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
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.
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.
The Chefs’ Forum’s Fukushima Food Tour
It’s not everyday we get invited to ‘Go East’ and discover the wonder that is Japan, so when we got the call, we jumped at the chance, here’s what Chefs’ Forum Founder, Catherine Farinha had to say:
“I was nervous, I don’t mind admitting it. Going to Fukushima in Japan to visit the site of the 2011 nuclear disaster site was frightening but the closer we got the more I realised it was completely safe and the clean-up operation had been a huge success.
I was invited by The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan who were keen for us to witness and then report on how the Japanese nation has recovered from the nuclear meltdown. I saw this first hand not just in Fukushima but also in Tokyo. I extended the trip so I could further understand the Japanese lifestyle which is highly food-focused.
Over the last few years, we have been doing more and more work with Japanese ingredients by introducing them to British chefs who are very receptive to their heritage and skill. Japanese cuisine is popular in the UK but I wasn’t prepared for how little I knew about how Japanese culture and food fuse together. Indeed, it became clear as I travelled just how much Fukushima had devastated the Japanese food industry.
From the moment we got off the plane the whole world of what I knew about Japan was changed.
This fantastic trip was facilitated by Japanese food ambassadors Keiko Urakawa and Masaki Aosawa and we met at Haneda airport for my adventure culminating in witnessing the extraordinary clean-up work being done in Fukushima.
The reason for going there was not immediately obvious until I learnt that Fukushima Prefecture, basically a region or county, is similar to Kent in the UK. Fukushima is known in Japan as the ‘Kingdom of Fruit’. So, naturally, when the power station went into meltdown the whole area was devastated and evacuated and Japan lost much-prized food ingredients. It was this regeneration that both Kaiko and Masaki were keen for me to see.
However, after a 14-hour flight I was jet-lagged, hungry and need of something to eat. We went to a shopping centre on the way into Tokyo and had sushi and ramen. I need to put this into some form of context because the way it sounds does not do the beautiful, flavourful food we ate justice in any way. The equivalent restaurant does not exist in the UK. We ate the freshest sushi I have ever eaten with the most delicious tuna I could imagine along with bowls of ramen that completely transformed my opinion of this staple Japanese noodle broth. The food was all in front of us on mini conveyer belts, made popular in the UK by Yo Sushi! and others, but it still managed to be impressive. And this was just the first of many meals we ate that were transformative. If I say that you really have to visit Japan to appreciate just how good it is, you get the picture. I can try and describe what we encountered but I feel sure, I will fall short.
After a good rest at our base-camp hotel in Asakusa, a famous Tokyo downtown, and some rather fine street-side yakitori, we were ready for everything that followed.
Our first visit was to a Daikon farm in Aizuwakamatsu, an inland district of Fukushima, some 70 miles from the nuclear site. This really brought home to me the sheer scale of what happened in 2011. The disaster didn’t just affect the land around the actual nuclear site but a much more widespread area. We met Junichi Hasegawa at Hasegawa Farm to see his growing facility and learn how this much-revered winter icicle-shaped Japanese radish is grown and preserved.
Junichi is a 9th generation rice (Koshi-hikari), cabbage and Daikon (Mooli) grower and has a passionate and impressive field to fork story.
He was six when he started helping his father on the farm with bagging 30kg of rice at a time and driving the sleigh to carry the freshly harvested daikon. His three sisters also helped too.
His beloved father, Michi-no-eki died when he was 21 leaving him to take the reigns of the family business.
Through shadowing his father for a decade and a half he was well-equipped and experienced in cultivating, harvesting and storing his produce. In the winter months the snow-covered terrain acts as a natural cold store or larder to hold the daikon radish at a chilled temperature, under soil, until the spring.
In addition to daikon, Junichi also grows cabbage and edamame beans and supplies seven local restaurants with all the produce they could possibly wish for. In addition, he personally-delivers rice and produce to local schools, directly benefitting and nourishing the 110,000 strong local community of Aizuwakamatsu.
His rice is also used by local sake brewery, Takahashi Shosaku, just ten minutes down the road. We popped-over to the brewery to see where the magic happens and were delighted to see crates of the new batch being wheeled into vans for distribution across the prefecture and beyond. Plump spheres of cedar twigs (known as sugi-dama) were hung from the eaves of the brewery to signify the launch of the latest batch of sake – Again, another time-honoured custom (probably a religious offering to the gods) seen in the winter at sake breweries throughout Japan. As the sake matures over the course of the year and becomes more mellow and rounded, the cedar dries out and turns from vibrant green to deep brown.
