admin-alexandra-duncan, Author at The Chefs' Forum

Tune in to Bluefin Tuna

Would you like to learn more about bluefin tuna, see it being cut, taste it and drink some champagne? True World Foods and tuna brand Balfego – which comes from Spain – is having a special event on the 25th September from 11:00am to 2pm at Soldeli and is inviting chefs along.

The main event is a cutting demonstration that shouldn’t be missed. How to break down a large fish is a skill that takes many years and True World Foods production experts will be on hand to take you through the meticulous cutting process. How you cut the fish can dramatically improve its taste.

Guests will get to taste premium quality bluefin tuna which is already being used in some of London’s best restaurants and sushi restaurants – think Endo at the Rotunda, Amazonico, Barrafina. There will also be a complementary glass of Moët & Chandon champagne to go with it.

Amazonico’s Group Executive Chef Europe & USA at Amazonico London, Vitelio Reyes, absolutely loves this product and has used it in Madrid for the past seven years and the London site for four years, he said

“This product it of optimum quality and consistently brilliant – Super good! It gives us the confidence to produce the best possible sushi in London, Madrid and soon to be on the menu in our latest opening in Monte Carlo too. I am really looking forward to the event on the 25^th and think it is really important for my chefs to keep learning new cutting techniques and acquire knowledge about the top quality produce they are working with.”

True Worlds Food CEO, Bongjin Jung, said

“We are thrilled to present this fascinating tuna cutting show. We take great pride in collaborating with Balfego, as we wholeheartedly embrace their commitment to providing the finest tuna in the world, championing sustainable and traceable fishing practices to safeguard and protect the future of our oceans”.

This unmissable event is free to attend and open to all senior chefs, sushi chefs and restaurant owners.

To register, please email: info@trueworldfoods.co.uk

A Taste of Things to Come!

School and College students got a taste of the future on Tuesday at South & City College Birmingham. The latest college to sign-up for a Chefs’ Forum Academy hosted a fantastic Hospitality Industry Taster Day for students with top chefs, suppliers and Front of House experts on hand to show what hospitality is all about.

The insight into the world of the hospitality industry with top local and national chefs, featured a canapé & mocktail reception followed by a pasta-making masterclass with Exose Grant – MasterChef: The Professionals Finalist 2019 and Head Chef at Ikaro.

Exose invited enthusiastic year 10 students, Sasha Guest-Scott and Sherene Day onto the stage to help make fresh tagliatelle and a delicious creamy Royal Greenland prawn sauce.

Royal Greenland kindly sponsored cold-water prawns for Exose’s canapé – A Royal Greenland cold water prawn bruschetta which he made with the level two college students.

Solene Labarere, UK Market Development Manager took to the stage to tell the students all about their world-famous prawns and how they are harvested and transported to the UK.

Exose said

“I have done quite a number of these fantastic taster days as a frequent guest lecturer in The Chefs’ Forum Academy at lots of UK colleges and I really enjoyed meeting and working with the students at SCCB. It was also great to cook with Royal Greenland prawns on the brand new CookTek induction hobs, recently donated to us by MCS Technical Products. I was particularly impressed with the way that Sherene created perfect tagliatelle with hardly any help, she also helped me create the sauce and kept stirring it while I was helping Sasha with the pasta machine – A great young chef in the making! It was also honoured to sign a copy of The Chefs’ Knowledge for them both and I’m sure they will enjoy reading about all of the Chefs’ career stories, including my own!”

Rapper Lowkeylimit and Chefs’ Forum dancers Kit Sells and Princess Van-Der-Larbi punctuated the cookery demos with impressive dance routines and brilliant music – They really put on a show that the young audience really enjoyed!

Following on, Munayam Khan, Chef Patron of Raja Monkey showed the students how to make and fill the perfect samosa.

Year 10 student, Mia May was on hand to learn how to roll-out, fill and fold a samosa in the traditional Punjabi way, expertly led by Munayam.

