“Guest” Chef Arbinder Dugal Sells Out £105 Tasting Menu Pop Up in Maldon Brasserie
He got to the final of The Roux Scholarship, worked for Sat Bains and was a semi finalist on MasterChef: The Professionals in 2019.
Last year he designed the menu at new restaurant Attawa in Dalston and this year, through the aches and pains of lockdown, he’s continuing his rise to the top of modern Indian cuisine by selling out a pop-up at Dante’s Brasserie in Maldon.
Arbinder Dugal is certainly a chef to watch, especially if you are interested in interpretations of Indian food created by and young and imaginative chef who has had the courage to compete at the highest levels.
The evening, which costs £105, is a showcase for the young Indian chef from the Punjab and runs from the 13-15th July.
He calls his distinctive style Progressive Indian and yet his roots were humble but he credits growing up with a tandoor in his back yard and a mother who was a huge influence on his cooking.
He said: “Becoming a chef was my biggest passion since childhood. Being Punjabi, we think of food all the time and the inspiration behind this was my mom who makes awesome food at home and we had a Tandoor in the backyard it kept me busy with experiments both big and small!”
So, what are guests so excited about? Well, for starters the menu is interesting and sure to be popular.
Maldon Oyster
Five spice gooseberry compote, coriander oil
Quinoa and Beetroot
Heritage beetroot, multi seed quinoa chaat, beetroot and quinoa crisp, beetroot ketchup, yoghurt foam
Chalkstream Trout
Charcoal mi cuit, black salt buttermilk, Kachumber crispy chicken skin
Lamb
Mint & coriander crusted lamb rump, pressed lamb shoulder, corn purée, Asian ratatouille, green peppercorn korma
Sorbet
Tamarind and mango compote
Miso Mousse
White chocolate, textures of walnut, milk crumbs & brown butter ice cream.
Make School Food Self Sufficient by Growing It
It’s not a new idea but it is gaining in popularity and is not as unachievable as it sounds. Alice Waters had a similar idea in California in 1995 which went on to great success.
So, what is stopping our schools from having a “grow it, dig it up and eat it” culture where the children are taught the idea as part of the curriculum and get to become keen growers and cooks as a result?
The answer to that question is that nothing is stopping it apart from a will to achieve it. But a step in the right direction is a new petition to Government started by self-confessed “life enthusiast” Ian Dunn who has started a campaign called “Self Sufficient Schools”
He told The Chefs’ Forum:
“Our petition to the government is currently open on Change.org: Make school food-growing and self-sufficiency a dedicated national curriculum subject.
“I’m a parent on mission, my petition calls for school food growing and self sufficiency to be a dedicated subject area of the national curriculum. Self-sufficiency includes learning to cook, use knives correctly, understand hygiene etc., pretty much everything I learned in City & Guilds 706/1 Chefs Certificate. It is time for schools to teach ‘relevant life-skills for healthy, sustainable futures.”
“All schools have space for growing food, such as vegetables, herbs, salad and fruit. With innovative techniques such as vertical gardening, even the edges of a playground can become an allotment. The more space available the larger the potential impact on education, children’s health and school finances. Smaller schools (with no fields or green space) may seem unlikely gardens, but walls, raised beds, roofs and planters can make a huge difference
“The most economical way to provide lunch for children is to cut-out all the middlemen. To grow the produce on-site, then simply pull it from the ground, prepare it in the school kitchen and eat it! The children can do that and learn at the same time.
Find out more here: https://selfsufficientschools.co.uk or follow @vegschoolmeals on twitter.
GREAT BRITISH MENU’S STUART COLLINS TO JUDGE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE BIRMINGHAM COMPETITION
A BBC Great British Menu champion is to judge a new competition at University College Birmingham – in tribute to former principal Eddie McIntyre CBE and designed to inspire young chefs as the industry recovers from the pandemic.
Stuart Collins, who won the TV series’ Central Region, will judge the Eddie McIntyre Award Student Chef Recipe Challenge, open to students on University College Birmingham’s NVQ in Professional Cookery college course – made up of trainees as young as 16.
