In association with

We’ve taken The Staff Canteen Live 2015 to The Hospitality Show at NEC Birmingham and we’ve brought some of the finest names in the industry with us including National Chef of the Year winner Russell Bateman.

>>> All you need to know about Russell Bateman here

The final day of The Staff Canteen Live at The Hospitality Show was brought to a show stopping end by National Chef of the Year, Russell Bateman and Benoit Blin, chef patissier at Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons.

Russell Bateman, The Staff Canteen Live — Russell Bateman

Opening the show, Russell entertained the crowd as he cooked a hand dived scallop dish, sharing his own preferred technique for opening the shellfish and how to use a pressure cooker to get maximum flavour out of his dashi.

The head chef at Colette’s said: "It was a great audience today with a real range of ages. I asked the schoolchildren if they had eaten some of the ingredients like celeriac and they said no - so it was interesting for them to get the chance to taste something different.

"I'm not one of those chefs who goes into the restaurant so doing a show takes that kitchen door away, people can see me and what I'm about."

He added: "I chose the scallop dish because it represents what we do at the restaurant - fresh ingredients which we keep simple and treat with respect."

Benoit provided The Staff Canteen finale, making a citrus dish which he described as a 'lemon tart, broken down and a little bit of fun added to it to jazz it up.' "It's always nice to share a bit of our knowledge," he explained. "The main reason I wanted to come today was to inspire the next generation. It's an opportunity to show different aspects of our work and it's great fun to see peoples reactions when they taste the finished dish."

Benoit Blin, The Staff Canteen Live — Caption

He added: "There are so many little techniques to go through in just 20 minutes so there is a bit of pressure especially when you are not in your own kitchen, but you make it work."

All of the chefs were live streamed on our YouTube channel so if you didn't make it to The Hospitality Show join our YouTube channel where videos of all the chefs will be uploaded in the coming weeks.

In these challenging times…

The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.

Over the last 16 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 560,000 followers across Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.

A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.

Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.