remoulade (a curried mayo based piccalli dressing, goes with beef, fish or chips), Koldskaal (buttermilk soup) and Stryhns liverpate (a coarse porc pate, great on rye bread)
• Swedish food:  Kalles kaviar (creamed cod roe, you put it on egg sandwiches), filmjolk (soured milk, eaten every morning) and ahlgren's bilar (marshmallow sweets)
• Norwegian food: Staburet Makerell (mackerel in tomato sauce), leverpastej (liverpate) and bamsemums (chocolate covered marshmallow bears)
• Finnish food:  Reissumies (special Fazer rye bread rolls with an obscene amount of fibre in them) and any salmiakki liqourice, the stronger the better.

Swedish Crayfish party / Svensk kräftskiva / Finnish Rapujuhlat in London 2008

NOTE ADDED 15/8 - Crayfish are in!  Kräftor are here!  Available in shop now - get yours before they go.

Ahhh, those lovely little things, kraftor (Crayfish).  We're taking orders now for boxes of crayfish for August/September Crayfish party season - due to high demand, we need to ensure orders come in early or else we cannot guarentee availability.

If you know you'll be wanting some, mail iwantfood@scandikitchen.co.uk and let us know how many boxes you want as well as your phone number so we can get hold of you.

We'll then contact you nearer the time to take payment over the phone (due to cost, we requir advance payment) and to make sure we get the right amount of boxes in for you.

Boxes are £8.50 - there's about 16-18 crayfish in a box. 

Little Johnny the Crayfish in the "before" picture...  To be continued....

NNight party this Friday 18th July

How the Scandies like to party.  NNight are hosting another evening of fun and frolics at the Soho Revue Bar.

A band called The Blaggers are playing - you can find out more about the evening's events here.  If you want to come along, you need to e-mail guestlist@nnight.com.  Tickets are a fiver per head.

NNight is a non-profit venture - all proceeds to go fund sports activities for Scandinavians in London*

*we think this is mainly football related, but perhaps they also support the old Viking sport of Knattleikir?  We think they should - although we're not really sure what it is but we like the name and are still trying to pronounce it.

Are you a bit Sexy?

Virgin 1 are doing a show about Sexy Europeans.  Nice.  They are looking for a whole load of Swedes (someone please tell them that Danes and Norwegians are sexy too?) to come along to the "Walker of St James" pub at Piccadilly on Saturday 12th July between 12-4 pm and be in the audience when survey results are read out about the different European romantic performances.  You'll be flying the flag for your nation.  Sounds like a bit of fun on a Saturday afternoon. 

The producers are also looking for individuals to be interviewed for the programme -  more details on this to follow on where/when/how/and no, you cannot be on the programme wearing an ABBA wig and sunglasses so your mum won't recognise you. 

innocent drinks looking for a Marketing Assistant for their Stockholm office

Our Bronte used to work for innocent drinks looking after the People area before she became a full-time herring fanatic.   While she no longer spends her time at Fruit Towers, she does like to help out a bit now and then - especially when it comes to finding nice people for the Scandi towers.

There's a Marketing/office role at the Swedish Blueberry Tower at the moment - it is based in Stockholm.  The ad's in Swedish, but basically, it says you need to be really nice, have good experience, speak Swedish and be a member of the international brass-rubbing society.

If you decide you want to apply for this role, you need to mail a nice lady called Lautje - she does not speak Swedish, so pleae write to her in English.  With an English CV and stuff.

Scandi Kitchen on Sveriges Radio

We've been featured on the excellent MENY program in Sweden on the national radio, Sveriges Radio.  You can listen to the programme here - note that you have to go to 23.10 minutes to listen to the bit about us.

In Swedish/Danish only

Midsummer in London 2008

Phew, lots of stuff happening.  Whether you're looking for a Danish Skt Hans event or a Svensk Midsommar / Swedish Midsummer, you're in luck.

Here's the lowdown:

• Swedish Midsummer Party - the main one is in Hyde Park, organised by Swedish Chamber of Commerce.  Bring your own food and drink and dance around the Midsummer pole, pretending to be a little frog. Entry Free
• Dansk Skt Hans, KFUK are organising it and will be lighting a bonfire and selling hotdogs.  Entry £6
• The Finnish Church in London is having a Midsummer BBQ in the Church Garden
• Scandinavian Party is having a Scandi Midsummer event - entry only by ticket in advance (£5-10) - click on their site for details on how to buy.

Other links to our pages about midsummer here, here and here

If you don't fancy any of those events, make your own party at home - we stock everything from farskpotatis - new Swedish potatoes - to gradfill and prinskorv and salmon - and of course, Kims and Estrella chips and dipmix.

Whatever you decide to do - we all hope you have a great time this midsummer.  We'll certainly be celebrating the long evenings Scandinavian style.

People say nice stuff about us...