Eight finalists have now been chosen, with the chance to win an incredible first prize of a five-day stage at The Ritz, London, working with acclaimed executive chef John Williams MBE and his team. The winner will also receive a cheque for £250.
The grand final will take place on Wednesday, July 7th at University College Birmingham’s training kitchens at the Summer Row campus.
Crucially, Stuart, who owns Docket No. 33 as featured in the Michelin Guide and made the last two in the starter category of the Great British Menu finals, himself trained at University College Birmingham 20 years ago and hopes to show students that the industry can not only recover, but thrive, post-pandemic.
“It’s been tough for the industry, but students should stay positive, focused and excited about their future,” said Stuart, who has worked for Michael Caines MBE and Gordon Ramsay and wowed Great British Menu judges with dishes celebrating scientific innovators, from Stephen Hawking to Edgar Hooley, the man who invented tarmac. “As the industry opens up, we hope there will many opportunities to explore.”
Stuart will be spending the whole day in the city as he also travels to friend and fellow Great British Menu contestant, Liam Dillon’s restaurant The Boat Inn, in Lichfield. Stuart and Liam, also a University College Birmingham alumnus, will be going head-to-head again as they each cook three courses for a friendly competition where guests get to pick the winning chef.
Stuart said: “Collaboration and a little friendly competition is a great way to stay on your feet in the industry and constantly keep learning. I’m really excited to be back in the city and working alongside Liam and meeting some of the thriving new chefs from University College Birmingham.”
The Student Chef Recipe Challenge is the first Eddie McIntyre Award, paying homage to University College Birmingham’s former head, who passed away after a long illness last October. Eddie was not only the youngest principal of a UK further education college when he took charge, but was an award-winning chef himself.
Eddie’s wife, Wendy, said: “Eddie would have been delighted, over the moon that this is happening in his name. He was very much for giving kids a good start in life while doing something they loved, and was particularly passionate about giving young people from the local area the chance to gain good employment and move up the career ladder. He would be very proud.”
Chef lecturer and year manager Alan Oliver, who is organising the competition with Birmingham College of Food’s new head of external relations, John Penn, said it was a great way to honour Eddie’s memory. “Eddie was widely known and loved by those in the industry, but, sadly, due to Covid restrictions, his funeral was limited to close family only,” he said.
“This is a small way to pay our respects to an incredibly talented, big-spirited, big-hearted man who was such a positive influence on the university and the development of our Birmingham College of Food. The competition itself is based on the foundation of Eddie’s beliefs and overriding principles, namely promoting and providing an equal and a fair opportunity for all with the ambition and commitment to succeed.”
The first, paper-entry part of the competition tasked students with producing a recipe suited to the lunch menu at the on-site training restaurant, Restaurant at Birmingham College of Food, which is open to the public and holds an AA Highly Commended College Rosette.
It needed to focus on good flavour combinations and, where possible, students had to use seasonal, local, British produce with ingredients costing no more than £6. In the final, the chefs will have to prepare, cook and serve two mystery dishes. The first will be the same with a recipe supplied, the second will test skill and knowledge of pastry, creating a dish with no recipe.
Second prize is a cheque for £175, third prize, £75. All finalists will receive a personalised chef’s jacket, Japanese chef knife, and a framed certificate.
The Chefs’ Forum & Rational Synchronise The Education Catering Sector
On Tuesday (24) June, The Chefs’ Forum joined forces with Rational to stage an Education Catering Seminar, live on Zoom. This virtual, free-to-attend, event was open to all school catering managers, chefs, kitchen planners and designers and served to address the challenges and opportunities facing this vitally important sector of the catering industry.
