Restaurant Show/Knorr Chef of the Year
07-Oct-08 - The Restaurant Show. A busy day as always on the YES CHEF! stand at the show, with Sue Prain and Laura selling mags and subscriptions. The current issue (number 7) features Paul Bocuse on the cover, and I think that helped: when you're dealing with professionals they like a familiar face. I had time to have a chat with Simon Harris of Barry-Callebaut about the UK heat of the World Chocolate Masters, which had taken place the previous day, and Mark Tilling of Lainston House near Winchester for the second year running was crowned the UK's Chocolate Master. He goes forward to the world final in a year's time at the Paris Expo.
I also managed to catch up with some old friends. Janet Burns (of Cognac trip fame - see previous posts) was hosting the Jacquart Champagne pavilion, which provided much-needed refreshment, and many of the 'usual suspects' were taking advantage of the hospitality but that is, of course, what the Show is all about. I must say it is so much easier to get to Earl's Court than Excel, and the venue worked extremely well.
After the Restaurant Show it was off to the Park Lane Hotel for the Knorr National Chef of the Year Awards. The invitation had indicated 'carriages at 01:30' and I'd booked a car home for that time (at £85 it's cheaper than a hotel room in London and it doesn't condemn you to wasting half a day the following morning simply getting back home). Having said that, I had a panicky 'phone-call from the cab company asking me to confirm exactly where the hotel was: apparently they'd looked it up on the web and discovered that there are three hotels in London called 'The Park Lane', none of which, confusingly, is on Park Lane. The one in question is, of course, on Piccadilly but near to the corner of Old Park Lane (i.e. before the dual-carriageway traffic schemes of the 1960s).
I arrived early, nevertheless, and ensconced myself in the Palm Court. I ordered a couple of large ones over the next hour, while I looked at the menu and had a good laugh at the prices they charge for a sandwich (about £12), The smile faded from my lips when I got the bill for the drinks: a large one in the Palm Court is £14. All right, it's a very elegant place and the service is impeccable, but... How very different from the Eversley.
Anyway, dinner stated on time in the ballroom, with intros, speeches and TV cameras, follower-spots, and a focus on the finalists, who had slaved away under the judges' scrutiny earlier in the day: David Kennedy of the Black Door in Newcastle, Steve Allen of Gordon Ramsay at Claridges, Frederick Forster of Le Boudin Blanc in London, Clark Crawley, sous chef at Barclays Wealth in London, Simon Hulstone of The Elephant in Torquay, Ian Boden of Limes in Derby, Andreas Wingert of Lucknam Park, and Brian Canale of Heritage Portfolio in Edinburgh. They all hosted a table, and we waited for the show to start.
Dinner was very good. I've been to so many of these mega set-piece banquets when the kitchen patently couldn't cope with the numbers (about 300 at my estimate), but this one could and did: the secret is obviously to keep the menu simple, with dishes that can be partly pre-prepared and served, but to make it look good. These sound rather grand, but look behind the name and you'll see that they have been very cleverly selected. We kicked off with bouillabaisse of Norwegian halibut and Langoustine with Errazuriz Max Reserva Chardonnay 2006 (all the wines were supplied by Errazuriz), which was an excellent start. Next up was Jerusalem artichoke velouté with a cèpe mushroom and parmesan crostini, and Max Reserva Merlot 2006. The main course was roast loin and haunch of Denham estate venison, hot pot, fig and Madeira sauce, smoked sea-salt parsnip purée and a pomme soufflé with Max Reserva Cabernet-Sauvignon 2006. This was something of a tour-de-force. Pudding was salted caramel and milk chocolate mousse, pear and vanilla sorbet with late-harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2006. The wine wasn't quite sweet enough to complement the dish, but after such a well-planned meal I wasn't in the mood for complaining. I love to watch the food and beverage service at these events: planned like a military operation, plates arrive as if by magic as the staff weave effortlessly around each other, zigzagging between the tables. Beverage service was excellent: after pouring the wines the sommeliers left the bottles on the table. I admire good service, but when it comes to the wine, I prefer self-service!
