How The Chefs’ Forum is Breaking New Ground at Casa Brasil
The Chefs’ Forum is growing with new campaigns and fresh initiatives that are enabling international brands, regions and individual countries to reach new audiences. As trade marketing and culinary event specialists, more and more brands and global event teams are approaching us to work with them.
Apex Brasil, the main Brazilian trade promotion organization, is staging Casa Brasil in London’s Covent Garden this summer. This fantastic event is set to be a true celebration of Brazil’s best ingredients and vibrant cultures, working with The Chefs’ Forum to get its message out to chefs, students, the wider hospitality industry as well as buyers and foodservice professionals. The two-week gastronomic extravaganza take place between the 25th August and the 7th September and is being held at The Stables in Covent Garden. It will showcase never-seen-before Brazilian ingredients and cooking methods in a new format that will change the way hospitality members approach the old trade show model.
Catherine Farinha, Director of The Chefs’ Forum explained: “The business of hospitality is changing,” she began. “We are seeing more and more foreign investment not just in terms of new restaurants but also countries and regions that have targeted the UK for growth.
“Our work with Casa Brasil is not the first work we’ve done in this area. We ran the chef demo stage at the London Produce Show for six consecutive years before the pandemic, as well as working successfully with the Japanese Embassy to promote Japanese products at The Dorchester in 2019. We were also appointed to do the heavy lifting when Redefine Meat™ launched in the UK this year. They are based in Israel.
“However, with Casa Brasil we can see that this trend has legs and we are perfectly placed to partner with brands and embassies to help showcase the best that is on offer. Our unique platform which balances media and marketing with chef education is just the sort of web and event business that foreign brands are looking for.
“We have been tasked with arranging the chef demonstrations and attracting the right suppliers to visit Casa Brasil and we’re excited for the launch. Working with our friend, Top Chef Brazil winner Luciana Berry has been a joy from start to finish.
“We have proven over many years that we can not only deliver world-class chefs but also the next generation of chefs that are just coming through. Our team is well-drilled and our contacts are second to none.
It’s a very exciting time to be working in hospitality and with our content arm growing all the time with the likes of The Great Game Guide and the forthcoming The Chefs’ Knowledge we are in a great position to kick on and break new ground.”
Bubala 2 Heading for Soho
Middle-Eastern restaurant Bubala will open its second site on Poland Street, Soho, on Monday 11th July. The new vegetarian restaurant will be the sister restaurant of Bubala in Spitalfields which was opened by Marc Summers in 2019.
Inspired by the modern cafes of Tel Aviv the 50 seat restaurant will also have an eight seat counter which looks into the kitchen as well as private dining downstairs. Executive Chef Helen Graham is at the helm.
The menu is made up of seven sections: pickles and house ferments; dips; skewers; snacks; mains; sides and desserts. The new menu will include a number of the classic dishes from Bubala Spitalfields.
The snacks and dips section will feature dishes like Baba Ganoush with Curry Leaf Oil and Pine Nut; Smacked Cucumbers with Tahini and Chilli Crunch; Corn Ribs with Black Garlic Pilpelchuma and Labneh with Confit Garlic and Za’atar. The skewers section, from the restaurant’s yakitori grill, will offer the likes of Leeks and Amba; Chinese Cabbage with Preserved Lime and Maple and the ever-popular Oyster Mushroom with Tamari and Coriander Seeds.
Main dishes will include Cauliflower, Bkeila, Velvet tomato with Yoghurt and Braised Hispi, Seaweed, Dried Orange and Sesame. Sides will feature Bubala’s renowned Potato Latkes with Toum and Smashed Cornish Mids with Silken Tofu and Smoked Harissa Salsa Macha. Finally, a dessert section will present a Baklava Semifreddo and Malabi, Sour cherry, Peanut and Black Sesame Brittle alongside Chocolate Truffle and Tahini Fudges.
The drinks list will comprise cocktails such as Blood Orange Margarita and Peanut Old Fashioned as well as Gazoz house sodas, a homemade seltzer combined with natural, carefully sourced fruits, flowers, spices, herbs and syrup inspired by Benny Briga and his cafe in Tel Aviv. The 35-bin wine list will see natural low-intervention wines, as well as five wines on tap with prices starting from £6/glass and £30/bottle.
Website: www.bubala.co.uk
Address: 15 Poland Street, London W1F 8PR
Opening times: Monday-Saturday lunch 12pm-3pm and dinner 5.30pm-10.30pm
Chef of the Week – Iain Sampson, Executive Chef at The Bear Hotel in Crickhowell, Wales
How long have you worked at your current restaurant?
