The Staff Canteen Awards 2020 celebration lunch at Carters of Moseley

Today, we were delighted to host our first TSC Awards celebration lunch at Carters of Moseley in Birmingham.

Brad Carter and his Michelin-starred team welcomed the recipients of each of the awards with a show-stopping menu: 

Award winners

Lockdown Community hero,Charlie D'Lima, chef @ Paul Ainsworth at No. 6; KP of the Year, Salvatore 'Salvo' Forcisi of The Art School Restaurant, Liverpool; creator of the best Seasonal and Sustainable dish, Liam Cocken, sous-chef de cuisine at La Popote in Cheshire; Social media influencer,  Poppy O'Toole and Chef of the year Peter McKenna. the owner of acclaimed Glasgow restaurant, The Gannet.

Our One to Watch, Sean Wrest, sous-chef at Roots, York, was sadly unable to join us, but we raised a glass to celebrate his success as with everyone else's.

Sponsors

Sponsoring the awards and today's event were headliner Koppert Cress, as well as Meiko, Major International, Rational, Bord Bia, Gusbourne and WPA.

What the guests had to say

Poppy O'Toole, winner of the social media influencer award, said: "It was fantastic, thank you very much."

"Considering it's been a year in which nobody has been able to socialise, it's actually really lovely to just get out of the house, chat to people and be involved in what everyone else is doing in the country." 

"There's people from Portsmouth, Edinburgh, all over the UK, and it's been really good to see how they've been doing and what's been going on." 

A fan of the audience-voting approach to the awards, she said, "it's people within the industry that you're working for every hour of your life and you put all of your dedication, passion and your life into it, and they're appreciating it." 

"It means more than some random person who you don't know if they've tasted your food before. It means more that someone who you've worked for, or with, to say 'he/she should be nominated.'" 

"That's what happened to me, and I can't be more grateful for it." 

"Even though I have a following on social media, it's having that recognition for it from people in the industry, because that has been my whole career." 

Thanking everyone who voted for her last year, she said: "You should nominate and vote for someone in this category, because it does mean a lot." 

"It's been a decade of me being in professional kitchens and even then I laughed at people for doing it on social media - but actually, it's a lot of work."

As for the gold mug she and the remaining category winners received, she said, "I am going to guard it like my own child." 

Peter McKenna, our Chef of the Year 2020, said the event was "absolutely incredible." 

"Up in Glasgow, you don't expect to be celebrated with the best and the greatest in the industry."

"To be around here, surrounded by happy faces, lots of incredible chefs, restaurateurs and industry people, it's a highlight of my career." 

"I haven't got out of Glasgow in over a year and a half," he said, "so to get down here to Birmingham to hang out with Mark, Cara and all The Staff Canteen family amongst chefs and industry folk, it's brilliant. There isn't anywhere I'd prefer to be right now." 

"Everybody should get involved. If you've anybody that you think should be celebrated - whether it's chef of the year, whether it's commis chef of the year, get involved."

"It's so special, because it wasn't by a panel of judges, this was voted by the public, this was voted by people, the people of Glasgow and the people of Monaghan in Ireland, and that's the only reason I won. That's very special." 

Daniel Wade of WPA Healthcare said the company's involvement in the awards "has been brilliant.

"The attraction to our business has been brilliant, the event today has been amazing and it's a great thing for the industry to celebrate what has been a very tough year." 

Looking forward to the live event in 2021, he said: "hospitality is all about face-to-face, getting to know people, getting to meet people." 

That having been said, he added, "even with the restrictions, online, it's still been a brilliant event, so congratulations from The Staff Canteen."