Coffee and petits-fours followed, along with the real business of the evening - the awards. There were awards for starter, main course, dessert, and others, but the main thing, of course, was Knorr Chef of the Year. It was, by all accounts, a hard-fought battle and, by chance I was sharing a table with the winning candidate - Simon Hulstone, chef-patron of The Elephant in Torquay. This is a man who, at only 34, seems to be destined for greatness. He was the winner of the Roux scholarship in 2003, training with Martin Berasategui in San Sebastian; he won a gold medal in the World Chef Championships in France, he won a Michelin star for his restaurant in 2006, and has three AA rosettes. As if this were not enough, he's representing Britain at the Bocuse d'Or finals in France in January, 2009. Part of the Knorr prize is a cheque for £10,000 and, as his hands became increasingly full on stage he passed it to his (gorgeous) wife Katy. It wasn't a real one, of course, but for a moment it looked as if she was going to drop it - but I don't think any woman has ever lost anything as valuable as that. There'll be more about Simon in a future issue of YES CHEF!
Simon also won the 'best dessert award'; second was Clark Crawley who also won 'best starter' , and third was David Kennedy who also won 'best main course'.
Simon Hulstone (centre) with (left>right) Craft Guild of Chefs Chairman Nick Vadis; David Mulcahy, Vice-President, Craft Guild of Chefs; and Simon Marshall, Managing Director of Unilever Food Solutions. Pic.: www.bighospitality.co.uk
On the whole it was a very good evening, marred by only two things for me. First the Gents is up 44 stairs to the foyer and there's no lift (actually, there is a lift, but "it's only for the staff, sir" - I think someone has their priorities askew, here). Second, the thing was so well organised that it was all over by 11:30 p.m., and if I were a conspiracy theorist I'd say that the fact that the bar was open until 02:00 am was the real reason for the 'carriages at 01:30' mention on the invitation. By this time, however, my cab had already left Worthing and so there was nothing to do but, er, well, go back to the Palm Court. I tried to economise with a small beer, but even that was a fiver. Ho hum. The cab arrived on time and I got home for about 03:00 am. Early-morning shades of the BBC days when, after 12 years of getting up at 04:00 am I was callously and brutally stabbed in the back by a useless, failed... (You've done this, Ed.).
I also managed to catch up with some old friends. Janet Burns (of Cognac trip fame - see previous posts) was hosting the Jacquart Champagne pavilion, which provided much-needed refreshment, and many of the 'usual suspects' were taking advantage of the hospitality but that is, of course, what the Show is all about. I must say it is so much easier to get to Earl's Court than Excel, and the venue worked extremely well.
After the Restaurant Show it was off to the Park Lane Hotel for the Knorr National Chef of the Year Awards. The invitation had indicated 'carriages at 01:30' and I'd booked a car home for that time (at £85 it's cheaper than a hotel room in London and it doesn't condemn you to wasting half a day the following morning simply getting back home). Having said that, I had a panicky 'phone-call from the cab company asking me to confirm exactly where the hotel was: apparently they'd looked it up on the web and discovered that there are three hotels in London called 'The Park Lane', none of which, confusingly, is on Park Lane. The one in question is, of course, on Piccadilly but near to the corner of Old Park Lane (i.e. before the dual-carriageway traffic schemes of the 1960s).
I arrived early, nevertheless, and ensconced myself in the Palm Court. I ordered a couple of large ones over the next hour, while I looked at the menu and had a good laugh at the prices they charge for a sandwich (about £12), The smile faded from my lips when I got the bill for the drinks: a large one in the Palm Court is £14. All right, it's a very elegant place and the service is impeccable, but... How very different from the Eversley.
