Wedgwood Steps in with Magnificent gift to West London College

Wedgwood, the celebrated ceramic supplier, has supported West London College with a huge gift of 600 pieces for use in the college restaurant.

The set, made up of the Gio range, will enable the restaurant to plate food in the restaurant to a standard only seen in the finest restaurants.

“This is a magnificent gift,” enthused Catherine Farinha, Director of The Chefs’ Forum. “It means that students will be able to see their food as it would appear in a top restaurant or hotel. This is so valuable for them to gain this sort of experience.”

Denise Charles, Head of Hospitality at West London College, said: “We’re thrilled and hugely grateful to Wedgwood. There’s no way our budget would ever stretch to this and to be able to serve food on these beautiful plates and dishes will mean the world to our students and impress our guests.”

The set includes 100 of each and makes a complete dinner service: Dinner plates, salad plates, side plates, soup bowls, dessert bowls and dessert plates.

Explore the Gio and other Wedgwood collections HERE

Chef of the Week – Josh Singleton, Head Chef at Embankment Kitchen in Manchester

How long have you worked at your current restaurant?
I’ve worked at my current restaurant since September 2022.

Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
My passion for cooking came from my grandad and cooking with him as a child and then watching cooking shows when I was younger made me want to do it professionally. I learnt my skills at college doing my level 2 and 3 NVQ, but my first real job as a chef was at Mottram Hall hotel near Macclesfield.

What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
The thing I love most about being a chef is the creativity and passion that comes with the job, and the learning and growth that comes with it.

Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without.
Three ingredients I can’t cook without is salt, white wine vinegar and limes.

Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without?
I think the equipment I cant live without is probably my blender.

What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
Food trends at the moment seem to be coming away from fine dining foods and more home comfort or street food dishes that and full of flavour but not pretentious.

What do you think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
A big mistake that I think let’s chefs down is they know everything or that they don’t need to learn more. Chefs that stop learning or stop trying new things and methods should get out of the industry.

What is your favourite time of year for food, and why?
My favourite time of the year is autumn, my reason for this is the ingredients and types of food in that season such as venison, damsons, squashes and mushrooms.

Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
I’m proud of all my dishes. I don’t have a favourite or specific one I’m proud of because it’s the method and process you use to create a dish that I’m proud of not the ingredients.

How do you come up with new dishes?
The way I come up with a dish is to find out what’s in season at that time of year, select a protein and then find vegetables and fruit that work well with it. I always make sure I have something pickled on there as well whether it’s a vegetable or fruit and I try to use other starches rather than potato.

Who was your greatest influence?
My greatest influence was my college tutor Mark Boswell, who took me under his wing and helped become the chef I am today.

Tell us three chefs you admire.
Three chefs I admire are Sat Bains, Rene Redzepi and Rick Stein.

What is your favourite cookbook?
My favourite cook book is Sat Bains’, ‘Too many chiefs, only one Indian.’ I think it’s an incredibly knowledgeable book that any chef should have.

Who do you think are the chefs to watch over the next few months?
I’m not too sure which up and coming chef are ones to watch at the moment.

What’s been your favourite new restaurant opening of the last year?
My favourite new restaurant that has opened in the last year is a place called Libertine in Manchester as I like the idea and what they are doing there.

Embankment Kitchen

Christie Hayes Wins Institute of Hospitality Restaurant Manager of the Year 2023

An emotional Christie Hayes, won the coveted Restaurant Manager of the Year 2023 (RMOY) title, sponsored by The Hari on Monday night, at a glittering reception at the Hotel Café Royal, London.

Christie, Restaurant Manager at Beach House, Oxwich, Swansea, Wales, fought off tough competition from 15 other semi-finalists to scoop the title and claim her position as the Institute’s 13th winner of the Restaurant Manager of the Year competition.

Along with the RMOY title and trophy, Christie also receives 12 month’s IoH membership, invitations to all IoH events, and a series of coaching sessions from the prestigious Dorchester Collection Academy.

Ahead of International Women’s Day on Wednesday (8 March 2023), Christie joins the ranks of other female RMOY winners and other leading female front-of-house talent, who work in the hospitality industry and raise the profile of women in hospitality.

Speaking about her win, Christie commented: “I’m shocked and so emotional to have won this fantastic award. I’m so very grateful to my team and for this opportunity. The other competitors have been amazing.  I’ve really enjoyed completing all the tasks and I’ve met some wonderful people, throughout the day. It’s been so much fun. I’m incredibly proud and so happy that my sister was here to share this experience with me.”

