The Staff Canteen Live 2018 Networking Lunch at The Gannet

This month, The Staff Canteen Live Networking Lunch was held at The Gannet.

• Read more about The Staff Canteen Live Networking Lunches
• See the latest recipes from all member accounts 
• The next The Staff Canteen Live Networking Lunch will be at Roux at Parliament Square in London on Monday, October 8. 

In the first of our third series of TSCLive Networking Lunches, chefs and sponsors enjoyed a five-course meal with matching wines plus snacks from chef Peter McKenna and his team.

Chefs

Chefs in attendance were: Jamie Scott, The Newport; Owen Morrice, No1 The Grange; Duncan Scott, Brandon's of Canonmils; Rory Lovie, Bridgeview Station; Craig Millar, 16 West End; Jonnie Cook, Chop House, Leith; Garry Watson, Gordons Restaurant; John McMahon, Prestonfield; Calum Montgomery, Edinbane Lodge; Scott Smith, Fhior; Sean Currie, Number 16; Robert Montgomery, G1 Group and Helen Vass, Dulce.

The menu at The Gannet

Upon arrival, guests enjoyed Pommery champagne, with snacks of pigs head and quail egg, cured halibut and chicken liver and skin.

As with all our lunches the chefs and sponsors then took a look around Peter's kitchen before sitting down to lunch.

The five-course tasting menu was paired with wine and included a starter of pickled herring, horseradish, cucumber, buttermilk and garnished with Koppert Cress oyster leaf. We were also treated to Norwegian frozen at sea cod and Scotch Lamb.

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

Pastry Chef Helen Vass owns her own business, Dulce, and she said: "For me it has been a great day and I've also met people who I've often spoken to on social media but never met face to face. It's nice to meet new chefs and catch up with old colleagues I've worked with and met along the way.

"It's not just fulfilled my expectations, but it has surpassed them."

On meeting the suppliers she added: "Cold calling doesn’t have the same effect as sitting down and having a chat. It was great to talk to suppliers from other sectors not just pastry, but a pastry sponsor would also have been nice!"

Jamie Scott, former MasterChef: The Professionals winner and chef owner of The Newport said: "It's great to have so many chefs in the same room and chat about ideas, how the business is going and share our thoughts and processes on what we are doing. I also enjoyed meeting the suppliers, trying their products as part of the dishes on the menu and talk to them about what they are doing and how they can help push the hospitality industry forward."

He added: "It's very easy to forget about Scotland when you have chefs in London and chefs in the North East of England doing so well at the moment too. I feel the guides tend to ignore Scotland a little bit so to make sure Scotland is relevant, there are some amazing chefs in this room alone today, it is very important, and it is good to see Scotland included in The Staff Canteen lunches."

One of our sponsors was Quality Meat Scotland and they provided the Scotch Lamb for the meat dish, Claire Higgs who is the PR Manager at QMS said: "It's been fantastic coming along today and meeting a whole host of Scottish chefs, who are so passionate about food and local produce. It's lovely that the lunch offers you some dedicated time to speak to people face to face and this allows you to forge a relationship - this is sometimes difficult to do when chefs are so busy.

"And it was great to showcase our lamb and the chef did a brilliant job it was delicious."

The lunch was sponsored by Quality Meat Scotland, Fresh Montgomery for Scot Hot 2019, ChefWorks UK and Ireland, Seafood from Norway,  Champagne Pommery, Koppert Cress