Top Chefs Cook at The Chefs’ Forum Autumn Lunch at The Manor House in aid of Hospitality Action

The Chefs’ Forum held its third Annual Autumn Lunch for sixty guests.  The sell-out event showcasing top southwest chefs generated over £5000 for Industry Charity, Hospitality Action and took place at The Manor House Hotel on the 13th October 2014.

Michelin-Starred Richard Davies, Executive Chef of The Manor House Hotel hosted the event which never saw so many great chefs on the pass!  He cooked with five peers, each with a combination of Michelin stars, TV appearances and industry accreditations to raise money for the industry benevolent charity, Hospitality Action.  Each chef expertly cooked one of six courses to showcase the best cooking that the South West has to offer. The chefs who took part were:

Richard Davies (The Manor House Hotel), Sam Moody (The Bath Priory), Jon Howe (Lumière), Emily Watkins (The Kingham Plough),  Hywel Jones (Lucknam Park) and James Durrant (The Plough Inn at Longparish).

Host Richard Davies said: “This year’s autumn lunch was an amazing experience – It was a real privilege to work with such talented chefs from across the South West and a fabulous opportunity for my team to work with them in our kitchen at The Manor House Hotel. The lunch sold out and raised over £5000 for our industry charity, Hospitality Action, we are delighted with this!”

A silent sealed bid auction made up of luxury dinners and stays donated by each the chefs taking part and a Nyetimber sponsored raffle helped to boost monies raised making this the most gainful Autumn Lunch yet:  Chefs’ Forum sponsors including Princesse d’Isenbourg, Total Produce, Forest Produce Walter Rose & Son, Cacao Barry and Peller Ice Wine all donated ingredients driving down the food cost, making the most money possible for the charity.

Richard Davies also heads up the Bath & Cotswolds chapter of The Chefs’ Forum with Sam Moody (The Bath Priory) and Bridget Halford of City of Bath College.  These two Michelin-starred chefs often give up their time to work and mentor hospitality students at the College enabling them to learn from the best.

Ken Crosland (Alcohol & Drug Consultant) from Hospitality Action gave a speech about the fabulous work the charity does in helping chefs overcome problems with stress, debt, drug and alcohol issues.

Ken commented: “The work we do is vital in offering support to hospitality people when they fall on hard times.  It is great that The Chefs Forum is helping to raise our profile and highlight the work we do, this money will go towards helping those in need”.

At the lunch, hospitality and catering students from South West colleges got the opportunity to sample the best in Michelin-starred dining, most of them, for the very first time. All students who attended were chosen for outstanding performance on their hospitality courses.

Catherine Farinha, event organiser, Chefs’ Forum Founder and Hospitality Action, South West Regional Board Member stated: “The Chefs’ Forum is now a South UK-Wide concern. It was great to have hospitality students and teaching staff from all regions present at the event.  This lunch represented everything The Chefs’ Forum has become and we are so grateful to the chefs and sponsors for their involvement in this charity event for such a worthy cause for which I sit on the South West board. This lunch was a fabulous chance for current and future chefs and front of house professionals to witness first-hand , industry-leading cookery and service!”

Photography by Katinka Herbert: www.katinkaphotography.com