Senior Chefs Have Been Reacting to the GSCE and SQA Results Day with Messages of Support

Senior chefs have been reacting to the GSCE and SQA results day with messages of support pouring in from all over the country. The Chefs’ Forum has taken an active role during the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.

All Academy chefs have offered dinners to groups of students at their restaurant as a reward for attending their maths and English GCSE sessions and trying their best to achieve a pass.  The increase in attendance and effort applied to their courses on last year is absolutely astounding and is evident in the excellent results achieved.

Both the Chefs’ Forum YouTube Channel and Couch to College Open Day have been extremely useful for students while they were away from school. Now chefs are sending in words of encouragement for the new intake of students as they prepare for college life and a new profession.

The Chefs’ Forum and colleges are delighted with the show of strength, support and encouragement from the Academy chefs.  Here are some of their lovely comments and messages they sent wishing students the very best for results day and the coming academic year.

Doug Crampton, Head Chef at James Martin Manchester said:

“Good luck with your exam results! It’s been great to support Manchester College Chefs’ Forum Academy this year. I was really impressed with all your skills and how enthusiastic you all are with our masterclasses. The masterclass sessions offered a prime opportunity to search out new talent and we’ve had a few students who have come to work with us as a result. Keep an eye out for events we’ve got coming up – we’ve got some great stuff and all the best for the future.”

Sam Fazackerley, Rosso Restaurant, Manchester added:

“I would like to wish the very best of luck to the students at The Manchester College.  We’re very much looking forward to delivering more guest lecturers in the college as part of The Chefs’ Forum Academy.  Huge congratulations to the college and The Chefs’ Forum for bringing us all together; it helps us find the next young talent for our kitchens and helps the students become more industry ready.  We look forward to seeing you all soon!”

Joe Bartlett, Lake Country House offered his encouragement:

“We’re sending all the luck in the world from the team at The Lake. I had a fantastic time teaching you at level 1 and 2. We did two great dishes together at Coleg Gwent – a braise and a fish dish – and you all did a fantastic job. All the hard work you put in you will then get out later so fingers crossed for your results!

“A huge thank you to chef Gavin for bringing us local chefs in and bridging that gap between students, colleges and the industry. I’m always happy to help students with work placement or even a job if you are looking. Good luck and see you soon.”

Ben Purton from Off to Work said:

“It’s been really great coming down and working at the West London College over the last year or so with you. I’ve loved cooking alongside you and I look forward to coming down to see you in the next few months when all this blows over! It’s great to be working alongside The Chefs’ Forum and everything they do for students. Good luck and give us a shout if you need anything.”

The Chefs’ Forum would like to take this opportunity to thank all chefs who send messages of encouragement to the students.

Any chefs wishing to teach in The Chefs’ Forum Academies throughout the UK should contact Academy Coordinator, Rebecca Saunders: rebecca@redcherry.uk.com – We need you to inspire and ignite the aspiration in the next generation.

Top Catering Colleges and Chefs’ Forum Academies are Celebrating a Flood of Good GSCE and SQA Results

Top Catering Colleges and Chefs’ Forum Academies are celebrating a flood of good GSCE and SQA results and are preparing to welcome a new influx of students onto their hospitality and catering courses.

The results are a relief for four leading colleges running Chefs’ Forum Academies from England. Wales and Scotland after months of lockdown learning and home-schooling. They reveal how much The Chefs’ Forum initiatives have helped students in these very different times. They shared their thoughts on what the last few months have been like and what they are looking forward to as students begin to return.

Elizabeth Peters, Assistant Principal, Service and Retail Industries at The Manchester College, told us:

“We are delighted with the GCSE results from our students while they have been learning remotely at this difficult time. Resources like The Chefs’ Forum Academy YouTube recipe channel and our recent virtual ‘Couch to College’ open day with The Chefs’ Forum and Simon Wood have been extremely valuable to us.

