The Chefs’ Forum Road Crew Arrives in The Garden of England
We’re on the road again! 2023 sees us hard at work promoting our unique Student Pastry Chef of the Year 2023 event which is now open for entries and our fantastic new book The Chefs’ Knowledge.
At Hythe Imperial Hotel we welcomed 80 guests from across the industry to a special four course lunch cooked by chefs Allister Barsby (Hide & Fox), Craig Edgell (Buoy & Oyster), Manuel Monzon (Hythe Imperial) and Scott Goss (I’ll be Mother).
Students from North Kent College were on hand to get valuable experience both in the kitchen and front of house with the chefs and restaurant management team.
Catherine Farinha, Director of The Chefs’ Forum, said: “It was so wonderful to be back in Kent, the garden of England. At the excellent Hythe Imperial Hotel we introduced our new book The Chefs’ Knowledge and drummed up more support for Student Pastry Chef of the Year competition as well as working with our increasing number of top suppliers.”
The Menu
Starter – Allister Barsby (Hide & Fox) – Slow Cooked Australian Lamb Rump, Spinach & Parmesan Tortellini, Roscoff Onion and Black Garlic
Fish Course – Craig Edgell (Buoy & Oyster) – Kentucky Fried Monkfish, Margate Oyster Mushroom Potatoes, Charred Corn and Chicken Fat Emulsion
Main Course – Manuel Monzon (Hythe Imperial) – Slow Roasted Short Rib of Australian Wagyu, Smoked BBQ Wagyu Rump Cap, Jerusalem Artichoke Purée & Crisp, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Pomme Rösti and Madeira Truffle Jus
Dessert – Scott Goss (I’ll be Mother) – Rhubarb Cheesecake
Manuel Monzon, Executive Chef at the Hythe Imperial was delighted to invite his culinary peers to cook with him in his kitchens, he said
“I have worked with The Chefs’ Forum for the last decade, even welcoming chefs from Kent to my restaurant in Bristol to see what we do in advance of blueprinting the initiative in Kent. It’s great to be hosting the organisation and suppliers for the second time here at The Hythe Imperial. We’ve all had a great day and the students were a huge credit to their college – We will certainly be inviting them back for further work experience and even offering them summer jobs!”
Michelin-starred local chef Allister Barsby was delighted to be involved in the event, he said
“Events like these are crucial to mentor and inspire the next generation of hospitality professionals. I was very impressed with the level of skill the students displayed and we produced some excellent food. I really enjoyed working with the lamb from Meat & Livestock Australia and received fantastic feedback from our industry guests – It was great to see how much the students were enjoying the day and many showed real promise and enthsiam.”
Craig Edgell’s Kentucky fried monkfish was a superb dish and the guests really enjoyed it, he said
“We love working with the students and feel like we’re giving back to the industry – It’s really important to make sure that student are learning in the correct environment and being taught by the right people to ensure they flourish and the hospitality industry stays alive for generations to come.”
Scott Goss created a beautiful dessert, championing seasonal rhubarb, kindly sponsored by local fresh produce supplier Foodari, who have secured a Royal Warrant, granted by King Charles III, he concluded
“Today really showed us that we’re getting it right; We first started working with The Chefs’ Forum eight years ago and its wonderful to see how far we’ve all come. It is so rewarding and humbling to work with the students and it was great to see so many fantastic suppliers here today, who enable us to stage these events.”
Any chefs, colleges or suppliers wishing to participate in future events in Kent & Sussex should contact alexandra@redcherry.uk.com
Photo and film credit: New Era
Chef of the Week: Joe Liptrot, Executive Chef at Delta Hotels by Marriott Worsley Park Country Club, Manchester
How long have you worked at your current restaurant?
I’ve been at Worsley Park Marriott Golf & Country Club one year as Executive Head Chef.
Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
I did a lot of travelling when I was younger, Asia, Europe etc. This opened my eyes to other cuisines. I was always a big lad growing up and never shy to taste something different.
What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
Two days are never the same. I love building a team and relationships and seeing them grow. I like to see chefs progress and push up the ladder. The only way of improving is by giving chances, exactly like I have.
Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without.
Seasoning, double cream & butter.
Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without?
Rational ovens- they do a lot!
What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
A lot more Asian influences which I like and some of the old traditional ways are coming back like low and slow cooking.
What do you think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
Over complicating – We can all be guilty of it sometimes. Also, over-garnishing – It should be there to enhance the dish not to look good.
What is your favourite time of year for food, and why?
Asparagus season – April/ May – Love the stuff!
Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
I’m very proud of my duo of pork dish which we do at Worsely Park – Confit belly, braised cheek, carrot three ways, potato pressing and red wine jus.
How do you come up with new dishes?
A lot of research – Instagram is fairly good for inspiration and ideas. Also the old fashioned way referring to cook books.
Who was your greatest influence?
Marco Pierre White & Jean Christophe Novelli – Worked for both in my younger years and it really set a standard.
Tell us three chefs you admire.
Marco Pierre White, Jean Christophe Novelli & Tom Kerridge.
What is your favourite cookbook?
Marco Pierre White – White Heat.
Who do you think are the chefs to watch over the next few months?
Gary Usher – Always an interesting one, I love the simplicity of his food but maximum flavours.
What’s been you favourite new restaurant opening of the last year?
Not new, but my favourite place to go in Manchester is Kabanas Indian- Real home cooking served like school dinners but the most traditional & authentic of curries.
Students Cook up Four-course Feast with Exose Grant
The Maya Sous Chef guided Hospitality & Catering students through a sold-out event.
Promising young chefs at The Manchester College have shared a kitchen with one of the country’s leading professionals, in conjunction with the Chefs’ Forum Academy
Students at the College’s Industry Excellence Academy for Hospitality & Catering worked alongside Exose Grant, new Maya Sous Chef and finalist of ‘Masterchef: The Professionals’, to put on a four-course dinner plus drinks and canapés.
Such was the excitement around the event on 8 February, which was held at 1853 restaurant at the College’s City Campus Manchester, tickets for the evening sold out in record time.
Featuring dishes such as seaweed butter poached halibut and lemon meringue mille feuille, Exose and the students took advantage of the College’s state-of-the-art kitchen facilities to create a delicious menu.
“Working with The Chefs’ Forum our students are able to gain experience of working with top-professionals to really take their skills to the next level.” commented Christine Kenyon, Deputy Principal at The Manchester College. “Nights such as these, where they put their skills to the test in a professional setting, are vital to ensuring they are ready to start a career once they complete their studies with us.”
Incredibly generous with his time, the event was the latest way Exose Grant has supported The Manchester College. He holds regular masterclasses on campus as well as involving students in external events, such as the recent Chefs’ Forum Manchester Chefs’ Lunch at Ducie Street Warehouse.
Exose said: “I enjoy this so much, I only wish I had these fantastic opportunities to work with top chefs when I was at college. I just love giving back to the community and seeing how much the students get out of being involved in events like this. It is also fantastic that I get to keep in touch with my former lecturer Mark Cooper, who I’ve always greatly looked up to and support him in enriching the learning of the students at The Manchester College.
“The new City Centre campus is absolutely amazing and the kitchens, world class – I’m honoured to be the first chef to host a guest chef evening at the college this year and look forward to attending similar evenings hosted by my chef peers and culinary legends.”
Chefs’ Forum director Catherine Farinha added: “We are delighted to be growing our partnership with The Manchester College and help them to enable their students to get a proper feel of working in professional hospitality.
“This is the first in a series of fantastic guest chef nights to be held at the college. Simon Wood of Wood Restaurant and Doug Crampton of James Martin Manchester will also be cooking with the students in the brand-new college kitchens and restaurant at the City Campus Manchester.
“One of the main areas we are working on is to help make the College restaurant profitable and give students a real-life service with real guests. It’s amazing to sell out all 45 covers.
“By working with sponsors, we can drive down food costs and bring in top class ingredients that students haven’t worked with before. For this series we are working with Meat & Livestock Australia, Royal Greenland and Dole Foodservice.”