Today, sugidama are not only put up by breweries, but are also a popular decoration for izakaya restaurants and sake shops. If you see one in the streets of Tokyo, you can be sure that the establishment cares about sake!
Takahashi Shosaku brewery lovingly creates the ‘local water’ loved by so many, sold in local sake shops and farm shops. Once the sake is brewed, the by-product, sake lees (likened to coffee chaff) is then returned to Junichi as a natural fertiliser to nourish his crops – There really is no wastage and all businesses, producers and growers club together to support each other, working in perfect harmony, which was so lovely to see.
We were really impressed when he told us that, like The Chefs’ Forum, he goes into local schools and colleges to talk about traceability, provenance and is existentially proud to tell the students that he produces six tonnes of rice a year (both for eating and sake production) and in addition, that he also grows cucumber in the summer as well as aubergine and edible chrysanthemum.
Junichi wants children to learn about the produce that surrounds them, so that the varieties and species will remind them of where they are from, acquire a sense of place and make them want to return to Aizuwakamatsu to enjoy them in the future – a true taste of home.
Junichi warmly invited us into his home, where we were very honoured to join his family at their traditional low, heated, table (Kotatsu) to share a family-style feast of ‘sweet fish’ cooked over charcoal on natural wooden sticks in sand, accompanied by edamame beans dressed in sake, dashi broth and garnished with roe. This is a delicious dish, traditionally enjoyed on New Years Day and said to boost prosperity and fertility.
We were then given some beautiful chrysanthemum squash as a parting gift to take away with us which was grown naturally when seeds fell from a Portuguese cargo ship, or so the story goes.
Everything in Aizuwakamatsu has a back story and is steeped in family history and surrounded by captivating stories and tradition.
The Hasegawa family also host regular ‘Food camp tours’, welcoming young chefs and tourists to Hasegawa Farm to let them try their hand at harvesting daikon, rice and cabbage from his 12 hectares of farmland. They also have the opportunity to sample delicious dishes, cooking-up a feast with his produce in his purpose-made ‘kitchen car’.
He has recently collaborated with French-trained Chef Manabu Sato, Chef Patron of local restaurant Teppanyaki Aizuya of who often wows guests with specially curated menus, championing Junichi’s fresh produce, married with delicious Fukushima Wagyu.
Junichi’s passion for top chefs showcasing his produce to guests participating in his food camps is clear to see, he said
“Chef Sato bakes the most delicious Fukushima vegetables of the day to create delicious dishes with the minimum amount of seasoning, largely carrot, Morning glory (a Chinese water spinach), my daikon turnip, turnip leaf, stick senor (mini stick broccoli), radish and sweet potato. He steams ginseng for two hours and his sweet potatoes are baked and the sweetness fully extracted, before he kisses them with special teppanyaki dressing. I want to give my guests the whole field-to-fork experience, so they know exactly where the food comes from, how it is harvested, then prepared to make a delicious fresh produce banquet.”
Junichii deems it his personal mission and responsibility to get more chefs involved in championing Fukushima produce, connecting people with agriculture and shouting about the wonderful natural flavours and the love and care that goes into growing and producing the prefecture’s rich larder.
All this joy, however, was a prequel to the main event: Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Nothing could prepare me for this and the emotions it brought up. Fukushima is the 3rd biggest prefecture or state – There are 47 prefectures in Japan.
Twelve years have passed since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami and resulting nuclear disaster and the prefecture of Fukushima is making steady progress in its reconstruction and revitalisation.
Fukushima has long been famous for its agriculture, known since old times as one of Japan’s premier rice-growing regions, also earning the prefecture the affectionate nickname of, ‘The Kingdom of Fruit’.
Fukushima’s agriculture suffered drastically after the earthquake and the nuclear power accident that followed, but as a result of safety measures implemented through national efforts, foods produced in Fukushima have been recognised as safe by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), as well as by many individual countries, and the prefecture’s exports are increasing. Japan hopes that more and more people will enjoy the safe and delicious produce grown in Fukushima for years to come.
