Autumn 2008: Setting the stage

From chefs rustling up innovative, exciting dishes to the Craft Guild’s prestigious Knorr National Chef of the Year competition, the hospitality sector is in for a treat at this year’s Restaurant Show

Live chef demonstrations, workshops and more than 350 major suppliers exhibiting at the show is just a snip of what’s in store at the 20th Restaurant Show from October 6-8 to inspire visitors.

For the second year running, the show will be held at London’s Earls Court where a line up of internationally renowned chefs will get together to demonstrate their culinary talent and some of the most hotly contested competitions will take place across the three days.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary, the organisers have invited 20 top chefs on to The Stage to demonstrate their skills. These include Claude Bosi of Hibiscus, Michael Caines of Gidleigh Park, Chris Galvin of Galvin at Windows, and Giorgio Locatelli of Locanda Locatelli, who will be presenting live demos and showcasing some of their finest cuisine.

Caines, who operates his own restaurants in Exeter, Glasgow, Canterbury and Manchester, says he is looking forward to being a part of the show as it gives him “a fantastic opportunity to share ideas and inspire those visiting”.

Other sessions will be fronted by Atul Kochhar from Benares, Tom Kerridge from The Hand & Flowers, Jun Tanaka from Pearl, Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers from the River Café, John Huber and Yolande Stanley from Barry Callebaut, Andrew Parkinson from Fifteen, Rob Kirby of Lexington and Mark Rossi of Abode Hotels.

New to the show will be two on site restaurants – Pascal Proyart’s One-O-One and Cyrus Todiwala’s Café Spice Namasté – which will leave visitors spoilt for choice as they get to sample an array of delicious food from an assortment of culinary traditions, from Proyart’s seafood specialities and Todiwala’s innovative Indian cuisine.

The latter will educate guests on the noticeable rise of ethnic cuisine in the UK, and how this is having an influence on the restaurant industry. Market analysts Mintel forecasts that the UK Indian food market will soar by an estimated 6% to reach a staggering £524.6m by 2011.

The show aims to provide the perfect forum to collect ideas for ethnic offerings. For more than half the population, Indian food is a popular meal and almost half of consumers eat it at least every two weeks.

Todiwala puts this down to the fact that the British public has gradually been getting more discerning with its eating habits, and that with the increasing sophistication of the British palate, more authentic and regional variations of Indian cuisine will be served in the near future. Evidence shows that cheap end ethnic restaurants are now changing over to establishments that offer a fine dining experience.

Todiwala believes Japanese cuisine is still in its infancy in this country, along with Vietnamese, but thinks both cuisines will gain more market share over the coming years and that Japanese food must become more accessible to all people as currently it is seen as a rather exclusive option.

The show will also offer opportunities to look at other issues affecting the restaurant scene such as sustainable eco-restaurants.

For those in the fine dining arena looking to improve their food and drink matching skills, experts such as sommelier of the year Georoid Devaney and Tate’s head sommelier Hamish Anderson will be on hand with advice, and a range of sample combinations will be on display, from beer and chocolate to oysters and wine.

Other themes and debates dominating the show include innovation, how to source unique and interesting ingredients, questioning whether restaurants should be fined for not using seasonal produce, and how the world food shortages are going to affect the restaurant industry.

Michelin starred chef Tom Aikens sums up the three day event as “a fantastic event, showcasing the very different aspects of restaurants and catering”.

For more information about the show and to register for the event, visit www.therestaurantshow.co.uk.

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