Find out more about Hospitality & Catering courses at The Manchester College and apply today.
Photo credit: Kath Symes
Taste the Difference
The Hospitality and Catering Department at Langley College in Berkshire welcomed 180 students from 10 local feeder schools to a special industry taster day on Tuesday 7th February.
Four top chefs were on hand to deliver masterclasses and give an insight into professional catering and hospitality.
After a canapé and mocktail reception the students enjoyed a pasta making and cookery demonstration led by Chris Hannon, Executive Chef at nearby Cliveden House.
This led on to a bakery class on kneading the perfect loaf by Piotr Lesnianski from The Gatsby Restaurant.
Piotr said “I really enjoy events like this, it is so great to see the students listening intently to the demonstrations and I was very impressed with how quickly the 
students got to grips with helping me to make corn tortillas on the demo stage. They really are very lucky to have a fantastic college like Langley on the doorstep and some great chefs coming in to offer curriculum enrichment.”
Fresh from escorting The Chefs’ Forum round Japan, sushi master Keiko Urakawa took the students through the preparation of sushi before chef Louise Wagstaffe created desserts.
If that wasn’t enough the students then decorated eclairs which are featured in The Chefs’ Knowledge, our latest book.
The food and drink was kindly sponsored by First Choice Produce, Premier Foods and Holdsworth
Anne Entwistle, Principal of Langley College said: “It was lovely to welcome so many aspiring chefs to our campus. The taster day is a great way to introduce students to the practicalities of catering. They really enjoyed meeting the professional chefs and sampling all the food.
Following the successful launch of our hospitality and catering course this year we will soon be introducing two new apprenticeships for anybody hoping to be a commis or a production chef. These courses have been created with the support of employers to fill the skills gaps and staffing needs of our local community.’’
Catherine Farinha, Director of The Chefs’ Forum, said: “At The Chefs’ Forum we love teaching catering and hospitality through our Academies. Taster days are a part of that and it was thrilling to see so many young and eager faces enjoy the programme and get to see what goes on in professional kitchens.”
Photography and film by www.johnscottblackwell.co.uk
2023 Student Pastry Chef of the Year is Open for Entries!
Take your pastry to the next level and enter our brilliant student pastry chef competition and win big at the same time. The competition is now in its third year and those that enter will be competing in front of the finest pastry chefs in the country. Both Cherish Finden and Benoit Blin from Bake Off: The Professionals are part of the judging panel.
The shortage of highly-skilled young pastry chefs is well documented, so it is our intention to showcase the great student and apprentice talent within the UK’s colleges, learning providers and universities. We also want to showcase the creative and highly rewarding career opportunities available to a wider audience.
The preliminary round is in writing. We need:
- A brief CV and a short introduction about yourself (100-150 words).
- Three photos of either plated desserts, cakes and/or decorative items you have produced.
- A description outlining why you wish to enter the competition. This can be presented on video or in writing.
Timeline
- Friday 3rd March at 17:00 – Closing date for the preliminary round.
- Monday 13th March – The successful student pastry chefs progressing to the semi-finals will be notified by email, with details of the requirements for the semi-final task.
- Friday 31st March at 17:00 – Submission deadline for the semi-final task: From the 20 semi-finalists, the judging team will select the top 8 entries to progress to the grand final.
- Monday 17th April – Announcement of the 8 finalists. Wednesday 10th May – Grand Final, live at West London College.
Meet the Judges
- Michael Kwan – Executive Pastry Chef at The Dorchester and UK Pastry Team
- Chris Underwood – Artisserie
- Michael D’Angelo – Head Pastry Chef at Louie London
- Franciane Tartari – Executive Pastry Chef at Amazonico
- Daniel Pearse – Executive Pastry Chef at Rhubarb
- Enrico Carloni – Head Pastry Chef at The Peninsula
- Biju Joshwa – Executive Pastry Chef at Sheraton Grand Park Lane
- Cherish Finden – Executive Pastry Chef at Pan Pacific/Bake Off: The Professionals Judge
- Nelson Sa – Head Pastry Chef at South Place
- Thibault Hauchard – Executive Pastry Chef at Claridge’s
- Benoit Blin – Executive Pastry Chef at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons/Bake Off: The Professionals Judge
Win big with our superb prizes.