Expertly hosted by Neil Rippington, Director of Education at The Chefs Forum’s, Neil chaired panellists and delegates through this ground-breaking event, which explored current topics affecting all elements of the Education Catering Sector, including:
■ Natasha’s Law and allergens
■ Healthy eating and menu planning
■ Design and technology
■ Waste reduction and sustainability
■ Tomorrow’s kitchens and service operations
■ Developing the next generation of chefs across the sector
The Panel was made up of the following industry experts:
- Phil Rees-Jones – Director of Campus Facilities at Cardiff University and TUCO Ltd., Chair
- Jacquie Blake – LACA Vice Chair and Commercial Operations Manager, Nottingham City Council
- Neil Porter – LACA & Operations Manager, BAM Construct UK
- Brian Turner CBE – Celebrity Chef and Supporter of Chefs Adopt a School
- Holly Charnock – LACA School Chef of the Year and School Chef for Sefton Council
- Kevin Tombs – RATIONAL UK Limited
Following the highly successful event, in which the panel provided attendees with a valuable insight of their sector experience and how they can support the sector going forward, each panellist summarised their experience and evaluation of the event.
Jacquie Blake has worked in the education catering sector for many years. Jacquie is the Vice Chair of LACA, representing over 3,300 organisations providing 3 million lunches in 22,000 schools every day.
Jacquie said,
“Today’s event united all tiers of the education catering sector and established some common ground. Sustainability, good quality food and seasonality are all elements of professional cookery that permeate through pupils’ needs. We play a very important role as caterers, as sometimes the meal we provide is the only hot meal a pupil receives that day, so it must be prepared with all the above elements in mind. All of us have a responsibility to support schools with education around food education with cookery clubs, growing clubs and allergen awareness. In Nottingham Catering, at Nottingham City Council, we often refer to lunch as the ninth lesson of the day!”
LACA School Chef of the Year, Holly Charnock added,
“We find taster pots of new dishes a great way of testing menus on our children. Some are willing to try new things, others less so. We try to encourage pupils to try new foods before saying that they don’t like something. If they try a food and say they don’t like it, we will swap their meal without a fuss. Today we put a taster pot of a new sweet potato, chickpea, and spinach curry on every plate for the children to try and it went down an absolute storm!
In my kitchen, I am very lucky to have both a Rational iVario Pro and iCombi Pro. They were installed two weeks ago and have made a huge difference as all my recipes are now programmed for other team members to recreate at the touch of a button – I wholeheartedly recommend this equipment in busy school kitchens.”
Adam Knights, Marketing Director, Rational UK commented,
“The education catering seminar was a great success, and we are very grateful to the experts who took part. Our goal of working in partnership with The Chefs’ Forum is to provide an ongoing platform for individuals from the education catering sector, who together can make a change for improved education catering standards. It was great to hear that modern kitchen equipment was cited by 67% of delegates as being one of the top expectations from new staff in a kitchen operation. Our team of experts are more than happy to audit existing kitchens and advise on the best possible replacement of outdated equipment with state-of-the art sustainable and timesaving alternatives”
Neil Porter, LACA Business Director added,
“I was delighted to be asked to sit on The Chef’s Forum panel to talk about a very topical subject around what steps we can all take to reduce the carbon footprint in our kitchens. The webinar was very topical, had a great line up of panellists and was very well chaired by Neil Rippington. I was able to share details of a publication I was very fortunate to be involved with called ‘Inspirational Design of Kitchen and Dining Spaces’ which references good design features and sustainability factors.”
Hospitality industry hero Chef Brian Turner was a great asset to the panel. His work with the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and the ‘Chefs Adopt a School’ programme sees some of the industries’ leading chefs visiting schools for the benefit of teaching future generations the importance food and eating as a vital component of life. Brian wants to see development in school menus to make future generations healthier, whilst appreciating the enjoyment of eating as a social experience.
Brian commented,
“Chefs Adopt a School is all about making school children think about food and what they are eating. I was a dinner monitor at school and used to arrive ten minutes early to learn about the menu that day, so I could tell my table about it. I think it would be fantastic to assign this role to year 6 pupils, and maybe even ask them to come twenty minutes early to learn about the provenance of locally sourced ingredients and the reasoning behind the recipes that day so they can explain the menu to their peers at the table.