This year’s runner up, Liam Simpson, from The Strathearn, The Gleneagles Hotel, Scotland said: “I am very proud to be runner up in the RMOY 2023 competition. It was an incredible day of networking and great fun. I’d like to congratulate the winner Christie on a hard-earned victory and the rest of my competitors on getting this far. If this year’s competition is anything to go by, hospitality in Britain is in very good hands. Hopefully, I’ll return next year!”

To support their career development, all this year’s semi-finalists receive a year’s IoH Membership and free tickets to the IoH events, to help them access a vast range of the IoH’s resources and to encourage them to network. For the first time, they will also receive mentoring from one of the judges.

Sarah Peters FIH, IoH Head of Events said: “I would like to say a massive thank you to all the incredible semi-finalists, our incredible judges who gave their valuable time to help us access such amazing talent and to our panellists who joined us at the Winner’s Reception. None of this would have been possible without our headline sponsors The Hari, London who have generously committed to being the headline sponsor of this competition for the next three years, to The Hotel Café Royal, for looking after us so well, to Spirit Cartel and Prosecco DOC for supplying our guests with amazing drinks and to Foodbuy, our Gold Business Partner for their support.”

Luciana Berry Aims for Top Chef Top Spot

Filming has wrapped on Bravo’s Top Chef Champion of Champions and Chefs’ Forum favourite Luciana Berry is flying the flag for Brazil. Having won Top Chef Brazil in 2020, Luciana was asked back to become part of new show Top Chef Champion of Champions which saw her represent Brazil in the popular US TV chef show.

Luciana told us exclusively: “It was wonderful to be asked back onto Top Chef but this time to represent Brazil. We filmed in London and a crack team came over from America and there were also teams from France, Italy and Spain. We were able to add our own touches and cuisine to the challenges and I had a great time spreading the word about the wonderful cuisine of Brazil.”

Top Chef Champion of Champions airs on Bravo on 9th March and can be watched in the UK online. We wish Luciana all the best and will be catching up with her to find out more behind-the-scenes details after the event.

Top Chef is one of the most successful US TV Chef shows and we are excited that one of our very favourite chefs made it all the way to the finals this time round, again.

Luciana has been passing on her knowledge and skill to the next generation of chefs in supporting our Chefs’ Forum Academies at both West London College and Langley College.  Luciana gets a great deal of satisfaction out of teaching the students everything from traditional Brazilian dishes like Rabada (oxtail) to pancakes with a twist to wow their families on pancake day!

Tune-in to Bravo on the 9th March to see how Luciana gets on – We wish her all the very best of luck and can’t wait to see the Top Chef Brazil winner in action!

School Students Get a Taste of Manchester Hospitality

200 students from 10 Manchester schools joined local top chefs at The Manchester College on Tuesday to learn about hospitality, cooking, cocktails and what they can expect from a catering course.

The special “Hospitality Industry Taster Day”, organised by The Chefs’ Forum Academy is now a well-oiled template for introducing school students to college life. The two-hour session, which was free to all year  8,9,10 and 11 students, ran from 10.30am – 12.30pm

“Our taster days are unique,” explained Chefs’ Forum director Catherine Farinha. “They are an insight into the world of the hospitality industry with top local and national professionals giving up their time to introduce schools students to their profession. They are always popular and always full and we have our brilliant Event Executives Brogen and Alice to thank for that – It is the hard work that goes on behind the scenes that makes these events so special.  It was humbling to be complimented by the Manchester College teaching team and schools who attended on how professional and well-run the event was today – We look forward to many more with this brilliant college and absolutely love what we do”.

The event was punctuated with live singing and dancing by LowKeyLimit, Exose’s music artist brother, flanked by four amazing dance students from the Arden Centre – The performing arts department of UCEN, also based at the City Centre Campus.  Lowkeylimit performed his new single, Manchester Vibes, which launched last Friday.

Everything we did during was designed to showcase the world-class facility across five campuses of The Manchester College and the wonderful opportunities available for Manchester Schoolchildren to further their education.

Maxing Gunning, Head of Curriculum Hospitality & Catering and Travel & Tourism “The taster days organised in partnership with The Chef Forum are an excellent way for us to introduce our courses to students who, otherwise, might not realise the extent of the exciting career opportunities that exist in the hospitality and catering sector. Coupled with our brand-new industry standard facilities, our partnership with The Chefs’ Forum Academy which provides access to top local and national chefs who come and deliver alongside our highly qualified teachers, ensure our students are career ready once they complete their course.”