A few years prior to 2015 then I spent 6 years in The States. Family circumstances brought me back and a chance meeting with Steve (the owner) I re-joined The Bear in 2020.
Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
My mum was always cooking and baking, she had her own catering business.
What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
Creativity and making people smile through food.
Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without.
Salt/seasoning, butter, quality ingredients!
Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without?
A sharp knife.
What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
Food goes around and classics are classics for a reason, not seeing so many foams these days.
What do you think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
They don’t taste enough!
What is your favourite time of year for food, and why?
I love Autumn and the start of the game season, everything is very earthy and comforting.
Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
I’m proud of any dish that are enjoyed and bring a smile to their face.
How do you come up with new dishes?
I like to cook by committee, I am lucky to have a real mixture of cultures in the kitchen and when you put minds together you get some interesting fusion ideas.
Who was your greatest influence?
Mike Kitts probably my biggest influence as a lecturer at college, he left to return to the trade as sous chef at The Ritz Club London, I was lucky to land a job with him there. He is now Head of the Cookery School in Dubai.
Tell us three chefs you admire.
Very difficult to name just three, there are so many but Marco Pierre White, Thomas Keller and Tom Kerridge.
What is your favourite cookbook?
I have many books but White Heat is probably the book that influenced a generation of chefs.
Who do you think are the chefs to watch over the next few months?
I might be a little biased but two young people to watch for the future, one front of house and one a chef – Bethan Sampson and Matt Sampson – yes my kids, both working hard and I’m sure will go on to achieve more than I ever will.
Butchery Takes Centre Stage at The Game Fair
The place to be at The Game Fair this year will be The Game Butchers’ Block at The Great Game Guide stand. Top class game butchers and suppliers will team up with ace chefs to demonstrate how to get the best out of game this season.
The Game Fair will be held at its usual site at Ragley Hall, Warwickshire from 29th -31st July and The Great Game Guide will be there with a completely new stand lay out from last year.
Three game butchery experts will be on hand: Willo Game, Hanks’ Meat & Game and Curtis Pitts Deer Services. They will be joined by chefs Charlie Hibbert, James Pilcher, Exose Grant, Ashleigh Farrand, Darren Cooper, Becky Jam, Munayam Khan, Martyn Watkin and James Goss.
Each butcher will work with a different aspect of game and each chef will demonstrate the best way to cook it.
Catherine Farinha, director of The Chefs’ Forum, explained the new set up for this year: “After the success of last year we wanted to go big this time round. We know there is a lot of interest in the butchery side of things, and it made sense to team up with chefs to do double presentations. That way our visitors can experience a bit of both and really get a deep understanding about game and how to prepare it.”
All Chefs’ Forum members receive discounted tickets – simply enter discount code GREATGAME22 at the checkout – CLICK HERE to purchase your tickets NOW!
Come and see us on stand KO61 – The full line up is:
VIPs and Chefs Celebrate New Bakery Kitchen at The Manchester College’s Harpurhey Campus
MPs, local councillors and other important invited guests enjoyed a special dinner at The Manchester College on Tuesday to launch the new bakery kitchen.
The dinner, held in the Harpurhey Campus Restaurant, was arranged and created by The Chefs’ Forum Academy in partnership with culinary students enrolled at the college.
Four chefs cooked individual courses aided by students: Darren Cooper, Exose Grant, Doug Crampton and Daniel Aladics were in the kitchen.
John Thornhill, CEO of the LTE Group welcomed the distinguished guests to the event and told them of the fantastic progress made in growing and developing high level opportunities for skilled and specialist talent, being honed by the college.
He said
“Giving our students the opportunity to work with top local employers really raises their aspirations. We have seen three of our students make it to the national final of Pastry Chef of the Year and others being offered jobs by many of the employers here this evening. I am delighted to be here and so pleased with the relentless support network offered to the college by everyone here this evening.”
Principal Lisa O’Loughlin co-hosted the evening with John and dubbed Manchester, the ‘new Manhattan’ as she lauded the growth and success of the city, praising the chefs and students who cooked the fantastic dinner and thanked the local Councilors for coming
She said
“We really have a great partnership with The Chefs’ Forum, that has seen many of our students secure fantastic jobs on the back of the weekly masterclasses in our training kitchens – It is a true escalator to success. At Manchester College, we are proud to create careers, not just courses and the work we are doing is so clearly working for all involved.”