Winner:
- £400 voucher from Mitchell & Cooper
- A selection of products from Henley Bridge
- A Bragard hat, trousers, jacket & apron
- Matfer Bourgeat product bundle
- A copy of The Chefs’ Knowledge – The Modern Culinary Repertoire
- £300 voucher from Wedgwood
Runner-up:
- £250 voucher from Mitchell & Cooper
- A selection of products from Henley Bridge
- Matfer Bourgeat product bundle
- A Bragard jacket up to £100 RRP
- A copy of The Chefs’ Knowledge – The Modern Culinary Repertoire
Third Place:
- A selection of products from Henley Bridge
- Matfer Bourgeat product bundle
- A Bragard apron of choice
- A copy of The Chefs’ Knowledge – The Modern Culinary Repertoire
Please send your completed entries to alexandra@redcherry.uk.com by Friday 3rd March 2023 at 17:00.
The Chefs’ Forum Roadshow Visits West London College
Over 200 secondary school students attended The Chefs’ Forum Roadshow at West London College (8 February 2023). This annual event, now in its second year, included hip hop dance routines, a singer and rapper, chef masterclasses, a mocktail making competition and plenty of audience participation. Many exceptional hospitality professionals gave interactive demonstrations to inspire and motivate the next generation of chefs coming through.
The event opened with Chef Jolly’s masterclass in using spices as he prepared and cooked okra chips coated in paprika, garlic, coriander, cumin and chat masala.
West London College Hospitality and Catering students served delicacies to the school visitors throughout the three-hour event, ranging from miniature macaroons, sushi and pasta to tiny stuffed pooris.
Professional Cookery Level 1 student Nessi Languindaz (17) said: “I was really pleased that the school students were so excited by the food we were serving them.”
Her classmate Hazelle Stringfellow (30) said: “It felt great to be part of such a large and buzzing event.”
Georgie Flaherty (16), Leo Schoenholtz (16) and Hoi Yiu Butt (16) cooked the pasta and sushi for the showcase roadshow.
Salvatore Maggio, bar manager at the Rubens at the Palace, demonstrated mocktail making. He rolled the mocktail maker in an elaborate figure of eight and then poured its ingredients from the maker to the glass and back again with a gap of about three feet between both. Everyone gasped as the brightly coloured liquid appeared to defy gravity
“This is how we get lots of oxygen into the mocktail and enhance the flavours,” he told the captivated audience. Schools competed to come up with the best mocktail. Barnhill won with their creation ‘The Barnhill Shake’, runners up were Magna Carta with ‘Raspberry Night’ and third place went to Forest Hill for their ‘Caribbean Paradise’.
The event closed as Keiko Urakawa gave a masterclass on making sushi from scratch.
Catherine Farinha from the Chefs’ Forum said: “We run this event to provide enrichment events for schools and young people where they can meet employers and find out about career opportunities in hospitality and catering.”
Denise Charles, Head of Service Industries at West London College said: “We are delighted to be members of the Chefs’ Forum as it enables our students to gain real life work experience mentored and encouraged by the UK’s leading chefs.”
The food and drink was kindly sponsored by First Choice Produce and Premier Foods, with barware from Mitchell & Cooper.
Watch the video below to get a flavour of the The Chefs’ Forum fantastic taster day at West London College!
The secondary schools who attended the event were:
Cumberland Community School, Nower Hill High School, Cambridge School, Belvue High School, Villiers High School, Barnhill School, All Saints Catholic School, The Magna Carta School, Greenford High School.
If you are interested in a course in Catering and Hospitality at West London College, apply at: wlc.ac.uk/catering
Chef of the Week: Daniel Scott, Executive Chef at 20 Stories in Manchester
How long have you worked at your current restaurant?
Approximately 15 months, I started in October 2021.
Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
I come from a large family that is filled with great cooks. My childhood is filled with memories of large family meals & gatherings. The skills I’ve acquired have come from every restaurant/hotel I’ve worked at over the past 25 years. If you pay attention, every chef you work with can teach you something, regardless of position.
What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
The variety. No two days are the same and you are constantly challenged.
Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without.
Salt, fat & acid – A bit of a cheat three, but they make everything taste great, on the savoury side of the kitchen obviously!
Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without?
Sharp knives! They make everything easier!
What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
Not so much a trend… but I think the industry, as a whole, is making better choices in the sourcing of ingredients. There is lots of amazing restaurants now that are vegetable led, not vegetarian or vegan, just making vegetables as important as the protein.
What do you think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
Thinking they know more than they do.
What is your favourite time of year for food, and why?
The start of any new season. Each one comes with it’s own variety & inspirations.
Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
The one’s I like most are those that have come about as a team. I really like to see the junior chefs having an input. Again, nobody knows everything and anyone can make a suggestion that elevates a dish.
How do you come up with new dishes?
I look to the season and what is available to me.
Who was your greatest influence?
To me personally & professionally, Stuart Collins & Ian Derbyshire. Across my career, there’s too many to list. In terms of work ethic, my father.
Tell us three chefs you admire.
Chris Bassett, Gareth Stevenson and Gavin Edney. ‘Celebrity chefs’… Clare Smyth, Magnus Nilsson and Fergus Henderson.
What is your favourite cookbook?
Faviken.
Who do you think are the chefs to watch over the next few months?
The ones listed above. Locally to Manchester, Joseph Otway. No question.
What’s been your favourite new restaurant opening of the last year?
I’m terrible at getting out to new restaurants as so many now operate on a 4-day week. So I’ll just say my top three places to eat in Manchester that I went to last year. Flawd, Erst & Mana.
Get a Taste of Our New Chefs’ Forum ‘Road Crew’ Van!
We are mobile! The Chefs’ Forum is on the road again with a new Mercedes Sprinter long wheelbase van that’s been badged-up with our new colours and branding.
We will be touring the country this year supporting colleges to drive student registration for this September.
We’ll also be making an appearance and showcasing top chefs at major industry events like the HRC this March and The Game Fair and Welsh Game Fairs this summer.
Our new van set-up enables us to transport our purpose-built demo-stage and all catering and AV equipment we need to stage taster days for local feeder schools and other chefs theatre events.
“Putting on hospitality industry taster days is something we’ve got down to a tee” explained Chefs’ Forum Director Catherine Farinha. “However, in the past we had to work that bit harder. Now, with our new Chefs’ Forum ‘Road Crew’ van. With sustainability at the forefront, this is a clean diesel, using AdBlue technology. This will make our taster day calendar for the 2023 even more efficient and our operation more green. We are really excited to be on the road again and our chefs and suppliers are eager to get back into colleges to inspire the next generation of school leavers to choose hospitality.”
The Chefs’ Forum is going the extra mile to travel around the UK, inspiring the next generation of hospitality and catering professionals.
Chef of the Week: Dan Ashmore, Executive Chef at The Dean Banks Group in Scotland
How long have you worked at your current restaurant?
I’ve been in my current role for coming up to one year.
Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
I have always enjoyed cooking from a young age, spending time with my grandmother making chutney using apples from her tree in the garden.
What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
The creativity, the teamwork and the opportunities across the world.
Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without.
Butter, salt and lemon.
Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without?
A whetstone to keep my knives sharp.
What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
Foraging and fermenting during the summer months for the winter.
What do you think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
Not tasting your food as you are cooking. Taste as you go and season more if needed.
What is your favourite time of year for food, and why?
Spring – After the long dark days of winter, seeing the first signs of greenery and life is always refreshing.
Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
Every dish I have cooked has taught me new techniques and styles, I couldn’t pinpoint one above the other.
How do you come up with new dishes?
I look at what is available across our suppliers and think what I would like to eat, the old adage of “what grows together goes together” is always very helpful.