Lately, we've been really busy with our office catering.  Tobias (Superhero a la Danoise) is rushing around the kitchen making our special TLC smørrebrød, which stands for "Tender Loving Care" open sandwiches - they are called this because when we prepare food for your business meeting, we take extra care to make sure the open sandwiches look the part - whether you are looking for authentic Danish smørrebrød or a selection of mixed Scandinavian sandwiches to impress your clients with.  You can peek at our fancy pancy menu here.  Sometimes, Tobias sings to the sandwiches just to make sure they stay happy and lovely.   Recent happy customers include the Danish Embassy in London, Sandi Toksvig (very funny BBC lady), Innovation Norway, Swedish Chamber of Commerce, Arup - to name but a few only out of a long list.

We've also been doing a lot of our new-style Scandinavian canapes lately - not a sausage or spring roll in sight, we promise.  Our canapes are easy to eat standing up, making the ideal for when one has to balance a glass of champagne as well as stuffing food in one's gob all at the same time as being introduced to a potential new customer.  We've helped out places such as the Royal Norwegian Embassy, Swedish Church, Flawless online, BoConcept, Aram furniture store and the BBC.  The menu for the Scandinavian canapes is here

Here's some stuff people have said about us lately:

"Scandinavian Kitchen delivers all you'd expect if you're looking for the very best in authentic scandinavian cuisine, prepared with style, enthusiasm and great care with exceptional attention to detail - thank you! Philip Johnson, Danish Embassy, London"

"Thank you very much for the delightful lunch you sent us. The collection of smørbrød both looked and tasted wonderful.  We were also very pleased with the friendly and efficient manner in which our order was handled."  Berit Scott, Royal Norwegian Embassy.

Rat-tat-tat - that was our trumpet blowing a bit.      

SCAN magazine - out on Monday

We love it when a plan comes together.  Not that we've been much involved in the planning, mind you, but we do like people who work towards getting Scandinavians together - and who also work towards teaching people about Scandinavia.

On Monday, a new magazine will come out - it's called SCAN Magazine.  We'll be giving away copies in the shop, so pop by to get yours.

SCAN magazine will have interviews with the more famous ones of us, articles about Scandinavian food in London (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian...), stuff about Scandinavian design, places to go, what to do and maybe even a bit about what to wear.

Fancy working at Scandi Kitchen?

We've got two vacancies at Scandi Kitchen at the moment:

Kitchen Angel (PT)

We currently have a vacancy for a part-time Kitchen Angel (28 hours +).  Our wonderful Mai is going back to Denmark in August so we need someone to come fill her shoes.

The role reports into Tobias, who's our man in charge of all things food.  It's 5 days a week, around 28 hours a week with scope to add more hours as we get busier.  Usual days of working are Wednesday to Sunday inclusive, but hours/days can change due to catering demands and holidays (you'll be covering for Tobias when he is away)

Duties of the Kitchen Angel includes prepping open sandwiches to a high standard, making all our our home made salads and dressings, keeping the kitchen in good order and generally assist with the daily running of the kitchen.

We're looking for someone who has experience of working and preparing food in a professional kitchen/busy sandwich shop/cafe.  We’re really busy so you need to be able to work well under pressure and keep a clear head when things hot up.  Fluency in English, both spoken and written, is absolutely essential and good knowledge of Scandinavian food is essential.  If you speak a Scandinavian language it's a huge advantage.  The person we're looking for should be presentable with great interpersonal skills, tidy, clean and organised, full of initiative, team player and must possess that wonderful common-sense gene and be willing to learn. 

This job starts end of July/beginning of August.  We'll be doing interviews in a few week's time so do get your skates on if this sounds like it up your street.  Send your up to date CV and a bit about yourself to bronte@scandikitchen.co.uk.  Note that this job is ongoing and is offered on a minimum 6 months contract.

Super Barisata (Part time, going to Full Time from August)

Our most beloved Louise has decided to go back to Sweden to study. Well, we're very excited for her andwe're reluctantly untying her apron trings and letting her go. This means we now have a vacancy for a barista, initially it is pat time but form August it will be full time.

The role reports into Henrik, who's our man in charge of the Front of House.  The job is 5 days a week, full time, with one day off during the week and one of the weekend days (although initially it will be 2-4 days a week)

Duties of the Super Barista includes preparing exellent coffee, serving customers throughout the day - both at quieter times and over the super busy lunch times. You will also help look after the shop on your shifts - from stocking up to sorting out things that need fixing and cleaing day to day - as well as helping to open/close the cafe.

We're looking for someone who has experience of working in a busy sandwich shop/cafe/restaurant - or at the very least who has experience of working in a retail setting. It is most definitely an advantage if you are already trained in the art of making excellent coffee - however, if you tick all the other boxes we can teach you the coffee bit.

