tom shepherd and his team at Upstairs set the bar high with their fantastic June 2022 networking lunch
We invited chefs from around The Midlands to join us and our sponsors for drinks, tasting menu and a little tour of what's to come at Michelin-starred Upstairs.
Ingredients throughout the menu, as well as the wine pairings, were provided by some of the events' sponsors.
On Arrival
Nyetimber Classic Cuvee 2010
Snacks
Crab Croustade
Home-cured Charcuterie
Red cabbage gazpacho
Parker house roll
Scallop Satay
Nyetimber Tillington 2014
Atlantic cod, Mara Seaweed,
champagne
Nyetimber 1086 Prestige Cuvee 2010
Herdwick Lamb from Udale,
goats curd, polenta
2020 Bourgogne Rouge 'La Taupe'
Chavy Chouet
Thai Curry
Strawberry, white chocolate, marigold Nyetimber Cuvee Chérie MV
Chefs
Attending were chef-owner, Allan Blewitt from Patty Freaks; head chef, Adam Maddock from The Elms; executive chef, D'Arcy Morgan from Stanbrook Abbey; head chef, Gareth Bartram from Winteringham Fields; head chef, Nigel Parnaby, New Hall Hotel; chef-owner, Zach Leake from Zach Leake Catering; head chef, David Taylor from Grace and Savour; chef-owner, Paul Evans, The Season Kitchen; chef-owner, Adrian Luck from The Land Restaurant; sous chef, Ryan Swift from Mallory Court; chef manager, Stewart Mackie, Morrisons Market Kitchen; yacht chef, Shane Moyne; chef-owner, Stuart Collins from Dockett No.33 and private chef Yasmine Celiene.
Sponsors
Supporting the event were Udale Speciality Foods; ChefWorks; Mara Seaweed and Nyetimber.
What the guests said
All of our chefs agreed that they would recommend the networking lunches to all chefs and Gareth Bartram from Winteringham Fields said: "To have the opportunity to come to a restaurant like this, and meet all of these amazing chefs in the industry has been fantastic."
On suppliers he said: "The restaurant gets really busy so you can't always sit down with suppliers for as long as you'd like so, to come away from my own restaurant and sit down with suppliers and have a good chat has been really good.
"It's great seeing what Tom and the team have done with the ingredients from suppliers today, as it may be something I can be using myself."
Stuart Collins from Dockett No.33, added: "To have the suppliers here, particularly the more complex suppliers for example seaweed - for me that's not something I would want to get from a rep for a generic company. It's a very specialised and niche ingredient, so to be able to sit with the key supplier is invaluable.
"Business for me is still personal, I'm not one to just go to one big supplier and get everything I need, it's a lot easier and a lot better when you know the individual."
Arnie Sathiy from Mara Seaweed which featured on today's menu, said: "I think the lunches are incredibly beneficial to us as a business. We only sent the sample to Tom Shepherd ten days ago, so to get a phone call from him saying these products are great and for him to use it on two courses, was wonderful. There's a chef with little knowledge of us as a business, and to put us straight on the menu is fantastic."
Jason Myers from Udale Speciality Foods, said the lunches 'are an incredible event'.
"I get to meet and talk to chefs from different restaurants who I've never met before. To sit down eating the products we supply, having a few glasses of wine with them, it's the perfect introduction."