“They maintain our links with industry to come back even stronger once we are able to invite students and chefs back into the college for the new normal.

Elizabeth went on to say: “We have really enjoyed the messages of encouragement for results day from our Chefs’ Forum Academy chefs and can’t wait to welcome them back to enrich our students learning for the new academic year to deliver cookery masterclasses, whether virtually, or in person, depending on government guidelines.”

Denise Charles, Head of Curriculum, Service Industries at Hammersmith & Fulham College said

“We have celebrated some great GCSE results across our four colleges and my hospitality and catering students have done very well indeed. We have added The Chefs’ Forum Academy YouTube recipe channel and links to our online learning platform.

“Throughout lockdown, my teaching team and I regularly participated in the Chefs’ Quiz each week to maintain contact with chefs who come into the college to teach.

“It was great to see our guest teaching chefs Michael Dutnall MCA from the RAF Club, Soham Sonawane from The Dorchester, Chanaka Fernando from Buddha Bar and Connor McAlpine of Marcus Waring Restaurants, who gave a Front of House Masterclass.

“I would like to take this opportunity to give thanks to Ben Purton from Off To Work for his kind words of encouragement to our students for receiving their exam results today, it was a lovely gesture.  We very much look forward to welcoming the guest chefs back into the college again, the students really look forward to the sessions!”

Gavin George, Chef Lecturer at Coleg Gwent added

“Its been an exciting morning at the college today.  Our students have been very happy with their GCSE results as they were predicted by us as their tutors.  We are very proud of the relentless effort and enthusiasm they have shown over lockdown and we look forward to welcoming them back to the college.  We will produce films of masterclasses with our Chefs’ Forum Academy chefs if we are not able to invite them in while restrictions are still in place. Covid-19 won’t stop us from inspiring and nurturing our students to be the best they can possibly be.”

May Donald, Associate Dean – Culinary Arts & Bakery Hospitality & Leisure at Glasgow College added her thoughts on SQA results in Scotland:

“It has been a challenging academic year all round. Students have faced a great upheaval of delivery and have taken on a new way of learning in an instant. My department and I are very proud of the response to this and the results have replicated their dedication and commitment to their learning journey.”

The Chefs’ Forum is very much looking forward to sending chefs into colleges to teach on a near-national level.  Any chefs wishing to get involved in giving back to the industry and passing on their skills and expertise should email Chefs’ Forum Academy Coordinator Rebecca Saunders: rebecca@redcherry.uk.com

Areas currently running Chefs’ Forum Academies are Bath & Cotswolds, London, South Wales, West Wales and Manchester. We are also launching in Glasgow very soon – We look forward to hearing from you as all great chefs should teach!

Comax UK & Sanitise This are Joining Forces to Bring their Locally Made Community Spirit Hand Sanitiser to Bars, Hotels and Restaurants Across The South!

Comax UK & Sanitise This are Joining Forces to Bring their Locally Made Community Spirit Hand Sanitiser to Bars, Hotels and Restaurants Across The South!

When COVID-19 hit the impact was immediate, it affected all businesses & services and forced everyone to find new ways to work and support each other.

Based in Ringwood, Comax UK has proudly supplied local hospitality businesses, care homes and schools with professional cleaning, catering & PPE products for over 25 years. From the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, they had to adapt rapidly to the changing market place. Due to the incredible demand, for sanitiser and PPE, sourcing stock became challenging but they were able to quickly focus the business to janitorial and PPE supplies, initially prioritising their NHS, care home and school customers, whilst working hard to ensure continuous supplies of crucial stock.

Now five months after it all began the hospitality industry is getting back on its feet and they could not be more excited to be collaborating with fellow local business Conker Spirit!

Back in April, Dorset’s first gin distillery, Conker Spirit, rapidly shifted their distillery production to help bridge the gap in supply of sanitiser for frontline workers. During the start of the epidemic, they gave away hundreds of 70cl bottles of hand sanitiser, aptly naming it their ‘Community Spirit’. Made from the waste ‘heads’ of their distillation process, it had the added benefit of being full of the oils and aromas from their gin botanicals.