“The evening was a great example of how The Chefs’ Forum Academy and The Manchester College have been working together,” said Chefs’ Forum director Catherine Farinha. “It was all so seamless because the students are used to working with our chefs and vice versa. What we are beginning to see is the fruit of all the hard work we’ve put in. We’ve established a genuine culinary corridor from college through to professional kitchens across the city.”
The chefs and students were all delighted to take part and this was so apparent by their obvious pride and passion displayed both through the delicious food they produced and even more so when the chefs were asked to talk guests through their dishes at the end of the evening.
Doug Crampton, Head Chef at James Martin Manchester, said: “My dish of elderflower glazed duck came out perfectly. It was the first time that the students had prepped a whole duck, but they did an excellent job and broke it down exactly as they were shown. The students were all enthusiastic and keen which was great to see and we shared a good bond in the kitchen. These evenings really demonstrate college and industry working together.”
However, it wasn’t just food on display. There was music, too, by Lowkey Limit, who sang specially created music designed for The Chefs’ Forum Taster Day held recently at the Harpurhey Campus for 300 students from local feeder schools. This was a great opportunity for the guests to see first-hand the ways in which the college uses hugely creative and thoughtful ways to engage with young people.
The guests were very impressed with the evening and were highly complimentary on the whole event.
As we work together for longer and longer, it’s easy to see what the benefits are of being a Chefs’ Forum Academy and evenings like this sum it up.
The students had a wonderful experience; They worked with top ingredients, served local VIPs and worked alongside award-winning chefs.
Any Manchester chefs wishing to get involved in teaching in The Chefs’ Forum Academy at The Manchester College should email alicia@redcherry.uk.com
Chef of the Week: James Purcell, Sous Chef at Morrisons Market Kitchen in Manchester
How long have you worked at your current restaurant?
One year. Market Kitchen is possibly the most awesome thing I’ve done in my career to date as I never stop getting excited about the food we cook and I always look forward to what is coming next.
Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
I spent a lot of time from an early age living in my imagination. Which was fed by loving to draw, write, build and I did a lot of cooking with my mother and grandma
What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
It could be one of the oldest and most important skills that humans have ever developed. To cook for people means that you are looking after them, you are treating them as individuals and as a group. It’s very tribal. I like that I can help people to try new things, bring something back from their past or just give them something they need to cheer them up on a bad day.
Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without.
Butter, salt and starch. One of the lessons I was taught was to “educate your palet”. Yet I find these three old school ingredients are building blocks in many successful dishes through history.
Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without?
The cook’s knife! Dice an onion, chop parsley, skin a salmon, use it as a flat head screw driver to access the back panel of an combi oven because it’s broken right before service starts.
What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
There was a point when we didn’t care about trends. We did what we wanted and you pushed boundaries. Now that I’m in the world of retail I’m beginning to understand and embrace it more than ever. Street food is huge and that is a whole world within itself. Styles of cooking you would never have thought of are making their way into the mainstream. People’s desires change constantly and we have to match this. It’s a new and exciting challenge. As a cook, it’s what you strive for.
What do you think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
As a cook, you give everything you have. Your sleeping and waking hours, your body, relationships, your mind. It’s very hard. The biggest mistake is to let it define you or you lose everything. You must make time for other things that are important to you like the time you spend with your family.
What is your favourite time of year for food, and why?
Autumn. You’ve got the best of the harvest. Especially the fruit in Great Britain, I have an early memory of apple trees, cinder toffee, blackberry picking with my grandmother. Game season is still in and as I love Halloween, pumpkins are a big part of the season.
Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
The three dishes I did for the woman who is now my wife. That’s a story for another day.
How do you come up with new dishes?
Accidents. Dropping a piece of coffee cake into a tray of roasting beef bones. A sauce going wrong so you adjust it and it turns out totally different and better than you first thought. Lying awake at night wondering if beetroot would work with goats cheese…
Who was your greatest influence?
There have been many, many people who have influenced me. The person who took the time to show me how to fry an egg or took me through the process of how to prepare a rabbit, how to dice an onion, pluck a pheasant… if someone takes the time to teach you something, I’ve always found that to be the most valuable thing.
Tell us three chefs you admire
-Grant Achatz, for showing the world that nothing is set in stone.
-A very talented Head Chef who in his words “saw something” within me.
-And Keith Floyd for being my earliest memory of a passionate person around food on tv.
What is your favourite cookbook?
The Flavour Thesaurus – it was for me like discovering the philosophers stone. So many things were unlocked.