The event:

  • Canapé & mocktail reception
  • Interactive cookery demos
  • Daniel Rodriguez (MasterChef: The Professionals 2022 and Sous Chef at Hilton Manchester Deansgate)
  • Scott Munro (Executive Chef at Ducie Street Warehouse)
  • Pasta making with Exose Grant (MasterChef: The Professionals 2019) and a cookery demo by Andrew Green (Executive Chef at Mottram Hall)
  • Lunch
  • Éclair decorating competition – This was won by Maka and Makayla, two year ten students from Middleton Technology School  who wowed judges Exose Grant and Revae Marley with their creative flair and perfectly-filled and decorated éclair – The girls each won a copy of The Chefs’ Knowledge, our new book, signed by Exose who features in the publication in a feature entitled ‘What type of chef do you want to be?’

The Chefs’ Knowledge is packed with 100 recipes all student and junior chefs need to know, with a whole wealth of information about becoming a chef – Click in the link below to purchase your copy today!

https://thechefsforum-payments.co.uk/

Film and photo credit: Carlos Farinha

Chef of the Week: James Tagg, Executive Chef at Manchester United Football Club

How long have you worked at your current restaurant?
12 years.

Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
Family, both granny’s good cooks/bakers. I studied at Cumbernauld College, Glasgow College and Perth College, back in the days of City & Guilds. Travelling the UK in various establishments, usually high volume venues, horseracing, football, rugby, cricket and contract catering.

What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
Testing and trying the first new recipe/dish before releasing it to the guests.

Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without.
Seasoning, butter & sugar. I cheated here salt & pepper are an unbreakable duo.

Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without?
Serrated prep knife and flexi spatula that I can carry in my pocket, and my blast chillers.

What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
Street food and where it fits into hospitality.

What do you think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
Not reading. listening or observing what guests are looking for when they are out to dine, also sometimes we can make things over complicated.

What is your favourite time of year for food, and why?
Berry season, I am a big, sweet tooth Glaswegian, also forced rhubarb season with a cup of sugar to dip it in straight from the garden. This takes me back to my childhood stealing the rhubarb out of the greenhouse!

Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
Lamb Hot Pot Pie, sticky red cabbage, sauteed green beans.

How do you come up with new dishes?
A variety of processes, reviewing the market and trends in key cities in the UK and countries around the globe to see what dishes are current and how that would fit into the region I work in. Season, skill, availability and budget drive new dishes greatly, having an understanding of the guests current likes and dislike to give them a surprise.

Who was your greatest influence?
Both granny’s, Willie Deans, Willie Pike and Bruce Sangster (Scottish Culinary team colleagues & restauranteurs) and my mentor Steve Anderson (retired lecturer).

Tell us chefs you admire.
Anjula Devi (Consultant Indian chef) and Willie Deans (Deans at Let’s Eat Perth, Scotland).

What is your favourite cookbook?
Escoffier “the complete guide to the art of modern cookery” this was my go-to book during my early training days.

Who do you think are the chefs to watch over the next few months?
Anjula Devi, Jonny Nolan (Petisco Restaurant Sale) and Aaron Lee Tran.

What’s been your favourite new restaurant opening of the last year?
Not got one, Sorry, although Salvi’s Deansgate Square is well worth the visit.

Koppert Teams up with Bloomkubes to Create Micro Cress 2.0

Growing your own cresses and micro herbs has reached a new level.  For the first time chefs can grow Koppert Cress in a new “Kube” that recycles 90-95% of the water it uses. This is on top of the process being pesticide free.

A ground-breaking project at the Northern Lights lounge at Aberdeen International Airport sees Bloomkubes, the makers of the new Kube, team up with Dutch-based Koppert Cress to create a new soilless plant cultivation system that delivers water, nutrients, and oxygen to the roots of plants in precise cycles.

Though this method of in-house cultivation is not new, the partnership with Koppert Cress is. For the first time chefs can grow their own micro cresses without having to buy them in – further cutting down on transport and use of plastic. Koppert seeds are at the heart of the new operation.

At Aberdeen the new Kube is being housed in the Northern Lights airport lounge and is enabling chefs to grow a range of products to enhance the flavour, aroma and presentation of dishes for their First Class guests.

Jemma Cumming, commercial manager at Aberdeen International Airport, said: “Our lounge has already won a number of awards for its partnership with local suppliers and we are delighted to be able to enhance our the with fantastically fresh produce from the Kube.

This is an exciting project for us and passengers will be able to see the pod up close when they visit the lounge.”

Ronnie Kelman, Business Director for ESS, commented: “We’re thrilled to be working with Bloomkubes to introduce hydroponics technology at Aberdeen International Airport.