I’m all for the family approach, togetherness, enjoying food and learning at the same time. It would be great if more chefs could work with school caterers to help them source the best, locally sourced ingredients.”
As caterers in the education sector, we need to produce food in a healthier, more exciting and appealing way, aligned with food service operations that meet the needs and expectations of University and College students and school pupils.
The Chef Shortage Crisis – Yes, Times Really are Bad for Chefs
When a chef tells you that he doesn’t want his name or restaurant to be mentioned in a story about the chef shortage then the situation has reached crisis proportions. His reason: he doesn’t want his customers to think he hasn’t got enough staff to prepare their meal and book somewhere else.
That’s a pretty good reason.
We talked to Chef X yesterday and this is a true story. The restaurant has 8 days to solve its problems. The restaurant has lost its Head Chef, Chef de Parties and some of its Commis as well as servers, Sommelier and assistant General Manager.
The result is that the fine dining restaurant is now looking at cutting the weekday lunch service to once a week and taking the working week to four days. The chefs will only work 3 nights a week. The kitchen will be open on Wednesday for prep during the day. It will then open for dinner on Thursday and then offer lunch and dinner on Friday and Saturday.
“We are looking at increasing the wages for our chefs and at the same time cutting their hours. We will make this work by doing 5 stunning services a week. I am hoping that will be enough for me to find staff who really want to work hard for those services and then have enough time off to make the whole thing worth it.
“I am not prepared to give in. I set out to reach a certain standard and I will not compromise on what we offer.
“I have been decimated by walk-outs. Some of whom won’t even work their notice. It all happened so fast. Some have gone for the money. One Chef de Partie has gone to be a Head Chef. He’s not good enough but that didn’t stop him.
“Now it’s just me, my Senior Sous who is incredible. A level 3 student. A Commis who started as a KP. Two Demi Chef de Partie and a Commis recruit that’s not confirmed. And that’s just the kitchen.
“What is so upsetting is that I have not lost any European staff. This is not Brexit. This is just chefs who either don’t want to cook any more or want more money and better titles.”
How bad is it for you. Can we help?
Gourmet Takeaway Launches In Harborne From Ex-Simpsons Chef
The concept is the first of its kind in Birmingham, offering takeaway boxes of exceptional quality food that focus on flavour and seasonality, whilst utilising the precision and technique that Dan learnt under the tutelage of Luke Tipping at Simpsons. The takeout menu will change frequently and will offer lunch, dinner and Sunday Roast options, with boxes starting from £9.95.
The opening menu features crispy glazed chicken with spring onion, chilli, and sesame, and house-made ricotta stuffed courgettes, asparagus salad, and courgette purée. A typical Sunday menu will feature roast chicken served with pomme purée, confit carrots, buttered hispi cabbage, and chicken sauce. Herbs are grown by Dan, and Qbox will be the UK’s first takeaway outfit to sell Difference Coffee; a premium provider used by some of the country’s best restaurants.
Commenting on the launch, Daniel said: “From growing up in Wolverhampton and being taught to cook by my Nan, to our yearly childhood holidays in Southern Italy, I’ve always been surrounded by great food. My time under Luke at Simpsons taught me to respect ingredients and I’m looking forward to bringing that same quality to Harborne High Street”.
To see the first menus, please visit Qboxbirmingham.co.uk and follow @qbox_birmingham on Instagram and stay up to date with the latest additions. QBox can be found on 49 High Street, B17 9NT. Opening hours are Thursday-Saturday 11-9pm and Sunday 10-5pm.
The Chefs’ Forum Nominated for a Top Award
We’re all buzzing at The Chefs’ Forum as our own Neil Rippington has been shortlisted for an Education and Training award at The Catey’s 2021.
The award goes to a professional “who has demonstrated an innovative approach to continuous learning with particular regard to the needs of the hospitality industry in the UK. They will have developed initiatives in training that have added value and demonstrated an ability to adapt to the changing needs of the market.”
