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
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
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
Free Culinary Boot Camp for School Students Set to Launch this Summer
A new initiative, launched by The Chefs’ Forum, will see three Colleges open their doors for two weeks during the summer holidays for school students between 14 and 16. Called a “Culinary Boot Camp” the specially designed programme, endorsed and backed by top chefs in London, Pembrokeshire and Manchester will introduce young people to the world of professional cookery and work experience will be guaranteed at the end.
Catherine Farinha, Director of The Chefs’ Forum said “This is a tremendous plus for the whole industry,” explained Chefs’ Forum director Catherine Farinha. “Three of our Academy Colleges – West London, Manchester and Pembrokeshire – are going to open their doors for two weeks and invite school students between the ages of 14 and 16 to spend some time being inspired by guest lecturing chefs, already teaching in our network of Chefs’ Forum Academies.”
Denise Charles of West London College said: “I’m really excited by this new initiative from The Chefs’ Forum. We want to inspire the next generation of school students to come to college. This is a great way for students to get a real taste not just of what being a chef is all about but also find out what attending college is like. The fact that there are also job opportunities as well is amazing.”
Wendy Weber of Pembrokeshire College said: “At the end of the two weeks of lessons and demonstrations there will be work experience offers and college places (for those in year 11) in principal offered to all that attend. Those who are leaving school at 16 will be able to get placements with local employers and those younger can get valuable experience in kitchen, both working entry level sections as well as the pot wash at weekends or after school.”
Sue Hadfield of The Manchester College said: “We are looking forward to welcoming The Chefs’ Forum Academy chefs to the college and delivering the introductory course, which is has been specially designed by chefs to give a fantastic introduction to cookery and a basic knowledge of ingredients.”
The culinary boot camp will also see The Chefs’ Forum Academy chefs galvanise the initiative, going into colleges and delivering the introductory course, which is has been specially designed by chefs to give a fantastic introduction to cookery and a basic knowledge of ingredients.
Any chefs or schools wishing to get involved in The Chefs’ Forum’s Culinary Boot Camp in London, Manchester or Pembrokeshire this summer should contact alice@redcherry.uk.com
Gill Adds Amber to Birch
The rise and rise of young chef Amber Francis has gathered pace with a new appointment as head chef at The Zebra Riding Club at Birch in Hertfordshire.
The young chef is enjoying a promising career so far and fast becoming a leading light in young chef circles.
Chef Robin Gill, who runs The Zebra Riding Club restaurant, chose Francis to run the kitchen at the Birch community hotel. The restaurant, open to non-residents, uses the farm, woods and produce of the hotel surroundings throughout the year.
Francis has been working her way up the ranks in recent years having started out doing work experience at The Hand and Flowers and Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons. From there she went to The Ritz as an apprentice whilst studying for a diploma with The Royal Academy of Culinary Arts (she won a distinction) before teaming up with Gill at The Dairy and later at Bermondsey Larder.
This is her first head chef role.
Cherish Gets All Shook Up with New Launch
Cherish Finden, host of Bake Off: The Professionals is launching her first patisserie on the 16th June at the Pan Pacific Hotel in London – which she joined ahead of opening in 2021.
Called Shiok! – pronounced “Shook” – the new venture will open in Devonshire House next door to the hotel and will have 25 covers that will open for breakfast and pastries all day every day.
One of the trademarks of the new patisserie will be a new chocolate teapot which is inspired by memories of drinking tea with her grandfather and a chocolate handbag flavoured with lemon and raspberry.
Finden promises a selection on chocolate bonbons with various flavours and as well as cookies in tins and a special take on pineapple tart.
“In Singapore the word Shiok! conveys a feeling of pure pleasure and happiness and this is what I want to capture,” Finden explained. “The pâtisserie is going to be somewhere you will want to bring your loved ones, any time throughout the day for an out-of-this-world pastry. I’m so looking forward to Londoners experiencing what we have in store.”
