The Staff Canteen Live 2019 Networking Lunch at Northcote

This month we went to Lisa Goodwin-Allen's Michelin-starred restaurant, Northcote, for our networking lunch, where we were joined by top chefs from in and around Lancashire. 

• Find out more about The Staff Canteen's networking lunches
• Fill in this survey if you'd like to join us and Alex Claridge at our next event at The Wilderness on November 14th

What more do you want on a Monday than a Champagne reception, Lancashire snacks and a four-course menu, wine flight and petits fours? That's what our chef guests and sponsors enjoyed yesterday, plus they walked away with goodie bags - supplied by the event sponsors. 

Chefs 

Attending were Adam Townsley, Bistrot Pierre; Anthony Wright, L20 Restaurant Hugh Baird College; Douglas Crampton, James Martin Manchester; Eddie Kilty, Kilty Hospitality; Emma Shawcross, Taste Cheshire/Royal Academy; James Humphreys, Street Eateries; Mark coulton, Wagon and horses Lancaster; Max Gott, Bistro Forty Six; Mike Kenyon, The London Carriage works, Liverpool; Nick Edgar, The Ryebeck; Matthew Rush, Hotel Gotham and Struan Macintyre, Grantley Hall;

Sponsors

Our headline sponsor was Koppert Cress,  and the event was also supported by Zenith Hygiene, Chef Works, Alaska Seafood and Udale Speciality Foods.

Paul Da-Costa-Greaves,  Koppert Cress country manager, the headline sponsor of the event today, said: We, Koppert Cress have got our fingers in lots of pies and it's really important that we're communicating with the right people. By working closely with The Staff Canteen and the reason that these lunches are really great for us is because they do the work for me - and I mean this in the nicest possible way - because the guys that are there are really important in this industry they play a key part in how the food service work within this industry.

"Being able to communicate with all of them at one event is really important because I think from a chef's perspective, we're all very critical and cynical about a sales person trying to sell them something, so when they can actually see how our products are used as an element, or you're communicating with them at a chef level, then they get an overview of the bigger picture." 

Addressing other suppliers who may see the benefit of bringing their product directly to their customers, he said: "When you look at the return on investment, this element that The Staff Canteen organise, if you factor in your travel, if you factor in going to a trade event of invest in other elements, this is a better networking outcome for the chef. Not only for the supplier, because the supplier has got access to the key people." 

What the chefs said

Speaking about the event, Adam Townsley group executive chef for Bistrot Pierre said: "Today has been about speaking to like-minded people. It's a great opportunity to chew the fat with some more passionate chefs and suppliers." 

"It's been a wonderful day." 

Asked if he would recommend the experience to other chefs, he said: "You have to force yourself to do it. Not because you don't want to but because you always find a reason not to.

"It's really important to put yourself in and amongst these sorts of events, you just take so much from it. There's so much you can take from just a conversation with other people in the industry." 

Meanwhile, Nick Edgar from the Rybeck hotel said that to meet other chefs from the North was great. 

"It's a real band of brothers at the moment, the food scene is changing, so meeting new people."

"Sometimes you can feel very isolated in the kitchen, same four walls, same four chefs or whatever, it's good to know what struggles other hotels and restaurants are facing and talking about how we're going to deal with it, to meet new suppliers and also find out what's going on in different parts of the country."