Sat Bains and Michel Roux Jr among chef line-up at The Restaurant Show 2015
This year’s must-attend event has relocated to London’s Olympia, and will feature over 350 exhibitors from across the restaurant and foodservice sector as well as play host to a number of competitions including the National Chef of the Year and Young National Chef of the Year.
Find out more about what you'll find at this year's Restaurant Show with our handy guide.
The Stage - live presentations
The three-day event will include live presentations from Gordon Ramsay Group chefs James ‘Jocky’ Petrie, Owen Sullivan and Michael Nizerro – who will provide a rare insight into life at the group on Monday 5 October.
Other highights include a live demonstration with Michel Roux Jr (Tuesday 6 October), Sat Bains (Tuesday 6 October) exploring cooking with liver, and The Clove Club’s Tim Spedding and Johnny Smith (Monday 5 October) discussing their East London institution.
The full live-stage line-up includes Shotgun’s Brad McDonald (Monday), Duck & Waffle chef de cuisine Tom Cenci (Wednesday), Neil Rankin of The Smokehouse (Tuesday), and Hardwick Arms chef-owner Stephen Terry (Tuesday).
This year’s hot topic is sustainability, with a range of panels dedicated to the issue.
Ceviche founder Moratin Morales and Mark Linehan, managing director of the Sustainable Restaurant Association, will be untangling the sustainable sourcing debate on Monday while Hawksmoor owner Huw Gott, Silo chef-owner Douglas McMaster, and Wahaca co-founder Mark Selby will be asking how restaurants can encourage their staff to buy in to their ethical stance on Wednesday.
Conscious Hospitality Show
This year marks the debut of a new side-show dedicated to the growing pressure on restaurants to be sustainable, ethical and environmentally considerate.
It brings together over 50 suppliers from across the sector and showcases a range of products and services – from eco-friendly cleaning products to food waste management services and catering equipment to gluten free beer and organic meat.
For more information on the show, see here.
Competitions
This year's Restaurant Show will be host to the UK Pastry Open on Monday 5 October where the following candidates will battle it out for a place in the Coupe Du Monde de la Pâtisserie competition.
Chocolate candidates:
- Chris Seddon, head pastry chef, Coutts
- John Costello, senior confectioner, Nestle
- Dale Desimone, executive pastry chef, Grosvenor House Hotel
- Chris Zammit, pastry chef, Camilleri Kitchen
- Abdelhalim Messadoui, pastry chef, Patisserie Leila, Bristol
Sugar candidates:
- Florian Poirot, senior confectioner, Nestle product technology centre
- Joakim Prat, chef-owner, Maitre Choux
As with every year, the Restaurant Show is also host to top chef competition The National Chef of the Year.
On Tuesday 6 October following a live final where eight finalists (who can be seen here) will be preparing a three-course meal from a list of mystery ingredients, one winner will be crowned 2015 National Chef of the Year. With previous winners including Gordon Ramsay and Mark Sargeant, the eight finalists will be cooking for one of the most prestigious titles in the industry.
The same day will also be host to the Young National Chef of the Year 2015 (finalists can be seen here) where the industry’s up and coming talent will be battling it out for the junior title in an energetic live final.
Compass Group's Apprentice, Junior and Senior Chef of the Year competitions will also be held on 7 October where some of the top chefs from across the Compass portfolio will be challenged to use British produce to create health conscious dishes reflecting current food trends.
On Wednesday, suppliers will get their moment in the spotlight at The Best New Idea Award where one winning product or service will be chosen from the most innovative products on the show floor, voted for by visitors.
Suppliers and new products
The Restaurant Show also gives visitors the chance to catch up with existing suppliers and source new products. With some 350 exhibitors set to be at the show it provides countless opportunities to build your business.
This year's new products will include Call Systems Technology's Discgo charger, a portable mobile phone charger designed for commercial use. Discgo, which charges at 1 per cent per minute says it offers restaurants 'a competitive edge' as it gives their guests and easy way to charge their phone at the table, in the pub garden or at the bar.
Other suppliers include foodservice wholesaler kff who returns for the third consecutive year and will give visitors the chance to taste a wide range of produce, from smoked meats and fish to ice creams and bread as well as receive insight, hints and tips into menu planning and market trends from its stand and Checkit which will be launching its cloud based food safety management system at the show.