Mia said

“Samosas are one of my favourite street foods and it was great to learn how to make one. I have the recipe in my goodie bag and I fully intend on making this for my family and friends when I get home. I’m really grateful to Munayam for giving me the opportunity and was delighted to receive a signed copy of The Chefs’ Knowledge containing more of his recipes to try!”

Munayam also made a Bhelpuri, made with puffed rice, chinni sev (thin fried noodles) and pomegranate seeds as a canapé and served them to the room – The students absolutely loved it!

Next up, Chris Emery of Orelle Restaurant in Birmingham talked students through his career, whilst making his signature dish of Roast Peking Duck, Confit Beetroot, Maitake (hen-of-the-wood mushroom) and Confit leg pie. Chris prides himself on using all local, seasonal ingredients and championing local farmers. He also invited year 10 student, Bohdan Yekimov onto the stage to mirror him in plating-up the dish, he did very well indeed!

Toffee Apple Éclair filling and decorating was next with Tom Everard-Fairburn – Owner of Two Brothers Bakery in Warrick.

Level 2 student Ruta Gizach and Year 10 student, Dan Snow both had a go at recreating Tom’s toffee apple eclair and Tom was really impressed with their efforts.

Tom also made a toffee apple choux bun version as a canapé for the audience to try.

Ex-SCCB student, Tom has worked with The Chefs’ Forum to inspire young chefs for the past decade and is a regular in Chefs’ Forum Academy masterclasses and at various events.

Tom is an excellent pastry chef and it was great to be able to tell the students about his journey that has led to him recently opening his own business.

Also on stage was Connor McAlpine of ‘Connorcierge’ – One of London’s hottest concierge services – which arranges tables at top restaurants for celebrities and VIP’s. Connor’s unique insight into hospitality and his highly successful career story had the students enthralled.

Catherine Farinha, Director of The Chefs’ Forum, said: “It was a great way to start the year. SCCB is a brilliant college and our chefs loved being here and are looking forward to teaching masterclasses and inspiring the catering students as the year unfolds. We’re also looking forward to an exciting business studies challenge for hospitality students this January, which will see Munayam taking the students to a wholesaler and helping them to buy ingredients and create a seasonal menu, all within a designated budget, to sell to their peers and teachers. The winning student will receive a fantastic dinner at Raja Monkey!”

Adam Porter, Head of School: Hospitality & Catering at SCCB said: “It was the dream start to the year for us. We staged this event at South & City Academy to show students what Hospitality & Catering courses are all about over at the college and they loved it. Partnering with The Chefs’ Forum is going to revolutionise what we do with our students and those that will be coming in future years.”

This event has helped the college satisfy multiple standards on the Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Career Guidance in linking the curriculum to careers, enabling students to encounter employers and facilitating encounters with further and higher education.

Catherine concluded

“The Chefs’ Forum Academy employer engagement programme also offers experience of work places with regular work experience opportunities and personal guidance for each student. We are frequently interviewed by OFSTED to this end in helping colleges get the recognition they deserve for extensive curriculum enrichment work with us. We really love what we do and it is great that the colleges we work with can benefit from our work as well as helping employers identifying and nurturing the next generation of culinary and hospitality talent.”

Chef of the Week: Adam Kesacoff, Chef Patron at The Aussie Smoker in Cornwall

How long have you worked at your current restaurant?
Technically, I own a catering business so have a large prep area called BBQ HQ with smokers and a catering kitchen. This all started off just at home in the kitchen, then I converted the garage to a prep kitchen and now have an area of around 6 sea containers.

Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
I grew up in a Jewish family where every Friday night we would come together for the Shabbat and eat. Food has been a part of celebration and in times of mourning and something no matter what brings people together.

What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
I do not call myself a chef as I have no culinary school education. Just a lot of TV shows, YouTube and mistakes. What I love the most is watching people eat my creation, the silence before the smiles and head nods of approval.

Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without.
Smoke, salt and smoked paprika.

Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without?
My lighter!

What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
People are loving the more relaxed vibes of sharing platters.

What do you think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
Thinking the eating experience is only about the food.

What is your favourite time of year for food, and why?
Summer is always a winner as everyone loves a BBQ, however I really enjoy showing that a BBQ can be used all year round and feeding winter warmers.

Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
My mum’s summer carrot salad. It’s a dish she used to make for as long as I remember growing up in Australia and now I am showcasing this dish across the world in the UK to thousands of people each year.

How do you come up with new dishes?
I love working with leftovers and just throwing things together. The quicker the better.

Who was your greatest influence?
My whole extended family contributed to my love of food all in their own special way. However an incredible chef said to me when I was really young, do I want to work when everyone else parties? I said of course not and his response was. Don’t become a chef. From this I went out and lived life and developed my passion for food and have brought all those experiences to now running my own business in food on my own terms… almost.

Tell us three chefs you admire.
Aaron Franklin, Josh Katz and Yotam Ottolenghi.

What is your favourite cookbook?
The Cookbook by Berber and Q.

What’s been your favourite new restaurant opening of the last year?
The Wig and Pen in Truro, Conrwall.

www.theaussiesmoker.co.uk

Alex Naik Opens Thirteen with a Bang

There’s a new addition to the Dorset culinary landscape. Award-winning chef Alex Naik, formerly head chef at Shell Bay restaurant in Swanage, is opening Thirteen today in Parkstone, Poole.

Thirteen is a small family run restaurant with a stylish ambience and brings together exquisite food and great service.

Head Chef Alex Naik will create contemporary British cuisine combining seasonal locally sourced and freshly foraged ingredients with innovative cooking techniques.

Thirteen opens on Wednesday 13th September.

The Chefs’ Forum Director Catherine Farinha said:

“We were delighted to be invited to the soft launch of Thirteen restaurant by Dorset’s award-winning chef Alex Naik on Friday night! It was great to see his sister Frances, mum Elizabeth and dad Hem.

A wonderful evening had by all and it was also great to catch-up with friends old and new – Chefs’ Forum Sponsors – Country Fayre and Kris Hall from The Burnt Chef Project.”

Alex’s menu from the soft opening:

Cheddar sablé
Cavolo nero, chive flower
Gazpacho, truffle balsamic
Sweetcorn, spices
Tuna, wasabi
Beetroot, mango
Beef, smoke
Chanterelle, cep

Book your table now: www.thirteenrestaurant.com

Chef of the Week: Ben Purton, Chef Consultant in London

How long have you worked at your current restaurant?
I started up my consultancy business around 5 years ago and this has given me the opportunity to work with lots of different clients in a variety of establishments and venues.

Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
My passion really came after I was given an opportunity firstly to be a KP washing dishes and then to start cooking when I was 16 and realised It was something I could be quite good at. I was a bored student at school but once I knew this was what I was going to do – I focused and got better and better. I spent the first 3 years of my career at the Woodford Moat House Hotel and the next 10 years at The Carlton Tower in Knightsbridge. All of my foundations and skills come from those years.

What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
The variety, especially in my new role. The joy that a great meal can bring and the opportunity to be part of a young chefs journey as they start out in their own careers.

Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without.
Now, anyone that knows me knows that I cannot do without tea, water, milk and sugar and yes I know that’s 4 but I’m much better at everything I do after tea has been had. Picking just 3 ingredients is super tough but it can’t be underestimated how important good salt and pepper is and I think I’d just add a good olive oil to that list too.

Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without?
I’m a little old school with these things and I’d go for my trusted pastry knife as really versatile and a must have for any chef.

What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
So I like seeing the continued development of plant based and these are here to stay and some amazing work going on to make these dishes better and better. I see a trend for experience and interaction / engagement growing as it’s all about the memory making. Home comfort style cooking and eating with sharing plates will also be a big focus over the next 12-18 months.

