Craft Guild out in force for Skills for Chefs

Members of the Craft Guild of Chefs are out in force with their support for the 11th annual Skills for Chefs conference in June.

The conference is set to attract delegates from all sectors of the industry. Representing the hotel sector it will be opened by the Ritz executive chef John Williams, and the first day concludes with a demo by executive chef Paul Gayler from the Lanesborough.

 

Director of Skills for Chefs David Mckown says: "In addition to our usual format of showcasing chefs from hotels and restaurants we will also be featuring leading chefs from the foodservice sector, namely David Hunt from Sodexho and Craft Guild of Chefs committee member Peter Joyner from Elior."

 

Joyner recently grabbed the headlines when he was appointed as the chef mentor for the UK chefs entering the World Skills competition in Japan. David Hunt has been a regular competitor on the world stage and in 2007 he won the Contract Catering Chef of the Year award from the Craft Guild.

 

Representing the restaurant sector the culinary talents of Nigel Haworth of Northcote Manor, Simon Shaw of El Gato Negro, and the Fat Duck's James Petrie, one of the world's most innovative pastry chefs, will be showcased. In addition renowned chef Anton Edelmann, who has recently opened Anton's at Great Hallingbury Manor Hotel, will demonstrate his culinary flair in the grand finale of the conference.

 

New activities for the 2008 event include a series of taste and sensory workshops to give delegates a hands on opportunity to look at the latest trends and commodities available to chefs.

 

Another first is that the conference will host a senior chef competition for chefs over 21 years of age, in addition to the young chef competition for 18-21 year olds held last year. McKown comments: "We felt the time was right to give competition chefs the opportunity to show their skills in a bid to win the Skills for Chefs crown. The young chefs competition we held last year was a great success and we will now build on our experience with the addition of a senior competition."

 

The finalists will cook at the conference and the judges will include Andrew Bennett, executive chef at the Sheraton Park Lane hotel. Finalists will be allocated complimentary places at the conference and in addition they will have the opportunity to win some great prizes including dinner at the Fat Duck.

 

• The conference takes place on June 23-24 at the University of Sheffield. For further information contact d.mckown@sheffield.ac.uk or call 0114 222 8999/0114222 8907, or visit www.skillsforchefs.co.uk

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