Who was your greatest influence?
I’ve been very lucky to have worked alongside some exceptional chefs, two of my biggest influences who made the biggest marks in my career are Phil Howard and Tom Aikens.
Tell us three chefs you admire.
Thomas Keller, Mikeal Viljanin and Simon Rogan.
What is your favourite cookbook?
‘The French Laundry’ – I remember getting that book years ago, just at the start of my career and sitting at home reading it cover to cover every night.
Who do you think are the chefs to watch over the next few months?
Tomas and Sam from Heron in Leith, Hamish and the team at Eleanore on Leith Walk and Matt Smith, Head Chef at Inver.
What’s been your favourite new restaurant opening of the last year?
The three that we have opened – Haar, Dulse and the upcoming Forager.
Ready, Set, Focus
In the current business climate in hospitality how do you understand the trends and limitations being considered and acted upon by busy chefs? This was a very real question asked by Mitchell & Cooper before they launch on a new website, catalogue and product offer.
At The Chefs’ Forum we think out of the box and one thing we know all about after years of experience is how chefs think and behave, what they like and dislike and what they are looking for. So, the answer to the question was straightforward.
We get a bunch of top chefs, sit them down, ask them straight, feed them a delicious lunch and then ask a whole load more questions in the afternoon. And that’s what we did. However, we were clever about it.
Mitchell & Cooper wanted to ask some very particular questions about purchasing, decision-making, provenance and corporate accountability as well as more regular questions about trends and usage. For us to get representative answers we had to choose our chefs wisely. We didn’t want them all to be the same. We needed to have chefs from different skill bands, diverse world food genres and different businesses.
The result was a unique focus group held at West London College where industry-leading chefs from hotels, restaurants, private clubs, consultancy and international businesses sat down and answered questions on how they look at purchasing and what the future of business in hospitality is going to look like. For Mitchell & Cooper this was a very real account of affairs insight into the end user culinary challenges and opportunities. For us, it was business as usual as we pride ourselves on being at the chalk face of culinary current affairs.
What was surprising was how interested the chefs were in being involved. Far from being “too busy” they were delighted to be asked their opinion and be involved in the framework of building a new catalogue with genuine industry insight interwoven into its structure.
One example sums up the day; The chefs were asked about the Bonzer® range of can openers which is made by Mitchell & Cooper. The question was about space. Was it felt that the Bonzer® got in the way?
One answer was from a chef who worked in a building with six different kitchens. However, there was only one Bonzer® can opener. All the chefs took their cans to one kitchen to open them. The reason: space.
“We rarely get to ask these questions to the end user – Chefs and hospitality industry professionals,” Kat Cooper of Mitchell & Cooper told The Chefs’ Forum. “As light catering equipment and barware manufacturers, it is imperative for us to learn how the chefs and hospitality professionals are not only perceiving our products, but actually using them for real was incredibly valuable. We had a great day learning all sorts of new things and learning how we can adapt our business and product design to suit the widely-varying needs of different types of chefs.”
Catherine Farinha, Director of The Chefs’ Forum, said: “We are very pleased with the way the day worked. It’s not easy getting a representative group of chefs together for a day and keep them interested. However, the questions were interesting and the products that Mitchell & Cooper have in the their range are household names. Plus, we threw in a delicious Brazilian BBQ lunch cooked by Level 1 students at West London College using finest quality Aussie Wagyu and lamb rump, kindly sponsored by Meat & Livestock Australia – Bonzer in every sense of the word! It was a great opportunity for us to give the students a butchery demonstration using Mitchell & Cooper’s sensational Deglon® knife range”
Michael Dutnall, Executive Chef of The RAF Club, who took part, said: “It was a very interesting day. I learnt a lot about Mitchell & Cooper and their business plans and was very happy to pass on my knowledge of how we work. The result will make our collaboration much easier. I use KitchenAid all the time, I also have Bonzer® can openers in all of my kitchens, I even have a Nemox ice cream machine, which is another great piece of kit, also available from Mitchell & Cooper – It was great to meet the people behind the brands we use every day.