“Growing fresh ingredients on-site in an environmentally friendly way is a great opportunity for us to deliver on the ‘Healthier Food’ and ‘Healthier World’ pledges we make to our customers, clients and colleagues as part of our Wellness Commitment.

“We hope our First Class customers at the airport will enjoy seeing the products in a variety of dishes served in the exclusive Northern Lights Lounge.”

Janak Ruparelia, Co-Founder and Director at Bloomkumes concluded

“The Kube is available on a monthly subscription. Each Kube appliance is built with IoT integrated smart probes, sensors and cameras enabling unparalleled control and transparency to farming. With full remote services, we at Bloomkubes will help you operate and manage the entire grow and process; from seeding and harvesting, to cleaning and maintenance. Get in touch and together we can make a difference.”

For more information, please email janak@bloomkubes.com or ask The Chefs’ Forum team to make a personal  introduction.

A Grand Way to Buy Your Ricotta

We’ve teamed up with Lactalis Professional to bring you an opportunity to win £1,000 simply by buying a 1.5kg tub of Galbani Ricotta from a list of prescribed suppliers.

ENTER THE DRAW HERE

All you need to do to enter is a buy 1.5kg tub of Galbani Ricotta from this list of suppliers below and take a photo of the receipt. Send this into us via the email at the bottom and your name will go into the prize draw to win £1000 in cash!

You can enter as many times as you like. You just need a fresh receipt for each entry.

Ricotta is a unique product and actually means “re cooked” in Italian as it’s a bi-product of the cheese making industry and made from the leftover whey.

“Ricotta is indispensable,” Italian chef Maurizio Bocchi of La Locanda in Lancashire told us. “I use it in my ravioli of spinach and ricotta and you can find the recipe in The Chefs’ Knowledge.”

VIEW RECIPE HERE

Order your ricotta from one of these fantastic foodservice suppliers:

  • A DAVID & CO LTD
  • ALLAN REEDER LTD
  • BFS GROUP LTD T/A BIDFOOD
  • BIDFRESH LTD T/A OLIVER KAY
  • CASTELL HOWELL FOODS LIMITED
  • CN FOODS DISTRIBUTORS LIMITED
  • CONTINENTAL WINE & FOOD LTD
  • DIVINE IMPORTERS LTD
  • DO & CO EVENT & AIRLINE CATERING LTD
  • FRESH DIRECT (UK) LTD
  • HARVEY & BROCKLESS LIMITED
  • HOLLAND BAZAAR LTD
  • JAMES BURDEN LIMITED
  • LONGMAN CHEESE SALES LTD
  • WINGS FOOD SOLUTIONS LTD

An uploaded photo of a valid itemised till receipt/ invoice from a recognised wholesaler as outlined above, clearly showing the purchase of a minimum of one (1) pack of GALBANI PROFESSIONAL RICOTTA 1.5 KG purchased between the promotional dates and prior to entry as proof of purchase, on https://lactalispro.co.uk/best-of-italian/win-1000 is required

Complete the application registration by entering first and last name, personal genuine email address, business name and official job title.

On submission of the entry into the prize draw entrants will see an onscreen message confirming their entry.

Terms & Conditions

UK catering & hospitality business personnel only 18+. Promotion open 00.00 on 20.02.23 to 23:59 on 20.03.23. Purchase necessary. Internet access & registration required. To enter the prize draw online, purchase GALBANI PROFESSIONAL RICOTTA 1.5 KG from selected wholesalers then upload proof of purchase and name, personal email, business name and job title at https://lactalispro.co.uk/best-of-italian/win-1000. Retain each receipt for entry/ claim. Employee/employer consent required. Prize of £1000 to win (via BACS). For full T&Cs incl. exclusions see https://lactalispro.co.uk/terms-conditions#prize-draw

 

University of West London Triumphs in Zest Quest Asia 2023

University of West London have won Zest Quest Asia 2023. This marks the third time since the launch of the student culinary competition ten years ago that a team from the university’s London Geller College of Hospitality and Tourism has taken first place.

The results of the live cook off and knowledge presentations that comprise the finals of Zest Quest Asia were announced at a Gala Dinner and Awards Night held at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Centre London Heathrow on Friday, 17th February 2023. Some 250 guests, including representatives from colleges, industry, and the media attended the glittering evening, which included a raffle and auction to raise funds for the Todiwala Foundation.

