East London Food & Culture

Masterchef semi-finalist to head up kitchen at the North Star

From this Wednesday, Michael Sanders is cooking up a storm at one of our favourite E11 locals

Milieu:
Malaysian prawns at Milieu: Masterchef’s Michael Sanders will serve small plates for a month from this week at the North Star.
You might already have tasted Masterchef alumni Michael Sander’s locally sourced, seasonal, globally-inspired hella tasty food at his popular supper club at Leytonstoner fave the Wanstead Tap (which we reviewed here), or at the private dining events he hosts at his home.

Now, throughout October you’ll be able to get a regular fix as he launches his pop-up-for-now, hopefully-permanent-later, Milieu. He’ll be serving up “small plates of drinking food” at The North Star on Leytonstone’s Browning Road, another regular hang that we quite simply love.

Popping down the other night to get a taster of what’s going to be on the menu, we were taken on something of a culinary world tour.

We tucked into Malaysian prawn fritters, sous vide onglet with homemade kimchi, chicken wings with a spicy mayo, chargrilled cauliflower in fish sauce, pork belly with spring onions…oh and poutine, a Canadian dish of chips of cheese curd in gravy, basically the best take on a student staple like, ever. In fact, just what you need to accompany a pint or a glass, or three, of red.

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North Star: home to a foodie new pop-up this month. Photo: Flickr
North Star: home to a foodie new pop-up this month. Photo: Flickr
So why a pop up? “I haven’t been able to find the right spot for a permanent restaurant yet so I put a shout out on Facebook for a temporary space,” explains Michael, “Several places were suggested, but as the North Star serves up Thai food on a Sunday the kitchen was already set up with wok burners, so it’s ideal for the type of food I want to cook.”

There’ll be six or seven dishes on the menu, with at least one veggie and one fish dish on offer, and the menu will change weekly. Snacky dishes will cost around £3 and the bulk of the main dishes will be around the £6-£8 mark.

And pizza lovers, don’t fear: the wood-fired stuff is still on the menu and totally orderable.

Milieu will be at The North Star, 24 Browning Road, E11 3AR from Wednesday October 7 for this month. Open Wednesday to Friday 6pm-closing and Saturday 12pm-closing. Follow @invitetosupper

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16 thoughts on “Masterchef semi-finalist to head up kitchen at the North Star”

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