What do you think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
So at the beginning of their careers I think a common mistake is not taking the time to learn the foundations and skills that will set you up for life. I’m the middle part of their careers, never forget that you can always learn and you should keep that academic brain ticking over. And never forget why you cook and who you are cooking for – listen to your guests and always have a bit of an open mind to tweak and develop what you do.

What is your favourite time of year for food, and why?
I love all the seasons and what they bring but I think early autumn has to be my favourite when the slow cooker comes out and everything takes a bit of a low and slow theme. Slow cooked lamb shoulder with a classic dauphinoise or boulangère is a thing of beauty and just feels even better from October – January.

Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
On a similar theme to the lamb, when doing my chef in your home experiences – a dish that can be tweaked and adapted for some many occasions wins out. It’s a trio dish and has a grilled / roasted element, slow cooked element and mini pie element. So think grilled fillet, braised short rib and cottage pie of Oxfordshire Beef and you get the idea. Then you swap out the beef for lamb, chicken, fish, veg and it just keeps on giving and always gets a 10/10 from my guests.

How do you come up with new dishes?
Loads of different ways and I look for inspiration everywhere and from everyone. I play with flavours, look at what others do, love the info that’s on the socials, play, experiment, make mistakes, play some more until you have something that’s good enough.

Who was your greatest influence?
Wow – again so many but the likes of Raymond Blanc, Brian Turner, Claire Clark were names that I looked out for at the start of my career as they were doing the kind of things that I thought “oh I’d love to do that” and then watching, meeting and getting to know the likes of the Galvin brothers Chris and Jeff, Simon Young, James Golding, Cherish Finden, Jason Atherton and so many more have me so much confidence and a great network to be able to reach too as needed.

Tell us three chefs you admire.
Again, so many but to try and pick 3 – John Williams at the Ritz – I mean the boss right, Clare Smyth – I don’t know her but wow – just wow – top end cooking and consistency year after year, inspirational and James Martin – this guy does it all and does it all well – great chef, lovely bloke and anyone that has more butter in his mash than mash is right up there in my book.

What is your favourite cookbook?
So although I’ve been UK based for my career, I worked in an Italian restaurant at the Carlton Tower so Italian cookery and cooking has a spot in my heart forever. While I was at the Hyatt Churchill Hotel, I had the honour to watch Giorgio Locatelli at work and oh my – this guy is fantastico. His signed cookbook – Made in Italy – has pride of place on my bookcase at home.

Who do you think are the chefs to watch over the next few months?
So you should have been watching these already and def for the next few months and way beyond I’m sure.

Ruth Hanson – at Swinton Estate
Steffan Davies – Claridges
Liam Rogers – Moor Hall

What’s been your favourite new restaurant opening of the last year?
So the ink is still wet on this one when writing this but think by the time of reading it Fazenda Rodizio Bar & Grill Bishopsgate will be the talk of the town and it has a dream team of Sergio Labarile, Francisco Martinez, Andrea, Monika and so many more – it’s a must visit.

Chef of the Week: Ian Mitchell, Head Chef at The Land’s End Hotel in Cornwall

How long have you worked at your current restaurant?
7 years in total after leaving and returning.

Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
I was a late bloomer in catering. I went to college late after a farming and building career start, but I made up for it and was lucky to have very skilled and passionate chefs around me. Coming from a humble background where food was scarce, I learned to cook early with little ingredients and great enthusiasm. I have a blog on all my food memories, from eating chewy liver as a toddler to heating up baked beans under the Eiffel Tower with my hippy mum in the 70’s. I learned my skills mainly from good chefs and going to college, but my people skills are from over 30 years being in the trade.

What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
It has changed over the years. Getting smashed in a highly stressful busy service used to give me a real buzz and a sense of belonging and self-worth. As I have got older, I feel not only a responsibility to help others by advising and guiding them, but I feel happy when I am able to help others meet their full potential in my kitchen.

Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without.
Onions, spices and eggs.

Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without?
A decent sieve.

What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
The return to simple foods cooked well.

What do you think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
Trying to put their ego on a plate and not knowing their market.

What is your favourite time of year for food, and why?
Autumn, because everything is ready. You can pickle, preserve and bottle the harvest of summer.

Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
Any of my dishes that exceed my customer’s expectations.

How do you come up with new dishes?
I look at nature for inspiration.

Who was your greatest influence?
I was influenced greatly by a lot of unknowns that really should get credit, and equally by lots of bad people that made me a better person and chef. Specifically with regards to my chef influences, it would be Marco Pierre White, Raymond Blanc and Jamie Oliver.

Tell us three chefs you admire.
Marco Pierre White, Raymond Blanc and the Roux brothers.

What is your favourite cookbook?
Jamie Oliver’s Italy.

Who do you think are the chefs to watch over the next few months?
My chefs at Land’s End, two in particular are very talented and passionate.

What’s been your favourite new restaurant opening of the last year?
To be honest, anything local I’m happy to support as I know how hard it is.

www.landsendhotel.co.uk

Classically Brilliant!

Take six top chefs! And some world-class ingredients.

It isn’t often that you get to experience Australian and Japanese wagyu beef, sustainable caviar, exquisite seafood, seasonal fruit and vegetables, inimitable chocolate and hand-picked wines in one brilliant event.

So, the South West Showcase of leading produce and ingredients supplier, Classic Fine Foods, on Monday 18th September is a MUST for every West Country chef’s diary. It’s being held at Courtyard by Marriott in Exeter and runs from 10:30am-5:00pm and The Chefs’ Forum will be organising the chef demonstration stage, and what an excellent line-up lies in wait.

As well as outstanding ingredients there are also six, internationally-acclaimed chefs doing demos and masterclasses and the event will see the return of the hugely-popular and highly competitive/comical omelette challenge.

The six chefs are:

Chris McClurg – Paul Ainsworth at No.6
Jordan Denning – Lympstone Manor
Scott Paton & John Brimicombe – Àclèaf at Boringdon Hall
Richard Hunt – Courtyard by Marriot
Darryl Collins – Mullion Cove Hotel
Denis Drame MCA – Classic Fine Foods

Catherine Farinha, Director of The Chefs Forum, said: “This will be a fantastic event that will celebrate Classic Fine Foods launching their regional hub in the Southwest and we are really excited to be running the demo stage and promoting such a great collection of ingredients and producers all under one roof. Make sure you come and see us!”

Krishna Quarrell from Classic Fine Foods said “As National Sales Manager, I am particularly excited to announce the next phase in our national expansion and the opening of our new hub in Exeter, which will service Devon and Cornwall, locations very close to my heart. I have grown up and live in the Southwest and my love for the hospitality and food industry was sparked by my visits to hotels and restaurants across the area.”

Register to attend please CLICK HERE

Meet Klima. Climate. Controlled.

The perfect steak needs the perfect climate and in Klima, every chef has the opportunity to achieve perfection. How does it work?

Simple, everything is done in the cabinet which can sit happily, front of house, in the restaurant so every guest can see what’s going on.

Due to a unique air ventilation system, Klima achieves strong and intense flavours and increased juiciness in steaks which get the correct ageing environment – No matter what the cut.

Steve Snow, Managing Director of UK Distributor, MCS Technical Products Ltd said: “In designing KLIMA MEAT, the Italian manufacturer, Zernike focused on recreating the ideal microclimate and the natural reactions traditionally harnessed by man for aging meat. They then perfected a unique dry ager with an intuitive technology that combines our patents for ventilation, sanitization and oxygenation of meat. Their ambition was to create a high performance, technologically advanced product which is also user friendly, we’re convinced it will be extremely popular with among top UK chefs and butchers.”