For their efforts, Nekeshia Alcee, Olivia Parker-Smith and Prema Rebekah Kaur Sembi-Harding and their tutor, Nathan Vasanthan, bagged a trip of a lifetime – a week-long culinary and cultural journey to Bangkok, Thailand. Nathan is a seasoned Zest Quest Asia tutor, having coached and accompanied previous University of West London Zest Quest Asia champions to Manila and Hanoi.

This year, the judges were impressed by the team’s Vietnamese-inspired 4-course menu consisting of an amuse bouche of Dorset clam dumplings with Sriracha and mixed herbs; a starter of Tomato and mushroom Pho with tomato brittles; a main course of Banh chung – a Northern Vietnamese rice dish served during the Lunar Year, Lemongrass and Chilli Chicken with stir-friend broccoli stems and cabbage served with carrot, daikon and Kohlrabi pickle; and a dessert of Honteri-miso glazed sticky rice banana cake with creamy coconut sauce, roasted peanuts.

Cyrus Todiwala, co-founder with Pervin Todiwala of Zest Quest Asia, said, “This was a truly magnificent evening. After 10 years, Zest Quest Asia continues to fire the creativity and imaginations of young student chefs. People are taking Asian cuisine seriously as an artform and the performance and dedication of our finalists proves that Zest Quest Asia is making a positive difference in the perception of Asian food. Congratulations to University of West London for their fabulous hat-trick and to all the finalists who have emerged as winners as well.”

The finals drew compliments from the hospitality establishment:

Sheila Dillon, presenter of the BBC Food programme, commented on Twitter: “So heartening. So admire @chefcyrustodiw1 @mrstodiwala. They stick at it and change what needs changing – pushing high standards, creating jobs.”

Robert Richardson FIH MI, chief executive of the Institute of Hospitality, who attended the Gala Dinner and Awards Night, tweeted “A pleasure to celebrate the talent, skills and outstanding knowledge of Asian cuisine at Zest Quest Asia…congratulations to each and every finalist this evening. You are all winners!”

Other winners of the evening were:

  • Best Menu Planning and Presentation Award sponsored by Ian MacLeod Distillers – The Sheffield College
  • Best Use of Tormek Knife Sharpener Award – North Hertfordshire College
  • Minimum Wastage Award sponsored by McCormick – University of West London
  • Andrew Bennett MBE Team Work Award – University College Birmingham
  • Spice it Up with Schwartz Award – Cheshire College South and West
  • Best Use of Hallde Food Processor – North Hertfordshire College
  • Best Use of Panasonic Accelerated Combination Oven – University of West London
  • Best Use of of Mizkan Japanese Seasonings – UHI North Highland
  • Best Use of Tilda Rice – North Hertfordshire College
  • Most Sustainable Menu Award sponsored by Meiko UK – North Highland UHI (Dornoch)
  • Runner-Up of Zest Quest Asia 2023 – University College Birmingham

Zest Quest Asia was founded in 2013 by Cyrus and Pervin Todiwala, with the support of The Master Chefs of Great Britain, to address the gaps in skills and knowledge of classical Asian cuisine and to stimulate interest in Asian cookery as a viable, long-term career.

Trading in Genuine Dining for the Spirit of Hospitality

The lengths some people go to raise money for charity is nothing less than extraordinary. In December of the this year Chris Mitchell and Robbie Laidlaw of private catering company Genuine Dining will swap suits for rowing gear and cross the Atlantic for Hospitality Action. The epic voyage will require the pair row for 3,000 miles, most of the time alone.

“We’re rowing 3,000 miles for Hospitality Action,” Mitchell told The Chefs’ Forum. “The route takes us from the Canary Islands to Antigua and we’ll be completely alone rowing two hours on and two hours off 35-50 days. We’re leaving in December to take advantage of the trade winds which will help us to make the journey. We’ve named our boat The Spirit of Hospitality.

We’re doing this to raise money for an excellent charity and it’s going to be an incredible adventure. Chefs have suffered a lot during the recent pandemic and Hospitality Action were there to support them. Now it’s time for us to give back.”

“Although our boat is filled with tech we will spend much of the time alone. It will be just us and the sea. We may see the odd freighter but the challenge will be dealing with the mental side of rowing this vast distance.”

Jonathan Parker of Foodari, one of the main sponsors of the adventure commented: “We wholeheartedly support Chris and Robbie at this difficult time for chefs. Hospitality Action do a great job and we’re only too pleased to help.”

Catherine Farinha added: “At The Chefs’ Forum we are all about helping anyone in hospitality to shine whether it’s college students, chefs of any rank or experience and front of house staff. We fully support this great cause and are hoping to get Chris and Robbie to talk at some of our events. We wish them all the best.”

Headline Sponsors