Fluency in English and a Scandinavian language, both spoken and written, is absolutely essential.

The person we're looking for should be presentable with great interpersonal skills (able to talk to anyone, a likeable person), tidy, clean and organised, full of initiative, team player and must possess that wonderful common-sense gene and be willing to learn. 

This job starts prettymuch now.  We'll be doing interviewsover the next few weeks so do get your skates on if this sounds like something for you.  Send your up to date CV and a bit about yourself to bronte@scandikitchen.co.uk

Scandinavian Party - double bill

The nice people from Scandinavian Party are really going for it - there's a double bill party on Saturday 14th June starting at 16:00 with the football (Sweden versus Spain) and then the usual Scandi Party starts afterwards and goes on until 3 am. If you work that out in beer terms, well, it's a lot of beer. 

The party takes place at the Zoo bar in Leicester Square.  To get your ticket, mail guetlist@scandinavianparty.com - you can find more info on www.scandinavianparty.com

Jeg er også dansker...

The Danish newspaper Politiken are doing a campaign for integration into Danish society.  This basically involves Danish people from different backgrounds wearing t-shirts printed with the sentence "Jeg er ogsaa dansker", meaning "I'm also Danish".  The sentiment of the campaign is good, although we're not yet convinced the way of doing it is quite the right way - but that is a different story all together.  Never the less, we like to support such initiatives - and the Danes here at SK would just like to add for the record that "we're also Danish, even though we live abroad.   

You can read more here http://politiken.dk/indland/article504074.ece (Danish only)

Bronte (32) - Born in Denmark, lived there for 16 years

Henrik (from Southern Sweden): he's not Danish (but he wishes he was)

Looking for work?

A Brighton based company is urgently looking for Scandi speakers to help within the computer games industry.   The work is freelance but can also be on-going for the right people.  Based in either Brighton or London.  If you speak a Scandinavian language to a very high standard and you're looking for some work where you can use your language skills, send your CV to jobs@babelmedia.com - make sure you put your language in the title of the e-mail.

Swedish Midsummer Party

CLICK HERE FOR INFO ABOUT MIDSUMMER PARTIES IN LONDON

It can be difficult to explain a real "Svensk Midsommar" party - this commercial from IKEA in Germany was banned by the Ikea Top Dudes in Sweden for not showing the right image.  We think this looks quite fun, actually.

If you're planning a traditional party for Midsummer in London, you can get everything you need from us (except the maypoles).

If you fancy taking part in a Swedish Midsommar Party in London this year, there are several brewing to happen in Hyde Park - we'll keep you posted as news come in. 

Eurovision tonight - reminder

Woo hoo - most of us have qualified for tonight's final in Eurovision, which makes the whole event much more exciting than Euro 08 (unless you are Swedish, of course, the only Scandi country to qualify...).  Hmmm... maybe not.  Anyway, if you're looking for a place to watch the Eurovision Song Contest final tonight in London, do pop down to the Sport's Cafe in SW1, they have everything from "små grå"/salmiakki shots to Scandinavian crisps (KIMS, Estrella, Cheeze doodles) and that infamous 1980's invention: holiday dipmix. 

More about Eurovision 2008 here

Midsummer buffet - what a treat!

We've been inundated with requests to provide food for upcoming Midsummer celebrations in London - and we've put together a Swedish-inspired menu for those interested. 

Please note that we only do a limited amount of catering and spaces are being booked out fast - so if interested, do chat to us sooner rather than later - mail iwantfood@scandikitchen.co.uk.

Danske Kirke i London bazar / Danish Church in London Summer bazar

The Danish Church in London had their annual summer bazaar on Friday and Saturday 16/17th May at the Church at St Katherine Precinct in Regent's Park.  We were there, enjoying some nice Danish food - in particular, nice hotdogs and open sandwiches.  We also chatted to some really nice people.

Annette from the Danish Women's Society manned the flower stall at the bazaar

Norge! Norge!

Saturday 17th May is Norwegian National Day.  Yahoo.  We've decorated the shop and yes, yes, yes - we are serving beer and aquavit so pop on by and feel a bit Norwegian with us.

We got a whole load of new Norwegian stuff in this week - from faarepolse (lambs sausage) to several new kinds of chocolate, waffles, lapper, more lefse and brunost - so if you are looking for norsk mat in London , pop by and stock up for your celebration dinners.

Stuff for Danish people in London

If you happen to be a Danes living in London, you might want to check out this useful site http://www.danskilondon.com/ - here you'll find informative and interesting stuff about livingin London as well as current jobs and quite a few useful links.  We can also recommend www.kfuk.co.uk - the Danish YMCA, these guys spend a lot of time to make sure their website is all up to date with the latest info on what you need to do if you move to the UK and want to settle in, find a job and a place to live.  The Danish YMCA also have flats to rent out on a short term basis, which is rather handy.