The nominees for the award are:
- Peter Brooks, Compass Group UK & Ireland
- Murray Chapman, A Passion to Inspire
- John, Keating, Fairmont St Andrews
- Neil Rippington, The Chefs’ Forum
- Stephanie Robertson, RA Group
We are very proud of what Neil has achieved since he joined us and we feel we have really started to make a difference to the colleges, chefs and students we work with.
Catherine Farinha said:
“I’m so chuffed for Neil. This is real recognition for a true industry star who has dedicated his whole life to education. This week saw the final of The Chefs’ Forum’s Young Pastry Chef of the Year 2021 take place at West London College. Neil, together with Jamie Houghton, President of the UK Pastry Team led a team of judges from the UK’s finest pastry kitchens in the search for the winning student. To see him back in a college environment where he belongs, working with lecturers and students from seven colleges showed all who took part his seamless professionalism and expertise. We are honoured to have Neil as part of our team, heading-up The Chefs’ Forum Academy across multiple colleges. I wish Neil all the best for the big event and really hope he wins as he greatly deserves to do so.”
Read all about The Young Pastry Chef of the Year 2021 here.
Bath College Stages Virtual Hospitality Taster Day for Prospective Students
The Chefs’ Forum delivered an interactive School Taster Day on Wednesday 16th June 2021 alongside the teaching staff at Bath College and accompanied by some of the industry’s leading chefs.
Catherine Farinha, Founder of The Chefs’ Forum, welcomed the students, schools, and all participants to the taster event with George Dorrity, student liaison and events officer at Bath College. It was great for the students to meet George so they could learn more about his role, future events and how he can help them when visiting the college.
WATCH THE TASTER DAY HERE:
Each week, The Chefs’ Forum arranges top local chefs to teach the students at Bath College. This has been virtual throughout the pandemic; however, guest lecturer chefs will return to live, face-to-face teaching sessions in the next few weeks.
Sue Hudd, Curriculum Manager – Media, Production & Service Industries at Bath College, welcomed the participants to the event and Chef Lecturer Stephen Wesley introduced the students to the Hospitality and Catering department, providing an overview of course options and outlining the opportunities for students to enrol onto study programmes at a variety of levels.
Stephen Bywater, Chef Lecturer at Bath College said
“It is great to see so many prospective students joining us for the event today and a great opportunity for them to meet top chefs and see what they can expect when they join the college. We are very grateful to The Chefs’ Forum and the guest chefs for the excellent demos and produce showcases. It was very interesting to see Lovejoys HQ and learn about Valrhona chocolate. We look forward to welcoming all students to the college this September.”
In advance of the taster day, school students in the schools were provided with samples of fresh strawberries, figs and blueberries, generously donated by local produce supplier Lovejoys, as well as three varieties of single-plantation chocolate supplied by Valrhona. This enabled the students to try the base ingredients featuring in the exciting demonstrations they were about to view.
Ben Mortimer from Lovejoys then gave us a virtual tour of his warehouse, produce and chillers. It was great to see the seasonal produce that was destined for chefs’ kitchens all across Bath and the surrounding area.
After the introductions and meeting Lovejoys, the students headed to the kitchens of Rupert Taylor at Bowood Hotel and Michael where they each prepared a dish to camera. Michael Nizzero took us through a delightful creation of his dish of shortcrust pastry, blueberry mousse & coulis. Michael spoke of the importance of high quality, local and seasonal produce. He also mentioned how the considered treatment of fine ingredients can result in beautiful, elegant, yet simple dishes.
Michael went on to emphasise the importance of learning from everybody and everything in the professional kitchen, he said
“It is very important to listen and learn from every chef you work with, even if you already know what you are being taught, never say that you know as every chef will do things a little differently and you can learn from all of them”.
The dessert looked stunning, and Michael had a very jealous audience as he tucked in to test out his own creation.
