The Staff Canteen Live 2018 Networking Lunch at Roux at Parliament Square

This month, The Staff Canteen Live Networking Lunch was held at Roux at Parliament Square.

• Read more about The Staff Canteen Live Networking Lunches
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• The next The Staff Canteen Live Networking Lunch will be at The Pony & Trap in Bristol on Monday, November 12. Register your interest for the event here.

In the second lunch of this series of TSC Live events, chefs and sponsors enjoyed a four-course meal with matching wines from chef Steve Groves and his team.

Chefs

Chefs in attendance were: Matt Price, head chef, The Vineyard; Charlie Tayler, sous chef, Alyn Williams at The Westbury; Jamie Halsall, head chef, Cin Cin; Tom Buckwell, executive chef, The Fox; Thomas Moore, senior sous chef, The Lansdowne Club; Glenn Evans, head of food development, Las Iguanas; Tom Duffill, executive chef, Rocket Food; Sanjay Dwivedi, executive chef, Coya; Kevin Kindland, head chef, Weetwood Hall Estate; Robert Taylor, chef owner, The Compasses Inn; Scott Judson, sous chef, Tom Brown’s Brasserie; Joseph Fallowfield, head chef, Housel Bay; Stefan Sewell, defence chef instructor, RAF; Loic Carbonnet, head pastry chef, Corinthia London; Nicolas Losset, senior sous chef, The Bell Inn Horndon and Graham Ogden, group executive chef, Chartwells Independent.

The menu at Roux at Parliament Square

Upon arrival, guests enjoyed drinks and canapes of tuna tartare and lamb croquettes. The chefs and sponsors were then invited for a tour of the kitchen, before sitting down to lunch in the private dining room at Roux at Parliament Square.

Steve had put together a four-course tasting menu including a delicious Fjord trout from Seafood from Norway, served with fregola, shellfish and seaweed sauce. Many guests also enjoyed the main course: Salt aged Creedy Carver duck (supplied by Udale) with pickled greengage and parsnip.

What the chefs and sponsors had to say about The Staff Canteen Live networking lunch at Roux at Parliament Square

The headline sponsor for this month’s event were Chef Works UK and Ireland. Marketing Manager Emma Cohen said: "What a treat to network with such a great group of accomplished chefs, hosted by chef Steve Groves, Roux at Parliament Square. In such a relaxed environment, it allows me to get direct feedback and understand what chefs are looking for in terms of uniforms. Thanks to The Staff Canteen for putting this together!"

A new sponsor were meat suppliers, Udale Speciality Foods. Co-owner Ian Udale said: "It was the first event that I've attended, so my first impressions were: obviously a great venue, very informal relaxed atmosphere. It was a good format too - just the right number of chefs. I like the idea of moving around the table between courses so that you got a chance to speak to everyone."

He added: "It also gave us the chance for a top chef to showcase our duck. It helped that Steve knows our products. On the basis of yesterday, I would recommend the networking event to chefs and suppliers."

Glenn Evans, head of food development at casual dining restaurant, Las Iguanas said: "It was a fantastic opportunity to meet and share info with influential chefs from different sectors of the industry, as well as meet new suppliers and see their innovative new products bought to life by the restaurant hosts."

Robert Taylor, chef owner of The Compasses Inn was in agreement - he said: "This is the first The Staff Canteen event that I have attended and it was such a treat - amazing food and really good wines. It was fantastic to be able to sit and talk to the suppliers/producers of the produce we ate too." 

Joseph Fallowfield, head chef at Housel Bay was also pleased with attending the event. He said: "As a professional chef there are very few opportunities to take a step back and evaluate, especially alongside other chefs. The Staff Canteen Networking Lunch provides an incredibly useful platform to meet other chefs, suppliers and leading professionals in the industry. It also provides an environment where concepts can be discussed and developed."

The lunch was sponsored by ChefWorks UK and Ireland, Seafood from Norway, Koppert Cress and Udale Speciality Foods.