Chef Sally Abé to host star line-up to celebrate International Women’s Day on Tuesday 8th March at The Pem

Sally Abé

Sally Abé

Head Chef 7th February 2022
Sally Abé

Sally Abé

Head Chef

Chef Sally Abé to host star line-up to celebrate International Women’s Day on Tuesday 8th March at The Pem

Chef Sally Abé has announced a line-up of superstar female talent spanning the breadth of hospitality as part of a panel and lunch event celebrating International Women’s Day, on Tuesday 8th March at The Pem, in partnership with OpenTable. 


Alongside providing discounted tickets for under-25s, Sally and Conrad London St. James will also be gifting a number of tickets to hospitality and catering students at local Westminster Kingsway College. 

Sally, recipient of the Ayala SquareMeal Female Chef of the Year Award, is a long-time advocate and voice for women in hospitality. 

She will be joined by award-winning TV Chef and Broadcaster Andi Oliver; Sommelier, Founder of Bubbleshop and Co-Founder of two Michelin-starred Kitchen Table, Sandia Chang; General Manager of Soho institution, The Coach & Horses, Ali Ross; and wine expert and Pol Roger Business Development Executive, Fikayo Ifaturoti. 

The stellar line-up of remarkable women will be taking part in a panel discussion on the issues that affect women in hospitality today – including workplace environments, motherhood, female empowerment, the importance of female role models and mentors, and media presence of women in hospitality, before the floor opens to the audience for a Q&A. 

The panel itself will be hosted by Emma Banks, Hilton’s Vice President, F&B Strategy & Development, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The ticketed event will commence at 11.30am with an Ayala Champagne reception prior to the panel and Q&A. 


Following the discussion, guests will be invited to take their seats in The Pem at 1.00pm for a three-course lunch of ‘Smoked Chalk Stream Trout Mousse, watercress, trout roe, frisée’, ‘Roast Cumbrian Rose Veal, purple sprouting broccoli, almond praline, creamed potato’, and ‘Lemon Meringue, yoghurt sorbet, caramelised white chocolate, hazelnut’, with paired wines.

The event marks the first in a series of female-focused events being planned by Sally and Conrad London St. James’s General Manager, Beverly Payne. 


The Pem itself is inspired by suffragette Emily Wilding Davison, whose family used the pet name ‘Pem’ for her, and celebrates generations of pioneering women leading from the front which is reflected in Sally’s choice of senior team – Laetizia Keating as Head Chef and Emma Underwood as General Manager. 

Alongside being in the heart of Westminster, one of London’s most symbolic boroughs, the building itself has its own rich history – indeed, Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of the Suffragettes, chained herself to the railings outside of the hotel in protest. 

Tickets for the event, which starts at 11.30am, are £55pp (or £25pp for under-25s), and include the Champagne reception, a seat at the panel/Q&A, a three-course lunch with paired wines, and a goodie bag to take home. 

All tickets can be purchased here: www.opentable.co.uk/r/the-pem-london

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