This generosity prompted quite a bit of interest from the local press, and it was not long before companies all over the country flooded their inbox. “That’s when we knew it was going to take more than a gesture of a few hundred bottles of free sanitiser. There was a genuine need for us to go into full-scale production of the WHO formulation hand sanitiser, and quickly!” says Rupert. Since then, Conker Spirit have manufactured over 80,000 litres of WHO Formulation Hand Sanitiser alongside their usual distillery operations, supplying frontline services, key worker businesses and people in their homes.

Now, as lockdown lifts and businesses start to open their doors again, they have taken their sanitiser production to a completely new level with the launch of Sanitise This, a separate company within the Conker group that offers ethically priced, beautifully presented sanitiser solutions for the hospitality industry and businesses.

The partnership between Comax, as locally based distributors, and manufacturers Conker Spirit is a perfect match! Both are delighted to launch Community Spirit Hand Sanitiser into bars, hotels and restaurants across the UK.

Community Spirit Hand Sanitiser is now available to order from Comax UK in 500ml & 5 Litre containers.

Visit www.comaxuk.com now to purchase.

Chef Andrew Sheridan Launches Restaurant 8 this Autumn

Opening on October 8th, 8 will be “the eight courses of Andrew Sheridan‘s career”.

Award-winning Chef Sudha Saha Opens O.kra in Stafford

Located on Mill Street, the newest restaurant to arrive in Stafford town centre provides a unique and modern take on traditional Indian dishes.

O.kra’s dishes remain authentic to Indian recipes passed down through generations, fusing local and seasonal quality ingredients with global influences, to produce a dining experience to remember.

And at its helm – Consultant Indian Chef Sudha Saha:

“The current climate has seen a huge shift within the restaurant industry. Many restaurants have unfortunately had to close their doors, yet I believe it provides the opportunity for others to shine. O.kra is one of those, and I’m extremely excited to lead the way to launch something special there.”

Stemming from his love for authentic flavours, and innovative and imaginative techniques of cooking, Sudha is truly passionate about being able to share a fresh perspective on the cuisine. Offering a modern approach to traditional cooking, Sudha looks to break down the conventional barriers, and both inspire and educate people in Indian cuisine.  Recognised by both the Michelin and Hardens Guides, Sudha has created a menu that fuses local and seasonal produce with global influences – the result of this East-West affair is spectacular, and a world away from Birmingham’s renowned Baltis,

Sudha’s culinary career spans over three decades, and he has taken part in a range of live cooking demos including Hotelympia, Grand Designs and the Food and Drink Expo at the NEC.  He has also made appearances on Brit Asia TV’s ‘Culinary King’, Channel 4’s ‘Iron Chef’, ITV’s ‘Britain’s Best Dish’, BBC2’s ‘Restaurant with Alex Polizzi’, CBBC’s ‘Disaster Chef’, and Food Network’s ‘Birmingham to Bombay’.

O.kra Indian Restaurant
16-18 Mill Street
Stafford
ST16 2AJ

Opening Times
Monday to Sunday – 5.30pm to 11:00pm

www.o-kra.co.uk

The Manchester College Virtual Hospitality Taster Day was a Great Success!

Almost one thousand future students participated in The Manchester College’s first ever Couch to College event. The Hospitality and Catering session was hosted by the Hospitality and Catering teaching team, Masterchef Winner and Chefs’ Forum Academy Patron, Simon Wood and Catherine Farinha, Founder of The Chefs’ Forum.

Catherine Farinha interviewed Simon at his restaurant, Wood Restaurant, Manchester, in a Microsoft Teams Live event, asking him what he thinks it takes to be successful in the hospitality industry. He offered hints and advice on what young chefs and hospitality professionals should be doing to maximise on their training.

