Daniel Watkins, executive chef, Holy Carrot: 'We're writing our own rules'
The Staff Canteen Live 2025: FOH networking lunch at Holy Carrot
+6 This week, we held our first front of house networking lunch of 2025, at holy carrot in London on Monday, March 3.
+6
The food was prepared by executive chef Daniel Watkins, while guests were also treated to a kitchen tour at the Notting Hill venue, which focuses on vegetable-led dishes.
The Staff Canteen launched chef networking lunches in 2016, incorporating front of house events from 2020, which are now run once every quarter.
The guest list:
Today at Holy Carrot, we welcomed 17 front of house industry professionals.
William Stoyle, general manager, Silo
Sean Cooper, restaurant manager, The Fat Duck
Adrian Buznean, restaurant manager, Brook’s Club
Grace Yates, general manager/owner, Bowley’s Restaurant
Chris Scanlan, assistant restaurant manager, Etch. By Steven Edwards
Samuel Holding, assistant restaurant manager, Legacy at The Grand York
Anna Taylor-Hunt, Front of house and sommelier, Apricity
Fabio Lega, general manager, Six Portland Road
Matthew Allen, restaurant manager, Notto Pasta Bar Piccadilly
Marina Brook, restaurant manager, Woven by Adam Smith
Marion Pepin, restaurant director, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester
Silvia Ampuero, project manager, BaxterStorey
Elisa Marchini, head sommelier, Muse by Tom Atkins
Kitty-Morgan Smith, assistant manager, The Fig Tree Restaurant
Julie Doumer, general manager, Voyage with Adam Simmonds
Olivia Campbell, restaurant manager, The Drawing Room and Pillar Kitchen at Raffles London
Miles Khan, head of fermentation and beverage, Cycene
+6
Sean Cooper, restaurant manager at The Fat Duck, said: "It's been wonderful, the sun has been shining some lovely wine has been poured and some lovely food consumed so not a bad way to spend a Monday."
Marina Brook, restaurant manager, Woven by Adam Smith, added: "Today has been about meeting like-minded individuals, suppliers and just having a good time and trying some great food."
When asked about her favourite dish from the event, she said: "The bread with Marmite, I hate Marmite so that is a compliment to the chef!"
+6
The sponsors
A special thanks to our seven sponsors today – Nyetimber, Sevenrooms, Lightspeed, Hoshizaki, Hit Training, Wedgwood Hospitality and Chefworks.
Laura Cook, national account manager for Wedgwood Hospitality, said: "This event has been about networking with like-minded people in the industry and getting our name out there in the industry.
"I think today has been really beneficial, from a brand perspective, people assume that Wedgwood is going to be astronomically priced, so a setting like this allows us to talk about it more casually, we've planted that seed in their minds to follow it up over a coffee or something."
Jamie Morton, sales manager at Sevenrooms, added: "Today has been about getting a pulse on the industry.
"There were two three-Michelin-star venues here today, but it's also about getting in front of venues we don't always speak to, getting them into the mix, which was amazing."
+6
THE MENU
The meal began with a wine tasting courtesy of Nyetimber.
For wine tasting and drinking:
Nyetimber Blanc de Blanc 2016
Nyetimber Rose MV
Nyetimber Cuvee Chèrie Demi Sec MV
--------------------------------------
Canapés
Pickle Gildas
Little cabbage Dolmas
Smoked chewy carrots
Nyetimber Classic Cuvee 2010
--------------------------------------
Koji flat bread
Marmite butter
--------------------------------------
Stracciatella rhubarb | Bitter Leaves | Nahm Jim
--------------------------------------
Coal Roast Leeks | Corn | Almond | Aji Chili
--------------------------------------
Grilled Miatake | koji mole | Almond tacos
---------------------------------------
Poached pear
Soft serve Coffee kombucha | Hazelnut
+6
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.
Support Us
CONTRIBUTE
The Staff Canteen Live 2025: FOH networking lunch at Holy Carrot
There are no comments yet.
You could be commenting on this if you had an account! Click here to sign up.