The touch screen monitor displays each function with intuitive icons which make it easy to control and modify all the process phases and parameters. The electronic control allows a precise management of temperature, humidity and ventilation inside the chamber, which combined with the patented oxygenation system OxigenKLIMA, makes it possible to reproduce the ideal conditions for a high quality and perfectly biosafe dry aging – reducing the danger of listeria, harmful moulds and unpleasant smells. Never a dull steak ever again!

Chef of the Week: Mike Greer, Head Chef at The Eden Project in Cornwall

How long have you worked at your current restaurant?
I have currently worked at The Eden Project for just over 12 years. Starting off as a Chef de Partie then working my way up to Junior Sous Chef, Sous Chef and in 2021 I gained the role of the Head Chef.

Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
Growing up in Birmingham I was surrounded by different food and cuisines from all over the world. I loved going into different local shops seeing produce, smells and colours. I was always keen to try different food, different spices and different cooking techniques. At school we celebrated many different religious festivals and the food we ate reflected this giving me an insight to global cuisine.

I studied catering at GCSE and loved all the practical elements of it. I moved to Cornwall from Birmingham and studied hospitality at college for 3 years. Whilst at College I was also working part-time in a kitchen to help develop my skills.

What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
I enjoy the creativity of being a chef. Having such wonderful produce to work with in Cornwall is amazing and now we have a state of the art nursery here at Eden, the produce is literally grown on our kitchens doorstep.

Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without.
This is a tough one as there are so many ingredients I enjoy cooking with but if I break it down to what I would use the most, it would be coriander, paprika and hake.

Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without?
For our scale of operation the piece of equipment that is most essential to me is our 180 litre bratt pan. On our busiest days we see up to 7,000 visitors so it’s a large scale to cater for. In this bratt pan we do the majority of our food preparation, whether its our organic Cornish pasta mac and cheese or our Eden grown vegetable summer curry it’s a great bit of equipment to cook lots of food.

What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
Vegan and plant based food trends has been on the rise for several years now and it’s great to see so many meat-free alternatives and plant based dairy replacements. We strive to ensure that we cater for every dietary and allergy requirement ensuring great taste and quality for our visitors. Also I am seeing that people are trying to make operations a lot more sustainable now. We have just created a food policy at Eden to ensure we are as sustainable as possible in all aspects of our catering and I think that sustainability will play a huge factor in a lot of restaurants.

What do you think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
Difficult one to answer but I think a big mistake in hospitality in general are working hours. We know it’s part of the job, long days and lots of hours but I believe in ensuring my chefs have 3 days off a week so they can enjoy a good work life balance. We want to ensure our visitors have a great dining experience and by allowing the team suitable time off allows them to be refreshed and focused in the work place.

What is your favourite time of year for food, and why?
This has to be summer. I love cooking outdoors (although this year it’s been a bit damp). I love the summer produce especially the crops we are growing on site. Fresh, vibrant, colourful and tasty produce is delivered to our kitchen every day from our nursery and the quality is unbelievable.

Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
We had a beautiful Malaysian vegan curry on the menu using Cornish vegetables and our own grown lemongrass, chillies and curry leaves. The fragrance of this dish was amazing and being able to commercially grow lemongrass in Cornwall for this is a real treat. I am also very proud and passionate about our paella we cook and serve in our Mediterranean biome, visually it’s a masterpiece and the combination of local chorizo, Cornish shellfish and beautiful spices makes this a winner in our restaurant.

How do you come up with new dishes?
In our quiet period in January and February I invite the whole team to come up with dishes for the seasons for all of our venues. I feel passionately about involving all the staff in menu development so they have an input and feel invested in. We will do a week-long cooking and tasting development week, pick and choose dishes we like, which need a little more development and then feed this information back to our Horticulture team so they can grow the right ingredients for the right time of year.

Who was your greatest influence?
This would have to be my mum; she will say she taught me everything but I know better. She supported me all the way through college and my early years as a chef.

