The last day of The Staff Canteen Live 2017 at the Great Hospitality Show saw the final four chefs wow the crowds with Easter eggs, turbot, scallops and a live crab!
On today’s line-up were Julie Sharp from Callebaut, Hywel Jones from Lucknam Park, Shay Cooper from The Goring and on his home turf, Michelin-starred Birmingham chef Brad Carter from Carters of Moseley.
All of the chefs were helped both on and back stage by students from UCB Birmingham College and senior chef lecturer at the college, Adam Pickett said: “I think first and foremost it’s great for the students to be exposed to the industry and to have the opportunity to work with high end, top quality chefs.
“The students could put into practise what they are learning as they were not just stood watching they were working side by side with the chefs.”
Hywel Jones from Michelin-starred Lucknam Park filleted a turbot live for his turbot, iberico croquette, melted leeks, Jerusalem artichoke, lemon thyme and hazelnut dish.
He said: “The Staff Canteen Live was an amazing experience as always, an enthusiastic crowd and just a great buzz about the place. It’s nice when the audience gets involved.
“Events like this are hugely important, it creates a link between colleges and professional chefs. It’s a great experience for the students working with us but it’s also very rewarding for us a s chefs as well.”
Closing the show was Brad Carter from Carters of Moseley, despite doing lunch service at his Birmingham restaurant he was still on stage for 2pm and very enthusiastic about his Orkney scallop with kale land and sea dish.
“The Staff Canteen Live is really good for the industry,” explained Brad. “It’s great exposure for the chefs and you can reach out to a lot more people.”
He added: “I love working with young people so having the students up on stage is key to growing the industry, getting people passionate about food and getting them to take some risks. We need more passionate, young chefs!”
The Staff Canteen Live was sponsored by Westlands but our other sponsors included Chef Works, Callebaut, Hoshizaki, Wild Atlantic Prawns, rexmartins ltd, Eco Pure Waters, Pommery Champagne, Clifton Food Range and Induced Energy.
Emma Cohen from Chef Works said: “It’s just great to be involved with chefs and being a part of a live event offers so much interaction. It catches people’s attention and it’s lovely to be involved with The Staff Canteen Live and the huge live stream audience.”
All of our chef demos were live streamed across Facebook, YouTube and Instagram which meant we reached thousands of people who couldn’t make it to the show. If you missed any of them they are still available to watch.
Toby Wand, Managing Director of Fresh Montgomery who organise the Great Hospitality Show and other trade shows, said: “The addition of The Staff Canteen Live for a second time has added a huge amount of excitement to what we do. Obviously we have a lot of chefs here but the demos show a lot of purpose in terms of showing the sizzle of what chefs can do, pushing the boundaries of recipes and showcasing the class of their work. The Staff Canteen Live is the celebratory end of the market and it explains what is really new in cooking.”
