The Restaurant Show 2010 kicks off

Albert Roux opened the show this morning, and gave a live interview to Restaurant magazine editor William Drew . He told the audience at the show’s Centre Stage that British cuisine had a place on the world stage and that France was no longer “the king” of cooking.

He was followed by several cooking demonstrations from Mauro Colagreco, Claude Bosi, Mathias Dahlgren ad TV chef Jun Tanaka.

Tomorrow’s show will see Massimo Bottura, Hamish Brown and Vivek Singh grace the stage with a selection of demonstrations.

The Competition Theatre saw the culmination of the Young National Chef of the Year, which was won by Mark Stinchcombe of Lucknam Park , and the final of the senior competition, the winner of which will be announced later this evening at the National Restaurant Awards.

Chocolate Masters

Over at the Chocolate Masters the UK competitors worked to create chocolate pastries, pralines, a dessert and a chocolate showpiece. Tomorrow they will be given a mystery box of ingredients with which to create “something”. The winner, who will go onto compete in the world final in Paris next year, will then be announced in the afternoon.

In the Drinks Quarter, several sommeliers Benares’ Costanzo Scala and WSET’s customer services director David Hunter, led insightful discussions into how to make the most of wine menus.

Launceston Place’s head sommelier Mickey Narea suggested restaurateurs look beyond pairing wine and food , suggesting they match music instead.

“We’ve had enough of pairing wine with food, they’re only two elements,” he said. “My theory is that if you take all the atmospheric elements in a restaurant and create a synergy you have an infinite number of wines to match because things are always changing.”

Tomorrow’s Restaurant Show promises to be just as entertaining and useful to operators. With the Compass Junior and Senior Chef of the Year, the UK Chocolate Master finals and an array of chef and sommelier demonstrations there’s no reason to miss out.

You can still register now for free by visiting www.therestaurantshow.co.uk