Tell us three chefs you admire.
Antonio Carluccio is definitely one I admire. I had the joy meeting him and assisting him with a cooking demonstration and he was amazing. His style of cuisine making simple, tasty fresh food using fine ingredients has made a huge impression on me especially when creating menus for our Med terrace restaurant. An incredible individual who’s passion for Italian cuisine was incredible.

Phil Vickery is another chef I admire. Again I had the opportunity to assist him on a couple of occasions and he was such a nice guy. His gluten free cooking and recipes are very inspiring, ensuring taste and quality are never compromised.

Angela Hartnett was one of the first celebrity chefs I met and she was incredible, so nice and down to earth and her cooking is sensational.

What is your favourite cookbook?
My favourite cookbook has got to be Antonio Carluccio’s Simple Cooking. Some of his favourite recipes in there using simple techniques to create beautiful food.

What’s been your favourite new restaurant opening of the last year?
My favourite new opening has to be Kernow Street Kitchen in Mevagissey. A stunning little pop-up restaurant perched beautifully on the fishing harbour of Mevagissey. They serve up the most incredible street food using Cornish ingredients. The menu changes regularly with every dish as tasty as the next.

www.edenproject.com

Taste the Difference

Tasting menus divide opinion but their progress is undeniable. They are here to stay and represent an opportunity for chefs to show off their skills and range. They also allow kitchens to control waste and guarantee a set income. Are we seeing the death of a la carte? Probably.

Once upon a time the guest chose. The customer was always right. How things have changed. Today the chef is right and the guests… well, the guests can either have the tasting menu or find somewhere else.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Once thing is certain: it’s good for chefs. They get to create a range of dishes, often experimental, that plays to their strengths.

Our esteemed Director Catherine Farinha and National Business Manager Alexandra Duncan had a tasting menu experience at South Place Hotel in London at The Angler restaurant run by executive chef Gary Foulkes.

“It was an incredible experience,” Catherine Farinha explained afterwards. “We were celebrating Alex’s birthday and this was a brilliant way of doing it. I never thought it would end but each course kept getting better and it was all a brilliant surprise even though we had seen the menu. I love this way of dining.” (See below for the menu Catherine & Alex enjoyed).

The emphasis here is on experience. A tasting menu takes much longer to serve but enables the diner to experience very different tastes and combinations. This level of experience simply cannot be replicated by an a la carte menu.

However, there will always be those that hanker after the a la carte.

“You don’t go to a steak restaurant for a tasting menu,” said Chefs’ Forum editor Chandos Elletson. “You go for a steak. It’s the same with pizza or fried chicken. The tasting menu works in a narrow band of restaurants where the skill of the chef is focussed on small, exquisite, courses. It originated in Japan with Kaiseki and has been expanded and refined in the UK.”

Some restaurants are now tasting menu only. Two notable examples are Restaurant Sat Bains and Gareth Ward’s Ynyshir which recently won best restaurant in the UK.

“Diners have a choice now,” Elletson continued. “They can go for tasting for a special occasion or go to a restaurant to enjoy a specific style. The days of the multi-format a la carte are numbered.”

The tasting menu at The Angler by Gary Foulkes

Aged Comté, goat’s curd, pea & black garlic gougère

Angler stout bread, caramelised yeast & malt butter

*******

Crispy Iberian pig’s head, BBQ apple, smoked bacon & tarragon

Montgomery cheddar, caramelised onion & wild garlic tart

Foie Gras Cornetto, new season’s cherry & pistachio

Prawn & squid ink cracker, smoked cod’s roe & Espelette pepper

*******

Sea Bass Tartare – Oyster cream, green apple, shiso

Native Lobster – Gazpacho dressing, Has avocado, lobster & oscietra caviar tart

Phil Howard’s Langoustine Dish – Parmesan gnocchi, truffle purée, potato & truffle emulsion