Award-winning chef Kristian Curtis announces the launch of his The Table pop-up events

Award-winning chef Kristian Curtis has announced the launch of his new The Table pop-ups, set to take place in the Warwickshire area from 1 March.

The evenings will act as a foundation for Kristian and his The Table venture to open a restaurant in the future on the back of these events.

Speaking to The Staff Canteen about what guests can expect from his pop-ups, Kristian said: "Categorising my cooking is quite tricky but it’s basically modern British cooking. We’re not bothered by food trends as such, it's not like a tasting menu, where we've got like two or three really strong dishes, we like to plan the menu where every course is a hit so that it's a memorable experience throughout."

After spending 12 years in the hospitality industry and picking up numerous awards including; BCF Young Chef of the Year 2011, a finalist in the Craft Guild Young Chef of the Year, Best Commis Chef at the Bocuse d’Or 2013, and a whole host of others, Kristian decided to refocus his career so that he can spend more time with his family and his two-year-old son.

Looking for a development role, Kristian joined de Banke Group where he was tasked to provide Michelin quality to food to the company’s staff, thanks to the CEO’s passion for food and fine dining.

"This job came up and it was technically Monday to Friday, nine to five, build your own kitchen, cook whatever you want, and it turned out to be really cool. I don't have a budget in what I do - it's literally a chef's playroom," he explained.

After impressing the company’s staff it wasn’t long before Kristian and his boss had conversations about offering his food out to the wider public thus launching The Table pop-up events.

"Before Covid we were looking at doing what we're doing now with the popups but Covid hit and it put back our plans for about two years in total," explained Kristian.

With a kitchen team of three, Kristian’s first pop-up is due to launch next week, with The Table’s first events taking place on the 1 March, 2 March and 3 March.

Eager to not give too much away Kristian explained that guests can expect a range of high quality ingredients, including freshly caught fish from the day before, ensuring diners experience a proper taste of what to expect from The Table moving forwards.

Describing The Table’s principles, Kristian said: "I like to cook food that's fun, interesting, and tasty at the end of the day. It's all about using really good ingredients, we're lucky to have a big range of suppliers and I like to think if we treat the suppliers well, they'll supply us with great ingredients. So, it's using really top-notch ingredients and not complicating it too much. It's all about letting the food stand out."

Explaining how important high ingredients are to his cooking, Kristian added: "I use a fish supplier down in Cornwall. It's a little family run business called Kernowsashimi Limited, and they've got about four boats that go out. I could call them today and they could tell me they're really sorry there's nothing and then tomorrow they've got five kilos of seabass, monkfish and all this sort of stuff, and it sort of determines what we cook rather than me saying I would like this and whatever."

"It's about giving that experience to the customer as well because if you're using these incredible ingredients it tells on the plate and then it tells from the people eating it's a much more enjoyable experience definitely," he revealed.

Feature photo ‘Kcurtis’ credited and property of Simon de Banke