We then flew virtually to Rupert Taylor, Executive Chef at Bowood Hotel & Spa who gave us a tour of his busy kitchens. Rupert showcased the various sections and introduced us to his brigade of chefs. It was great for the budding young chefs to see the atmosphere and family environment of a real kitchen in a high-end operation.
Rupert invited all participants to visit whenever they like, which was a lovely gesture. He then created a baked fig dish with honey & goat’s cheese bruschetta.
After a short break, we were back with two more demonstrations by Jauca Catalin, Executive Chef at The Bath Priory and Laurian Veaudour, winner of the Bake-off: The Professionals 2020.
Both chefs created desserts – Jauca, Strawberries & Red Pepper Posset and Laurian, Valrhona chocolate and hazelnut brownie with chocolate and whipped ganache.
It was great to chat to Jauca who, as a former professional footballer, likened working in a kitchen to players in a football match.
“Everyone relies on each other during service. We have to work together as a team. Spending lots of time together makes it feel like a real family environment.
It is my mission to regain a Michelin star for The Bath Priory, as I helped contribute to the last star gained here. I would tell any young chef that this is an amazing industry and that it is a really great career option. I would love to give a tour of The Bath Priory to the students if they want to visit and have a look around The Bath Priory.
Michael Nizzero was the former Executive Chef at The Bath Priory and really loved catching up with the kitchen team, he added
“How great to be able to share some knowledge and insight into our wonderful industry, especially as we come out of this unprecedented year. Full credit to The Chefs’ Forum for facilitating this great initiative. I hope the students enjoyed as much as I did.”
The final demonstration was provided by Chef, Laurian Veaudour (Bake Off: The Professionals Winner 2020). Laurian hosted a chocolate tasting of three chocolates from Valrhona, France, one of the world’s leading single-plantation chocolate producers. The students shared their views on which style of chocolate they preferred, while Laurian produced an exquisite Valrhona Chocolate & Hazelnut Brownie with a Chocolate Whipped Ganache.
At the end of his demonstration, Laurian concluded:
“It was such a pleasure to be a part of the taster day. It is great to be able to inspire the new generation of chefs and bakers around the country, especially with the wonderful produce with can find on our doorstep.”
It’s such a shame we couldn’t try all the dishes and products, however, recipes cards were sent to the schools for everyone to try at their leisure. We hope the taster day inspired the students and teachers to try making the recipes at school or perhaps having a at home!
The Chefs’ Forum, Young Pastry Chef of the Year Announced!
Tuesday 15th June saw the final for The Chefs’ Forum, Young Pastry Chef of the Year, 2021 being staged at West London College in Hammersmith. Over the Spring bank-holiday weekend, our panel of expert judges virtually-marked the entries from twenty semi-finalists, competing from colleges across the UK.
These were then whittled down to eight finalists who all travelled to London to compete against their peers in the final.
The atmosphere was electric as the eight young finalists arrived at the college to compete head-to-head, each creating their own entremet concept, live in a competition environment.
The challenge required the students to produce a chocolate-inspired entremet consisting of at least four layers, using a chosen chocolate from a range of five, carefully selected and supplied by sponsors Valrhona.
The winning student was Unaisa Hussein (17), Patisserie and Confectionery Diploma Level 3 student at Leicester College with her ‘Tropical Entremet’ incorporating Valrhona white Opalys chocolate, passion fruit, mango and coconut.
Unaisa said
“This is the first competition I have ever entered and to win it is absolutely incredible. It has been an honour to be a part of this competition, especially being a finalist. It was a difficult challenge as all of the other finalists were brilliant and produced some spectacular entremets despite tough conditions and to have won against such strong competitors feels really special. I’m also extremely happy to receive a KitchenAid stand mixer from Mitchell & Cooper, as I have always wanted one and can’t wait to start using it!”
Unaisa’s lecturer, Dan Murphy was delighted to have accompanied her to the final, he said
“This is a fantastic achievement, and I am so very proud of Unaisa. It was great to share her success with her family who came with us today. The competition was really inspirational, extremely well-organised and a wonderful experience for all involved. It was great to visit West London College and meet students and teaching peers from other colleges – I am really excited for Unaisa and the world class culinary journey ahead of her as she embarks upon her rotational stage across the judges’ kitchens.”