Simon recommended books to read and communicated to the students that they must never stop learning, fondly recounting foodie stories of his childhood and chefs who he admires.

Catherine was delighted to host the session with Simon at his restaurant, she said
“It is great to be able to find a way of continuing to raise the profile of The Manchester College and The Chefs’ Forum Academy while restrictions remain in place. It is crucial that we do all we can to drive registrations at the college for the coming academic year. We very much look forward to welcoming chefs back into the college again once permitted and will continue to support the college virtually in the interim. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Academy chefs for their ongoing help and support.”

Last month, the college hosted 37 online sessions to help new students transition from school to college by meeting their Tutors, tour college campuses and explore the wide range of courses and qualifications available to them.

Watch the full session here:

Mark Cooper, Course Lead for Technical Patisserie was very instrumental in organising and hosting the event from a college perspective, he said
“This event was important for all, to give a great insight into what students can learn at college and the specialist chefs they will meet on the course – Simon Wood being one of them. They will also have the opportunity to participate in competitions and assist with the organisation of local and regional events. The virtual taster day gave a full-rounded experience of what students can expect when enrolling onto a course at our college – It was a great success for all involved and a format that we will repeat again. I would like to personally thank Simon Wood and Oliver Harvey for supplying and donating great prizes for our chefs quiz, which added a further element of interest for the participants.”

The first week of events, kicked-off by Principal Lisa O’Loughlin on Monday 6 July, introduced students to the college’s brand new Industry Excellence Academy and Centres of Excellence, as well as the Careers and Welfare, and Transition teams.

Students were also advised on how to make an application and how to enrol, while Deputy Principal Rachel Curry explained how they’ll be keeping colleagues and students safe on campus when they return in September.

Week two was all about individual curriculum areas. Students met their new Tutors and were given a taster session of their chosen subject areas. They also heard more about our array of industry partners, finding out how they shape the curriculum, offer work experience opportunities and help prepare students for industry.

Masterchef UK winner and patron of The Chefs’ Forum Academy, Simon Wood, hosted the Hospitality and Catering event. Simon said:
“This was such an important virtual event to promote the hospitality industry to the next generation of chefs and hospitality professionals in these strange times when we can’t hold traditional open days due to COVID-19. As patron of The Chefs’ Forum Academy at The Manchester College, it was a pleasure to take part in the Couch to College session and talk about my career as a chef, winning MasterChef and giving advice to those considering becoming a chef or front of house professional. Both aspects create the dining experience and I feel the session communicated this very well indeed.”

The third and final week of Couch to College focused on the student experience, with sessions on how to enrol, becoming work ready and our fantastic Duke of Edinburgh opportunities.

Students also met our experienced Employability team, who provided top tips on using social media to find a career that suits them and boost their prospects.

Deputy Principal, Rachel Curry, said:
“Thank you to everybody who has contributed to Couch to College and made it such a success. Our colleagues have worked tirelessly to deliver their presentations, showcasing all our subject areas and fantastic facilities, so it was great to see so many students take part. We hope you have got a feel for College life and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to College safely in September.”

The Manchester College is one of six UK colleges where The Chefs’ Forum operate The Chefs’ Forum Academy. The project sees top chefs and hospitality experts come into the college on a weekly basis to deliver guest lectures and practical cookery sessions to enrich the curriculum.

Hotel & Marine Expert Summit by Rational

The Digital Industry Highlight

On 26 August, 2020, opinion leaders from the F&B industry will meet for the first digital Expert Summit, initiated by Rational, titled “The New Hospitality”.  Key discussion topics include innovation, digitalization and sustainability. There will be a wide range of international specialists sharing their knowledge and giving insights into future opportunities; followed by discussions and questions in a virtual forum. In addition, participants will be able to conduct peer-to-peer dialogues and make appointments.