Keiko and Masaki arranged for us to visit TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station site, where we were given a fascinating private guided tour to showcase the clean-up work of the Tokyo Electric Power Company. TEPCO has started to keep fish and at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to allay concerns about its plan to release treated radioactive water stored there in huge tanks into the ocean. Since we returned news has broken that this water will be released at Easter.
The clean-up team showed us around and explained that their main aim is to dispel public anxiety and instead to reassure the local community that they are working tirelessly in a huge operation to purify the contaminated water so that fish can thrive and negative environmental and health impacts are nullified.
Local residents and fisheries industry officials, who were worried about the scheme and damage to marine life caused by the release, suggested that the TEPCO team keep fish at the utility to demonstrate the safety of the water. This is what we went to see and it was impressive.
The water treatment process removes most radioactive substances, but not tritium, a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of about 12 years. The water is then diluted with seawater to reduce the tritium concentration to less than 1,500 becquerels per litre, one fortieth of the legal standard.
On experts’ advice, TEPCO has decided to culture flatfish and abalone on a trial basis, as both species can be readily caught off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture and grown easily. Preliminary farming started last March in seawater at the plant. In September 600 flatfish and 600 abalone were introduced and grown in the water. In a control/contrast experiment, where some are being raised in ordinary seawater, others will be grown in treated, diluted water containing tritium at the same level of the water that will be discharged.
The concentration of tritium and other substances in the fish are analysed, as are their growth rates, in two sets of tanks. TEPCO hope to counter negative publicity by showing that fish can grow healthily in the treated water. We were shown the healthy-looking red gills of an anaesthetised flounder to prove that the water has now been purified to a safe standard. However, further external auditing and accreditation by marine authorities is needed to instill faith in the local fishing and farming communities.
Having visited the site and seen firsthand the regeneration and cleanup process I was impressed with the work that has been done. There was a lot of pride in the team effort and I am excited to begin work on brining UK chefs to Japan to witness and taste the wonderful ingredients of this ancient part of Japan.
Back in Aizuwakamatsu, Junichi demonstrated the purity of the water by showing us photos of swarms of fire flies over his rice fields at dusk. He said that they are only attracted to pure water, so it is clear that there is no contamination in Fukushima’s water and he’s confident his crops are safe. This is a great natural sign that the future is bright for Fukushima, the largest rice-producing prefecture in Japan.
The nuclear disaster in 2011 led Junichi to lose confidence in farming, but he kept planting new crops in the hope that one day the soil would renew itself and his faith paid off. Contaminated layers of soil were removed and blighted tree bark, shaved-off. All of the toxic waste is being stored at a specialist facility under strictly controlled conditions.
Now that Junichi has confidence that his livelihood can continue he plans to create a seedbank to preserve the genes he needs to increase yield and resist disease. Seedbanks are also used to increase tolerance against drought, improve nutritional quality and the taste of crops.
We really enjoyed our food tour of Fukushima and all of the fantastic people we met, who are striving to reinstate ‘The Kingdom of Fruit’ back to where it was before 2011 on the global produce stage. We are so very grateful to Keiko and Masaki for giving us this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to discover traditional Japanese food, regional specialities and meet such passionate producers.
We heartily recommend Fukushima produce and will be working on a chefs trip to visit the region in the coming months – Do let us know if you are interested in being involved.
Adande Refrigeration Appoints Karl Hodgson as New Managing Director
Adande Refrigeration Limited announces Global Sales Director Karl Hodgson has been appointed as the Managing Director of the company, effective January 2023. Karl brings three decades of experience in the foodservice sector, together with an extensive knowledge of refrigeration, having been with Adande for 13 years.
Adande Group Executive Chairman, Nigel Bell: “As the Adande Group of companies continues to grow, it is important we continue to strengthen the leadership team in key company areas. Karl brings deep experience and proven commercial and management skills together with an unwavering commitment to the Adande Refrigeration business. He has served as a director with the company for several years. It is vital that we continue the explosive growth out of the COVID period and achieve our company goals over the next 24-48 months. The board believe that Karl is the right person to lead the business, known for its unique sustainable drawers, in delivering that. Karl will replace current Managing Director Ian Wood allowing Ian to focus his knowledge and expertise on Engineering and Development across the Adande Group of companies, including Adande Aircell Limited, where the growth of Aircell technology for powering open display retail cabinets is accelerating.”