The standard of the entries was impressive, and the creativity shown by the students was amazing. The consideration of textures and flavours showed great imagination and careful thought in terms of the eating experience.
Chair of judges, Jamie Houghton of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and President of the UK Pastry Team said:
“The students were absolutely amazing today and the standard of work was sensational. There could only be one winner, however all eight finalists will embark on a rotational stage around the judges’ kitchens to give them the best opportunity of showcasing their skills and acquiring new ones from the best pastry chef talent in the country. I just want to say a huge thank you to everybody who entered and supported the competition and very much look forward to accompanying our winner, Unaisa Hussein to Valrhona HQ in France as her prize once restrictions are lifted – She has a very bright future ahead of her I’m sure.”
Neil Rippington, Director of Education at The Chefs’ Forum said:
“Supporting Jamie and the team of judges was a pleasure. I was enthused by the number and standard of entries; it shows what great talent we have in colleges throughout the UK. The competition to celebrated this absolutely and showcased the career potential in such a creative and rewarding profession. At a time when the chef shortage is being cited on social media every day, it is crucial that we nurture and encourage young chefs and help them be the best they can possibly be. This is the way to solve the chef shortage and it is wonderfully supportive lecturers like all those who attended today that will make a massive difference to students’ career prospects. The sense of pride resonated through the whole day which was an extremely positive and well-needed lifter after a very difficult year.”
The judges were thrilled and inspired by the enthusiasm and dedication shown by the students. The judges commented on how difficult it was to select eight to go through from so many high-quality entries, but this is the nature of competition.
Great thanks and appreciation go out to the judges for their contributions and time invested in the competition. They really enjoyed tasting the finished products, as well as analysing the skills and techniques used.
The Judges
- Jamie Houghton – Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and President of the UK Pastry Team
- Luke Frost – Valrhona
- Chris Underwood – Belmond Cadogan Hotel
- Thibault Hauchard- Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester
- Michael Kwan – Hotel Café Royal
- Daniel Pearse – The Savoy
Catherine Farinha, Director and Founder of The Chefs’ Forum concluded:
“I am really pleased that the competition was taken so seriously by the students and the colleges. The finished entries were way beyond expectation and the quality of the students’ work was outstanding and extremely well thought through. I very much look forward to making this an annual competition and the feedback received from the lecturers, judges and students on the organisation and execution of the event has been overwhelmingly positive – A brilliant team effort to support the pastry sector within our industry.”
Thank you to our sponsors: Valrhona, Mitchell & Cooper, Mafter Bourgeat, Calon Wen, Welsh Fine Food Cluster, Oliver Harvey, First Choice Produce, Angel Refrigeration and Vanillaism.
Photography by Bokeh 8.
UK Chefs are Boiling Over at The Chefs’ Shortage
We couldn’t help but laugh when we saw a tweet by Henal Chotai using a face of Eastenders character Phil Mitchell exploding with rage with the line: 2016: coming over here and taking our jobs! Underneath he used the same picture saying: 2021: Not coming over here and taking our jobs!
Henal posed the question: “does this sum it up?”
Being part of the EU made it easy for Europeans to come and work in hospitality in the UK. But Brexit and Covid has conspired in a double whammy to now make it much more difficult to attract staff.
How are you coping? Are you fuming like Phil Mitchell? Or does every cloud have a silver lining? Could this be the time that hospitality changes and the way that food and drink is served changes with it?
Let us know!
In the meantime, please let us know if we can help by advertising your vacancy.
Did you know we have a jobs board for every vacancy going?!
Whether you’re a foodservice supplier looking for sales staff or a restaurant, pub or hotel looking to recruit all positions from front to back of house.
We can also advertise chef jobs for contract caterers, schools and hospitals.
What ever the vacancy, we’ve got you covered with a combined audience of 30,000 UK hospitality professionals.
