Sent To Jail

The cream of Cornish chef talent spent the day in jail on Monday 13th November, but it was all in a good cause! The Chefs’ Knowledge Launch tour reached Bodmin to celebrate everything Cornwall with the location being the Bodmin Jail Hotel.

Welcome drinks by Chefs’ Forum Sponsors Brown Brothers Winery (Australia) and Forbishers Juices (Exeter) were offered to guests including chefs, restaurateurs, suppliers and key hospitality professionals from the Southwest followed by the main attraction – a four course lunch.

The Chefs’ Forum gathered together four top chefs from Cornwall (all very smartly-dressed in Chef Works jackets) to work the kitchens and delight the guests – and they did just that, according to Chefs’ Forum Director Catherine Farinha:

“We love coming to Cornwall. There is such a diversity of talent and scrumptious ingredients like Aussie Wagyu from Meat & Livestock Australia, TRUEfoods stock and the finest fresh produce from Dole Foodservice – It’s hard not to have a good time. And it was such fun to come to the Bodmin Jail Hotel. It’s such a cool and breath-taking location, fitted-out to the highest standard and the chefs put on a delicious feast for us.”

The top chefs on show were Gavin Edney from The Headland Hotel, Bruce Rennie from The Shore Restaurant, Dane Watkins from Bodmin Jail Hotel and Darryl Collins from Mullion Cove Hotel with Denis Drame MCA from Classic Fine Foods.

“The Chefs’ Forum always put on a show-stopping event,” said Dane Watkins from Bodmin Jail Hotel. “Today was no exception. It was a pleasure for us to play host and we had a fine lunch and it was great to see so many friends and professionals having a great time. It was also an introduction to us of The Chefs’ Knowledge and we can’t wait to start dipping into this treasure-trove of information.”

The lunch in full:

Starter – Gavin Edney (The Headland Hotel)
Agnolotti of caramelised artichoke, woodland mushrooms, Cornish Gouda and truffle

Fish course – Bruce Rennie (The Shore Restaurant)
Cornish Hake, squash, oyster mushrooms and nasturtium

Main course – Dane Watkins (Bodmin Jail Hotel)
Aussie beef fillet, smoked brisket cottage pie, heritage carrot and sprout

Dessert – Darryl Collins (Mullion Cove Hotel) & Denis Drame MCA (Classic Fine Foods)
Lemon meringue tart

Julio De Carvalho, General Manager at Bodmin Jail loved hosting his industry peers, he said

“It is fantastic to have such a high level of hospitality and catering expertise in one room, the energy is electric and its wonderful to showcase our venue.  I believe it is crucial to support each other in the current climate, and this iconic industry event did just that, I’m really looking forward to the next one!”

Steve Snow, Managing Director of MCS Technical Products, a headline sponsor of the event said

“It was great to meet all the Cornish Chefs and showcase CookTek Induction.  The chefs showed a great del of interest and it was fantastic to meet Gavin Edney from The Headland Hotel in person to thank him for his recent testimonial on our market-leading FlashGRILL.  I really enjoy networking with the chefs and also other sponsors including UK pottery stalwart, Wedgwood who supplied eye-catching Renaissance bone china plates for the main course by Dane Watkins of Bodmin Jail, this really works for everyone who attends, from a brand profile-raising perspective and the sheer enthusiasm from everyone who attended.”

All sponsors are hand-picked and vetted/endorsed by our Patrons and Chef Members  for being the very best in the business and we would very-much welcome applications from hospitality-targeted brands who would like to work with us, for more information, please contact catherine@redcherry.uk.com

Film & photography by Carlos Farinha