Karl Hodgson, Managing Director: “I am very excited to take on this new challenge. and feel that Adande as a business is perfectly positioned to assist hospitality during 2023 in what is anticipated to be a tough year economically. Adande continues to excel producing and delivering sustainable refrigeration with a low lifetime cost. Our modular drawer units and open-display retail cabinets deliver significant energy reduction when compared with other popular market brands. Adande is proven to save operators £££s and this saving has never been so important for our industry. We have a dynamic UK sales team now reporting into newly appointed UK Sales Manager, Jackie Venn and a strong and committed dealer network in the UK. Over 40% of sales in 2022 were in overseas market and these sales continue to grow. I am very much looking forward to this next chapter. I’d like to thank the board and the whole Adande team for their support.”
Listen up! Chefs’ Education is Changing
We’ve just written a book for chefs. It’s called The Chefs’ Knowledge. It contains everything a student or junior chef needs to get a great start in the world of restaurants, hotels, pubs and catering. It’s stuffed with advice and recipes that really give any chef a cutting edge.
But, that wasn’t enough. We wanted to go further following the revelation of how many chefs live with debilitating dyslexia which makes reading hard and sometimes impossible. That made us ask the important question: how can we best serve these chefs with the education they need? The answer: an audio version of The Chefs’ Knowledge.
How does that work, exactly? Well, we thought about that and realised we couldn’t just have someone read out the recipes as they were written. We needed to go further and create something that would be interesting and educational to listen to. The result was a unique set of 100 scenes that bring the recipes in the book to life.
Our editor Chandos Elletson created the scenes, set in imaginary kitchens but based on real life, so that students could get a feel for the sort of scenarios chefs might face when they enter the profession.
“It was important to reflect real kitchens and real issues,” Elletson told The Chefs’ Forum. “I realised that reading a recipe out wasn’t the way. I needed something that got at the essence of the recipe so that listeners could get a sense of why it was important to learn this particular recipe and get a sense of the techniques behind them.”
To achieve this we teamed up with the Arden School of Theatre at The Manchester College, where we also have a Chefs’ Forum Academy on the catering side. 3rd year acting students took the scripts and rehearsed them before we recorded them in the new state-of-the-art studio facilities on campus.
“The results are amazing,” Catherine Farinha, publisher of The Chefs Knowledge, said. “The actors were incredible, and we’ve created something new, exciting and different that will enhance The Chefs’ Knowledge and give anyone who struggles with dyslexia an added bonus.
“However, it will also act as another resource for our Chefs’ Forum Academies and another reason for Colleges to get behind what we’re doing which is effectively building a bridge between learning and industry.”
Not only did this exercise set out to benefit junior chefs, but it also gave valuable ‘live brief’ work experience to the students at UCEN.
Rachel Austin, Acting Lecturer and Audio Producer at the Arden School of Theatre managed the project brilliantly. She cast the recipe scenes to her entire class of 3rd year BA Hons Acting students and guided them through recording and producing the audiobook, step by step.
“This has been a fantastic opportunity for my students to see the whole process of creating an audiobook from start to finish. As actors, they may normally only see the finished scripts and not the work that goes into writing them. The fact that we’ll be benefiting the hospitality and catering department within The Manchester College and in colleges across the UK, makes this work even more worthwhile.”
Please register your interest in purchasing a recording of the audiobook to accompany the printed version of The Chefs’ Knowledge by emailing catherine@redcherry.uk.com
5 Chefs. 1 Great Cause – Chefs Dinner at Deer Park Country House in Devon
4 of our Chefs’ Forum Academy female chefs are taking part in an early celebration of International Women’s Day in March. Cindy Challoner of Coleg Gwent; Lisa Goodwin-Allen, of Northcote; Charlotte Vincent, Indigo Hotel and Elly Wentworth of the Angel in Dartmouth will be part of a five-strong female brigade cooking a special dinner to raise funds for Hospitality Action.
The chefs will be supported by female students from Coleg Gwent and Exeter College in honour of International Women’s Day.
The 6th March evening event at Deer Park Country House in Honiton, Devon also features chef Olivia Barry of Adelina Yard and is being hosted by Great British Menu alumni Jude Kereama, Chef Owner of Kota and Kota Kai.
Guests will be treated to a canapé and drinks reception and a six-course meal with wine whilst hearing from the chefs first-hand during an entertaining Q&A.
The six course exclusive dining experience includes a delicious homemade cheese course prepared by the award-winning brigade from The Newt in Somerset.
