Top Culinary Names Cook Up Excitement for Show Visitors

Stars of the culinary world, including celebratory chefs and a leading restaurant manager will be serving up stimulating and informative sessions at Hotelympia.

The many culinary highlights on The Stage include:

• Raymond Blanc is interviewed on the Hotelympia Stage by Mark Lewis, group editor of Caterer & Hotelkeeper (Monday 10.30-11.00)


• Learn what goes on in the kitchen of Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck with executive chef, Ashley Palmer-Watts (Monday 16.00-16.45)


• Jason Atherton presents the Innovation Awards (Monday 17.00-17.15)


• Georgio Locatelli talks about The Clink – an initiative to train prisoners in the art of cooking -on The Stage (Monday 11.00-11.45)

In addition, a must-see feature is The Skillery, staged in association with the Craft Guild of Chefs, which will once again showcase the skills of a number of well-known chefs including Francesco Mazzei, Sophie Wright, Christopher Basten, Steve Love, Henry Brosi and Steve Munkley.

Another major attraction for chefs is Salon Culinaire which presents the semi-finals of two global competitions.

The Global Chefs Challenge and the Hans Bueschkens Trophy in conjunction with WACS (World Association of Chefs’ Societies).

 Salon Display will run through both halls at Hotelympia, giving visitors to all aspects of the show the opportunity to take in the breathtaking exhibits. New additions include: Contract Caterers Challenge, sponsored by Elior UK, open to chefs who are foodservice providers only must produce and present four main courses – two suitable for a staff restaurant and two enhanced for fine dining.

 La Parade de Chefs, the renowned fine dining experience at the heart of Hotelympia is always a big attraction. The unique cooking challenge is being staged in two 100-cover fine dining restaurants where 10 teams, including chefs from the House of Commons, Claridge’s, London and the Irish National Culinary Team, will take turns preparing three-course menus during the show. The experience is run under competition rules and places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Meals at La Parade des Chefs have a set price of £34 (including a £2 discretionary fee donated to the industry charity, Hospitality Action).

Toby Wand, Group Exhibition Director at Fresh Montgomery, said:  “It promises to be a must-visit event for chefs who want to stay in touch with what is happening in the business and find out the views of leading figures across a range of disciplines.”

For further information and to register for free please see www.hotelympia.com and follow us on Twitter for everything Hotelympia www.twitter.com/hotelympia