“Unusual times require unusual activities”, is how Nicolas Makowski, Senior Director International Key Account Management at Rational, explains the event concept. The conference will be conducted on a digital platform and similar to that of a traditional trade fair will accommodate presentations, product demonstrations, exchange and networking. “We are holding the event at two different times, giving customers from all regions of the world the opportunity to participate. The advantage of the digital summit is that we have no restrictions and worldwide participation is possible,” says Makowski.

To avoid conflicts due to the time difference, the Expert Summit will take place in two different time windows, each lasting approximately three hours. The separate events will, however, consist of the same content and have the same speakers. Interested parties are invited to register free of charge HERE

iKitchen by Rational – The System Solution for Business and Industry Catering

Shortage of skilled staff, cost pressure and digitalisation, these are the challenges operators within business and industry catering have to face. Added to this are the increased demands of their guests with regard to quality, dietary and special food requirements such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten or lactose-free as well as a varied range of products. In addition to good ideas and clever concepts, the kitchens needs a partner who knows the challenges, supports them technically and enables them to produce large quantities. Rational has created such support with iKitchen.

“Under the name iKitchen, we have combined the iCombi Pro, iVario Pro and ConnectedCooking to form a system solution,” says Simon Lohse, Managing Director, RATIONAL UK, explaining the features. The aim is to make work easier, especially in large kitchens with a volume of 500 meals per day or more, to streamline processes and save space, money, energy and raw materials. If you take a kitchen originally equipped with a boiler, deep fat fryer, pressure cooker, hot-air oven and cooker, you can replace all the appliances except the cooker with an iCombi Pro and iVario Pro while achieving space savings of up to 40%. At the same time, the cooking systems together cover 95% of all conventional cooking applications. For some applications such as cooking pasta or preparing food using the sous-vide method, they can even take over tasks from each other, thus considerably increasing the flexibility of a commercial kitchen. As a rule, cooking is also healthier. As Lohse says: “With the iCombi Pro, for example, you can deep-fry without fat. This means that the fries are crispy but have considerably less fat. In addition, steaming in the iCombi Pro preserves the vitamins and nutrients”.

The fact that both cooking systems are made for cooperation is also shown by the identically designed user interfaces, which guide the user through the menus according to the same principle. Both also have intelligent functions that make handling even easier and thus significantly reduce the error rate. Even semi-skilled workers have easy access to various cooking applications. The fact that iKitchen makes optimum use of all resources is demonstrated, for example, by overnight cooking. The iCombi Pro and iVario Pro both feature this application which will save a great deal of production time and take a lot of pressure off the kitchen operations.

The third component, ConnectedCooking, also serves to increase productivity, as the cloud-based networking solution can be used to centrally manage and transfer cooking programs, HACCP data can be saved and retrieved by both cooking systems, and they can even be controlled remotely. ConnectedCooking reduces the error rate and ensures a constant standard in food production. Only the loading and unloading has to be done manually.  Lohse concludes, “With iKitchen, business and industry kitchens can work even more successfully than before and respond flexibly to their challenges.”

WIN the Ultimate Chef Hamper Worth £800 to Celebrate the Launch of our New Website!

We’re very proud to be launching our new website after months and months of work to make it the best possible platform for all things hospitality & catering!

Simply browse our site to answer twelve questions (with helpful clues provided) to be in with a chance of winning an amazing hamper, packed full of wonderful prizes from our partners, sponsors and suppliers, including:

• 25cl bottle of Sea Arch
• Richkins mini big boy board made from Welsh beech wood with engraving of the winner’s name or logo, and a cherry wood with resin serving board with engraved logo or name.
• Foie Royale 1 x 80g goose and 1 x 80g duck
• Celltd 125g bag of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee beans
• Chef Works Brio chef apron in a choice of 5 colours
• Santa Maria herb and spice box
• Nutcellars 140g jar of whole macadamia, 170g jar of crunchy nut butter and a 220g jar of smooth nut butter
• Dinner for two with complements from Adande at BRAT, Tomos Parry summer residency at Hackney’s Climpson’s Arch, in association with Super 8 Restaurants.
• Welsh Fine Food Cluster hamper – a selection of the finest Welsh produce from gin to cheese
• A magnum of Champagne, with complements from Meiko
• F.Dick Chefs’ Knife in a presentation box, with complements from Rational
• A whole Scottish salmon, with complements from the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation

Don’t delay, CLICK HERE to enter today! (closing date: Sunday 9th August)

We believe that this website will be your ‘one-stop-shop’ for the latest industry news, job vacancies, menu trends, outstanding produce, market-leading equipment and college connectivity.

Terms & Conditions

The promoter is Red Cherry (Bristol) Ltd t/a The Chefs’ Forum.

The competition is open to hospitality professionals in the United Kingdom aged 18 years or over except employees of Red Cherry (Bristol) Ltd and their close relatives and anyone otherwise connected with the organisation or judging of the competition.

There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this competition.

By entering this competition, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.

Route to entry for the competition and details of how to enter are via www.thechefsforum.co.uk and on social media.

Only one entry will be accepted per person. Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified.

Closing date for entry will be Sunday 9th August 2020. After this date the no further entries to the competition will be permitted.

No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.

The promoter reserves the right to cancel or amend the competition and these terms and conditions without notice in the event of a catastrophe, war, civil or military disturbance, act of God or any actual or anticipated breach of any applicable law or regulation or any other event outside of the promoter’s control. Any changes to the competition will be notified to entrants as soon as possible by the promoter.

The promoter is not responsible for inaccurate prize details supplied to any entrant by any third party connected with this competition. The prize is as follows: The Ultimate Chef Hamper.

The prize is as stated, and no cash or other alternatives will be offered. The prize is not transferable. The Prize is subject to availability and we reserve the right to substitute any prize with another of equivalent value without giving notice.

Winners will be chosen at random by the Promoter.

The winner will be notified by telephone and/or email and/or DM on Twitter/Facebook and/or letter within 28 days of the closing date. If the winner cannot be contacted or do not claim the prize within 14 days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement winner.

The promoter will notify the winner when and where the prize can be collected/is delivered.

The promoter’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

The competition and these terms and conditions will be governed by English law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.

The winner agrees to the use of his/her name and image in any publicity material, as well as their entry. Any personal data relating to the winner or any other entrants will be used solely in accordance with current UK data protection legislation and will not be disclosed to a third party without the entrant’s prior consent.

The winner’s name will be available 28 days after closing date by emailing the following address: catherine@redcherry.uk.com

Entry into the competition will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter or any other Social Network. You are providing your information to Red Cherry (Bristol) Ltd and not to any other party.

Robot Coupe UK is Now Offering a Personalised HD Video Service

Robot Coupe UK is now offering a new additional service alongside its market leading onsite demos.  The need for instant service is now more important than ever.  A service to not only find a solution for the customer more quickly than ever before, but also a service to exceed expectations.

This is why we have been working behind the scenes for many months, to fine tune and bring  our new Personalised HD Video Service to life.

Having a top of the range camera with 10 x zoom, and market leading speaker system, we can allow you, and your customer to get up close to the equipment and produce, from any location of your choice.

All personalised meetings are just that.  Before we make an appointment, one of our Solution Managers and Development Chefs will talk through what is needed, followed by a simple online form, so the customer can easily upload images of the desired product they are trying to achieve.  We will then ensure the produce is on site, ready for the non rushed meeting, and try all options available till we reach the best solution.

Here’s what some of our clients said about the service:

“A big thank you to Jamie for assisting us and pleased to say I’ve bought the Robotcoupe ultra and couldn’t be happier with the service and product. Highly recommend to every busy commercial kitchen.”

“The quality of the video call was excellent, as a participant I could see everything that was being described perfectly. Overall an excellent session.”

To enquire further or to book an appointment, please contact Robot Coupe on 0208 8232 1800.