For more details visit the Hospitality Action website: CLICK HERE
Hospitality Welcomes the Launch of Registration for HRC 2023
Hotel, Restaurant & Catering (HRC), the UK’s largest and most prestigious business event for the hospitality and foodservice sector, has opened visitor registration for its 2023 edition, taking place on 20-22 March at ExCeL London.
Hospitality business owners and managers will have the opportunity to explore quality suppliers from across four distinct show areas – food & drink, professional catering equipment, hospitality tech, design & décor – providing everything needed to update and elevate their front- and back-of-house offering.
The Pub Show @ HRC will return bigger and better for 2023, featuring an all-new partnership with the British Institute of Innkeeping, who will be offering drop-in sessions and presentations providing much needed and valuable expert advice as part of ‘Helpline Live’.
Steve Alton, CEO of the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII), comments: “We are hugely looking forward to attending the show and meeting industry colleagues to share the BII’s passion for our vital and vibrant pubs.”
HRC will once again be taking place alongside IFE, International Food & Drink Event and IFE Manufacturing, giving visitors the opportunity to discover thousands of innovative food & drink products and learn about the latest trends in food production, packaging and NPD.
Plus, the show will be partnering with IFE to launch ‘Drinks @ HRC & IFE’, a single, central location for visitors to source drinks products from alcohol and low/no to soft drinks to hot beverages.
Cumulatively, the co-located shows will welcome more than 25,000 leading industry buyers and over
1,500 innovative suppliers across a wide range of product categories.
A new addition for 2023 is Chef HQ, curated by Chef Publishing: a networking hub and demo kitchen where leading chefs from the UK and Europe will be taking to the stage to demonstrate culinary tips and techniques, host deep dives into key dishes and cuisines, and discuss the latest trends and challenges affecting commercial kitchens in 2023 and beyond.
Confirmed chefs for the stage include Andrew Wong of Restaurant A. Wong, Tom Phillips of Restaurant Story, Launceston Place Chef Patron Ben Murphy, and legendary pastry chef Frédéric Bau, with many more due to be announced in the weeks to come.
Jonny Dillon, General Manager of The Great Shefford, comments: “HRC is a fantastic day to enjoy. The brilliance of meeting new suppliers, seeing new trends in the market, finding innovative new products, learning from the biggest and best in hospitality with shows and talks. I can see me and my team there every year.”
An industry-leading seminar programme
Visitors to HRC 2023 will have access to over 100 free-to-attend content sessions, discussions, demonstrations and more, covering some of the latest industry trends and topics and featuring leading figures from the worlds of foodservice and hospitality.
The show’s Vision Stage, designed by Harp Design, will highlight trends and all-important issues impacting the hospitality and foodservice sectors, with must-attend sessions with dynamic industry leaders and an exclusive keynote with HRC’s 2023 Chef Ambassador Monica Galetti.
Meanwhile, the Tech X Stage will be a focal point for everything hospitality tech, with discussions on how front- and back-of-house technology can increase profits, provide key insights and enable a more seamless experience for both employees and customers.
Alongside the industry leading seminar programme, visitors to the show will have the opportunity to learn from key association partners and hospitality professionals with features like Ask the Expert from the Foodservice Equipment Association (FEA) and Helpline Live from the BII, a chance for pub, bar and hospitality business owners to meet with a range of industry experts and consultants to gain bespoke advice and solutions for their business.
Keith Warren, Chief Executive of the FEA comments: “The FEA are delighted to be the official sponsor and to be partnering with HRC once again for 2023. All types of equipment have a critical role in ensuring effective foodservice delivery, the Professional Kitchen section is vitally important as the leading UK exhibition for the sector.”
Celebrating talented chefs
HRC will once again take place alongside historic chef competition International Salon Culinaire, which sees chefs putting their talents and knowledge to the test across a number of live and skills competitions across the three days of the event.
Salon Chef Director Steve Munkley comments: “Next year’s event is set to be another fantastic edition of HRC and International Salon Culinaire, attracting everyone from the UK’s leading chefs to the next generation of culinary superstars. Live competition is a great way for chefs to challenge themselves, meet industry peers and stand out from the crowd and I can’t wait to see what this year’s competitors produce.”
