Event caterers to showcase excellence with ECats at the Restaurant Show

New for the 2012 Restaurant Show’s Competition Theatre is the Event Caterers Team Challenge (ECats) aimed at bringing out the competitive side of professionals within the foodservice industry.

It will be a key contest among other leading events such as the Craft Guild of Chef's National Chef of the Year and Young National Chef of the Year, plus the Junior and Senior Compass Chef of the Year competitions being held at London's Earl's Court 2 from October 8-10.

The ECats, in partnership with the Craft Guild of Chefs, and sponsored by AB World Foods (Tabasco) and Woods Foodservice, is set to bring something innovative to the Competition Theatre.

It will showcase the best private caterers operating across the UK, testing them in the delivery of corporate and private events, weddings and outdoor catering. Eight teams will demonstrate culinary, front of house and concept/table design skills in response to an event brief, and the live final will be held on October 8.

Craft Guild vice president Steve Munkley said: "We have created ECats to celebrate the wonderful talents of event caterers. Chefs in this sector can all too often be overlooked, as they don't have a restaurant or hotel to showcase their talents. The chefs have all been set a brief based on a real outside catering event, making the competition the perfect platform for them to show those across the industry just what they can really do."

The show's event director, Rachel Quigley, added: "The ECats is designed to distinguish, celebrate and reward the top operators across the event catering market. In the morning each team will respond to the same event brief by way of a commercial pitch presentation followed, from 12.30pm, by a live showcase of their creative and operational solution.

"Competition entries will be judged by an industry leading panel chaired by Sophie Conran against parameters of commerciality, cuisine, service delivery and creative concept design. Not only will the ECats celebrate an important sector and provide great competitive theatre, but the event catering market also provides new business development avenues for our exhibitors and sponsors."

For more information or to register for the Restaurant Show, visit www.therestaurantshow.co.uk/register or follow @restaurantshow on Twitter.

Words: Sheila Eggleston

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