Who do you think are the chefs to watch over the next few months?
The person who has never been in a kitchen before, yet listens and learns and really wants to be there. Also, Morgan Mole of ‘That Secret Ingredient’. A skilled pastry chef I once had the privilege to work alongside.
What’s been your favourite new restaurant opening of the last year?
Dust Dogs Mcr they do absolutely filthy hot dogs. Great ingredients, skilled cooks, awesome street food.
Kent & Sussex Chefs Celebrate 10 Years of The Chefs’ Forum
On Monday 20th June 70 chefs enjoyed a special lunch at The George & Dragon in Speldhurst, near Tunbridge Wells with students from North Kent College in the kitchen alongside four invited chefs who put together the menu.
The special day was to celebrate 10 years of The Chefs’ Forum and follows similar lunches in Manchester, Wales and The Cotswolds.
Chefs’ Forum Director Catherine Farinha praised the chefs and the students who put together the lunch: “Every place we’ve been to on the amazing 10th year celebratory journey has pulled out all the stops. The lunch was fabulous today and the young students from North Kent College really showed their colours. I’m just so proud of our whole team and the fact that we are 10 years old and still helping chefs and students to reach new heights.”
The menu consisted of four courses, each produced by a local chef.
Scott Goss from The Beacon kicked off with a starter of leeks and potato followed by a fish dish by Will Devlin the chef patron from The Small Holding.
Scott is a long-standing supported of The Chefs’ Forum and his starter went down a treat.
Will cooked cod cheeks with new season peas and a smoked chilli dressing. The dish was served on a special plate by Wedgwood from their Gio Bone China range. He then told the chefs all about his retention of his green Michelin star and the ethos of his business that won it for him.
Minimal packaging, food miles and a farm to form philosophy puts Will at the forefront of the industry when it comes to his sustainable practices. The Small Holding is proud itself accountable for both its ethical and environmental standards.
Third up was Bobby Brown of host venue The George & Dragon who used delicious free range Duroc x Hampshire pork from top catering butcher, HG Walter to create pulled pork bao buns with Asian slaw.
Bobby took the opportunity to welcome his chef peers to The George and Dragon and talked to them about his journey to opening his own place.
He was very impressed with the students from North Kent College who all pitched-in, cooking and serving the various courses.
He said
“It is really great to see everyone back together after a really tough couple of years. The students did a fantastic job today in cooking the lunch for our industry guests. We were blessed with gorgeous weather today and its wonderful to see such support for the next generation of chefs.”
Finally, Graham Green, chef patron at Chives Caterers produced chargrilled pineapple with a rum glaze alongside a lemon posset cup with an Australian Anzac biscuit and apricot purée.
Duncan Weetman, Head of Curriculum at North Kent College said:
“Our students were so excited to be involved today. It was brilliant from start to finish. Not only did they get to cook alongside true professionals but they worked with amazing ingredients and stunning plates. A big thank you to Catherine and the whole team at The Chefs’ Forum. The work they do makes teaching our students so much easier.”
A special thank you to all our sponsors, including Chef Works, HG Walter, Wedgwood, Foie Royale, Taylor UK, Adande, Shepherd Neame, The Heritage Fruit and Vegetable Company and Mitchell & Cooper.
Photo credit: Jason Wain
Goosemoor Eye Bristol after Stadium Launch
The Goosemoor stand at The Source Roadshow event held was busy with chefs last week at Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol.
Formerly known as Dart Fresh Trade, Exeter-based Goosemoor Foodservice have been stepping up their rebranding with a strong move into the Bristol hospitality market.
A specially repurposed lorry was sprayed dark green and was used to display an amazing amount of fresh produce.
John Pritchard, Director at Goosemoor Foodservice said
“We’ve loved being up in Bristol and meeting the local chefs at The Source Roadshow. We’ve made a huge impact at the show with an eye-catching display of seasonal produce in a repurposed Bedford lorry filled to the brim with wonderful locally sourced produce. It was also a great opportunity for the visiting chefs to meet the Goosemoor sales team who will be looking after them.”
Working across all catering sectors, Goosemoor supply southwest chefs with fresh fruit and vegetables, dry store, cheese and dairy, bread and bakery, meat and poultry as well as fish, pasta and bread.
Bristol has a vibrant dining scene, which is sure to benefit from top quality produce sourced from the finest producers across the south west.