Alongside popular returning competitions like the Mystery Basket Grand Prix, the Alaska Seafood Masters competition, the Apprentice Challenge, the Stadia team event, and Salon’s mainstay pasta and cheese challenges, next year’s edition will see a new challenge for the Craft Guild of Chefs Team of the Year, in partnership with Waitrose & Partners, new official meat partner in the form of Alliance NZ, which will be bringing its prestigious Lumina Lamb Competition to the show, and a new online training competition for chef lecturers in partnership with The Grande Cuisine Academy.
Hotel, Restaurant & Catering (HRC) will return to ExCeL London on 20-22 March 2023 alongside IFE, International Food & Drink Event, IFE Manufacturing, The Pub Show @ HRC, and International Salon Culinaire. To learn more about everything happening at the event, and to register for your complimentary trade ticket, visit hrc.co.uk.
Chefs Spill the Beans for Christmas
If you’re looking for some last-minute inspiration for the big day, then we’ve found three chefs who have emptied their Christmas lockers and given the lowdown on the traditional Christmas lunch.
Whether it’s a turkey brine, a classic roast spud or a brilliant Yule log you’ll never look back with these top tips.
First up its chef Aaron Middleton from MasterChef: The Professionals 2021. His Insta channel is celebrating 25 days of Christmas with a whole bunch of great videos that really help with those basics. Take look at Aaron’s Instagram feed here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmbpM9EoaMa/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Alexandra Duncan, our National Business Manager has already nailed the Spiced Orange and Honey Glazed Gammon and will set to work on the Maple Glazed parsnips and Honey Glazed carrots tomorrow!
Or, you can head to 2 Michelin Star chef Daniel Clifford of Midsummer House in Cambridge. His seasonal series of Christmas vids contain brilliant tips on brining, veg cooking and pimping up mince pies. Our own editor Chandos Elletson has already sworn that these roasties are the best he’s ever cooked. You can find all the deets here:https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cl29xvrNJxp/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Finally, we must pay tribute to the incredible sensation that is Poppy Cooks. The former chef is all over Insta and TikTok with her potato recipes and now some really top Christmas turkey recipes. Chefs’ Forum Director Catherine Farinha has gone for the dry brine by Poppy (and by all accounts its looking good). Check out Poppy’s Instagram feed here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmZr_69sZuw/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
She’s also spreading the love in plumping for MasterChef Winner and restauranteur Simon Wood’s roast potatoes as spotted on Instagram, which sound and look absolutely delicious!
He’ll no doubt be serving up mountains of the bronzed and boogie beauties at Wood Restaurant Manchester!
All that remains to be said is: HAPPY CHRISTMAS from us all. See you in the New Year. 2023 looks really exciting with new additions to our new publishing division, loads of lunches, more academies and more chefs for our students to learn from.
Spare a Thought for Homeless Chefs
Yes, it does happen. Paul, pictured, was one of them. Two years ago he lost his accommodation in the pub where he was working closed during lockdown. He slept rough for a few “scary” weeks.
However, Paul was one of the lucky ones. He was helped and supported by two charities: The House of St Barnabas and Only A Pavement Away. Through their help and assistance Paul got back on his feet and has been working at The Ivy Asia for the last two years. His life is now steady.
We spoke to Karen Wallin, head of marketing and fundraising at Only A Pavement Away. She told us:
“There are thousands of others just like Paul who are at risk of becoming homeless right now as the cost of living soars. They may not be sleeping rough as homelessness can take many different forms.
“One of those is when you are forced to “sofa surf” moving from one friend’s put-up bed to another. Or living in a shelter, hostel or temporary council accommodation. The saddest extreme is when someone has no option but to sleep outside on the street.
“Only A Pavement Away is a charity which provides pathways out of homelessness into purposeful employment within hospitality. As part of their programme they also help members find a smooth transition from homelessness by providing short term financial assistance to ensure a successful and stable return to work.”
Paul remarked: “Since Only A Pavement Away helped me back into full time employment, I’ve got money, I am able to pay my bills, buy myself clothing, and have found myself a place to live. My life is very stable and secure now which it had not been for a very long time.”
Karen continued: “With many having to make difficult choices about paying for food, heating and rent right now Only A Pavement Away will ensure any member facing these unthinkable decisions have the extra support they need.”
Homelessness can happen to anyone – If you are able to contribute to help people just like Paul, find Stability Through Employment this winter, please CLICK HERE to donate THANK YOU.