Anyway, dinner stated on time in the ballroom, with intros, speeches and TV cameras, follower-spots, and a focus on the finalists, who had slaved away under the judges' scrutiny earlier in the day: David Kennedy of the Black Door in Newcastle, Steve Allen of Gordon Ramsay at Claridges, Frederick Forster of Le Boudin Blanc in London, Clark Crawley, sous chef at Barclays Wealth in London, Simon Hulstone of The Elephant in Torquay, Ian Boden of Limes in Derby, Andreas Wingert of Lucknam Park, and Brian Canale of Heritage Portfolio in Edinburgh. They all hosted a table, and we waited for the show to start.
Dinner was very good. I've been to so many of these mega set-piece banquets when the kitchen patently couldn't cope with the numbers (about 300 at my estimate), but this one could and did: the secret is obviously to keep the menu simple, with dishes that can be partly pre-prepared and served, but to make it look good. These sound rather grand, but look behind the name and you'll see that they have been very cleverly selected. We kicked off with bouillabaisse of Norwegian halibut and Langoustine with Errazuriz Max Reserva Chardonnay 2006 (all the wines were supplied by Errazuriz), which was an excellent start. Next up was Jerusalem artichoke velouté with a cèpe mushroom and parmesan crostini, and Max Reserva Merlot 2006. The main course was roast loin and haunch of Denham estate venison, hot pot, fig and Madeira sauce, smoked sea-salt parsnip purée and a pomme soufflé with Max Reserva Cabernet-Sauvignon 2006. This was something of a tour-de-force. Pudding was salted caramel and milk chocolate mousse, pear and vanilla sorbet with late-harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2006. The wine wasn't quite sweet enough to complement the dish, but after such a well-planned meal I wasn't in the mood for complaining. I love to watch the food and beverage service at these events: planned like a military operation, plates arrive as if by magic as the staff weave effortlessly around each other, zigzagging between the tables. Beverage service was excellent: after pouring the wines the sommeliers left the bottles on the table. I admire good service, but when it comes to the wine, I prefer self-service!
Coffee and petits-fours followed, along with the real business of the evening - the awards. There were awards for starter, main course, dessert, and others, but the main thing, of course, was Knorr Chef of the Year. It was, by all accounts, a hard-fought battle and, by chance I was sharing a table with the winning candidate - Simon Hulstone, chef-patron of The Elephant in Torquay. This is a man who, at only 34, seems to be destined for greatness. He was the winner of the Roux scholarship in 2003, training with Martin Berasategui in San Sebastian; he won a gold medal in the World Chef Championships in France, he won a Michelin star for his restaurant in 2006, and has three AA rosettes. As if this were not enough, he's representing Britain at the Bocuse d'Or finals in France in January, 2009. Part of the Knorr prize is a cheque for £10,000 and, as his hands became increasingly full on stage he passed it to his (gorgeous) wife Katy. It wasn't a real one, of course, but for a moment it looked as if she was going to drop it - but I don't think any woman has ever lost anything as valuable as that. There'll be more about Simon in a future issue of YES CHEF!
Simon also won the 'best dessert award'; second was Clark Crawley who also won 'best starter' , and third was David Kennedy who also won 'best main course'.
Simon Hulstone (centre) with (left>right) Craft Guild of Chefs Chairman Nick Vadis; David Mulcahy, Vice-President, Craft Guild of Chefs; and Simon Marshall, Managing Director of Unilever Food Solutions. Pic.: www.bighospitality.co.ukOn the whole it was a very good evening, marred by only two things for me. First the Gents is up 44 stairs to the foyer and there's no lift (actually, there is a lift, but "it's only for the staff, sir" - I think someone has their priorities askew, here). Second, the thing was so well organised that it was all over by 11:30 p.m., and if I were a conspiracy theorist I'd say that the fact that the bar was open until 02:00 am was the real reason for the 'carriages at 01:30' mention on the invitation. By this time, however, my cab had already left Worthing and so there was nothing to do but, er, well, go back to the Palm Court. I tried to economise with a small beer, but even that was a fiver. Ho hum. The cab arrived on time and I got home for about 03:00 am. Early-morning shades of the BBC days when, after 12 years of getting up at 04:00 am I was callously and brutally stabbed in the back by a useless, failed... (You've done this, Ed.).
posted by John Radford at
13:08
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