The Staff Canteen Live 2024: Networking lunch at La Dame de Pic

We held our final networking lunch of 2024 on Monday, November 18, at two Michelin-starred La Dame de Pic in London.

The restaurant’s head chef Evens López hosted the event at the Four Seasons Hotel, preparing the meal with his talented team.

THE GUESTS

Today at La Dame de Pic, we welcomed 17 chefs for the lunch.

Dominic South, executive chef, The Nici
Robert Taylor, chef owner, Tallow
Neal Chainey, chef owner, FOUND
Sarah Hayward, head chef, The Coach
Karl Pearce, executive chef, Marylebone Cricket Club
Ivan Tisdall-Downes, executive chef, Native
Taz Sarhane, head chef, Cycene
Marty Lau, head chef, The Araki
Andreas Engberg, executive chef, The House of KOKO
Nitin Pawar, executive chef, St Michael’s Manor Hotel
Tom Scade, executive chef, The Vineyard
Elliot Miller, head chef, Cabotte
Matyas Rigo, head chef, Beaverbrook Estate
Ricki Weston, executive chef, Whatley Manor
Richard Collins, head of food, The London Kitchen
Roger Olsson, executive chef, Raffles at the OWO
Liam Whittle, freelance development chef

Robert Taylor, chef owner of Tallow in Tunbridge Wells, said: “It’s been phenomenal. The food is just layers upon layers of flavour, and the skill, you can see every element of the dish has just been carefully thought about. It’s a beautiful space.”

Discussing the chance to speak to potential suppliers in person, Robert added: “I think it’s great. A lot of them are not necessarily here to talk business. You meet them on the level, as people first. Then obviously you speak to them probably again afterwards.

“You go away from here and even if you weren’t into something particular at that point, when that crops up, you’ll go back to those people, because you know them and hopefully they’ll work with you on a personal level.”

Attending her first networking lunch was Sarah Hayward, head chef at Tom Kerridge’s The Coach in Marlow.

She said: “Today has been about having some incredible food, incredible wine and meeting a lot of new people and learning about different aspects of the industry you should probably pay a bit more attention to.

“I think it makes you a lot more likely (to work with suppliers) because you’ve heard their story, you’ve heard the passion they’ve got and for me, an email is never as personal.

“We’ve had some incredible conversations today about products and people and you hear their story and that’s really important.”

THE SPONSORS

A special thanks to our eight sponsors today – Bonemasters, Studio William Cutlery, Chef Works, Petrossian Caviar, Williams Refrigeration, Winterhalter, Udale and Sybron.

Tim Lee, commercial director of Chef Works Bragard Europe, picked out the scallops as his dish of the day and was pleased to get the chance to speak with a host of talented chefs in one room.

He said: “I’ve heard really good things about the event. It’s a great way of bringing the right people together in the right environment and it’s a very relaxed environment.

“To be able to see so many great influential people in the industry relevant to my business in such a short period of time has been fantastic.

“The industry has changed hugely and in the way that you reach out and build new relationships can be very difficult. People have a lot less time to be sat behind digital devices just searching messages. If ever you’re going to build a business relationship which is going to be longstanding, it’s going to be done in the right way, nothing has changed. People buy from people, people work with people and that’s exactly what we’ve done today and it’s been great.”

THE MENU

ORKNEY SCALLOP

cured with nori and kombu, served with radish ribbons, yuzu and sake

Muros Antigos Loureiro Anselmo Mendes Portugal 2021

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THE ROOTS

Jerusalem artichoke, parsnip, salsify perfumed with cacao, tonka and coffee sabayon

Manzanilla Fina Miraflores Baja Bodegas De La Riva Andalucia Spain

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WILD SEABASS AND PETROSSIAN CAVIAR

‘The way my father loved it’

Jacques Pic’s signature since 1971

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard Bourgogne Aligote Burgundy France 2023

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HEREFORD BEEF RIBEYE FROM UDALE

marinated with smoked vanilla and black garlic, marigold and whiskey bearnaise, bitter leaves, using Bonemasters stock

Domaine Segla, Margaux, Bordeaux, France 2007

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WHITE MILLEFEUILLE

Tahitian vanilla jasmine jelly, Voatsiperifery pepper cloud