Pacific West joined the Goosemoor stand to showcase their seafood with Ravi Ollie and Exploding Bakery also showing off their fresh pasta and bakery goods – All available at Goosemoor Foodservice Ltd. The team also took the opportunity to catch-up with fantastic suppliers like Bristol-based Real Olive Co (pictured left).
Catherine Farinha said: “It was a great day and we were so happy to help promote Goosemoor. They are really going from strength to strength in the Bristol area now and all the chefs who came by were so impressed. It was great to see The Source Roadshow back to its busy best.”
Goosemoor Foodservice deliver to the Bristol area six days a week and any chefs interested in supply should call the sales team today on 01392 873036.
Take Pride – Think Support and Inclusion this Pride Month
Comments by Catherine Farinha, Founder of The Chefs’ Forum…
At The Chefs’ Forum we take Pride seriously. This is a month in the year when we can celebrate diversity and inclusion no matter what gender or sexual orientation you are.
This is important because to feel marginalised or less that worthy is not a nice place to be in and nobody should have to feel it.
So, we salute all those who are proud of their identity and wish everyone a happy Pride month – especially if the sun keeps shining.
On a more reflective note, however, Pride month is also an opportunity to consider other areas of marginalisation. I’m taking about mental health and other areas such as asylum and immigration.
In our work at The Chefs’ Forum we talk to many chefs and are pleased to be able to help all those who are suffering.
Masterchef: The Professionals winner Alex Webb is currently taking residency at Number One Park Lane Terrace. He celebrates Pride Month and told us about his experiences and acceptance among his peers:
“I think its easier in the kitchen to be out as gay today in the hospitality industry, than when I first started out as a chef… you would like to think that things are getting easier for everyone. The professional kitchen is a manly environment, so I have found it difficult at times in the past to be accepted. Contrastingly, my kitchen is a very inclusive environment, were everyone can feel safe and included – My boyfriend Danny comes into the kitchen all of the time and he’s treated with the same respect as I am by the whole team, and that’s the way it should be. I’d just like to take this opportunity to wish my fellow industry peers in the LGBTQ community a very happy pride month!”
Jade Shorney, from The Rising Sun, Taunton is is a champion of mental health awareness in kitchens and the wider hospitality industry.
Jade said:
“I make a point of having an all-female brigade. The most important thing to us is that our staff are happy to come to work. It is really important to create an environment that they achieve a good work/life balance. In previous workplaces, it’s been an all-male work environment and we’ve been looked at as a weaker sex, unable to handle the pressure of the professional kitchen, but we proved them wrong time and time again and delighted to be running my own brigade made up of five ladies – An all-female team!”
We were also very sad to hear that there are students at our colleges who, although trained as professional chefs in their own country, have to study to become chefs here in the UK as part of their asylum conditions. They cannot live in their country as it is still illegal to be gay, even in 2022. The list is pretty extensive and it seems so unfair that people are still being treated in this way.
What we are saying is this:
“Spare a thought for anyone who is marginalised this month and reach out to them to make them feel more included, more welcome, more safe and more valued. That way we can make this industry feel more like a family.”
Join Luciana at the Table at Mano Mayfair this Tuesday 14th June!
Tuesday Exclusive: 1 Night Only Luciana Berry Dinner
If you haven’t been already, then a unique, one-night-only dinner on Tuesday 14th June at Mano Mayfair might tempt you. The stage is set for Mano’s Brazilian chef Luciana Berry to prepare an exclusive tasting menu that will highlight the best in Brazilian fine dining.
Called “Na mesa com Luciana Berry” (At the table with Luciana Berry) the evening, made up of five courses and has limited spaces available, is taking bookings from 6pm at the Heddon Street restaurant. The dinner has been designed by the Top Chef Brazil 2020 winner chef to “enhance your senses with the unique flavours of The Brazilian cuisine.”
Luciana is a national ambassador for Brazilian produce, often working with the Brazilian government to celebrate and showcase national culinary treasures to the world.
We can’t say too much, but The Chefs’ Forum events team has exciting plans afoot, working with Luciana on a fantastic Brazilian food festival to take place in London this summer and we’ll keep you posted with all the details – Just keep the end of August and beginning of September free in your culinary calendar and prepare to take a foodie tour of Brazil, without leaving the UK – The ultimate staycation!
If you can’t wait until then and need the true taste of Brazil in one beautiful menu, then head over to Mano Mayfair this Tuesday and join Luciana at the table!
Here’s what you can enjoy on the night:
Book now by calling 0207 439 9100 or email info@manomayfair.com
