Leaner and Meaner
Welcome to the 2009 Caterer and Hotelkeeper Chef Conference website.
If you’re an aspirational chef looking for culinary inspiration but have to get back for evening service, this is the event for you. It’s punchier than ever, thanks to a new half-day format, but we’re still delivering what the conference is famous for: giving you the chance to rub shoulders with and get tips from one of Europe’s finest and some of the UK’s most exciting chefs.
Topping the bill in a one-on-one on-stage interview is Bray’s internationally feted supersonic chef, Heston Blumenthal – famous for his multi-sensory cuisine at his three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck restaurant. If you’ve got a burning question to ask him, get it ready – there’ll be open questions at the end of the session.
Our special international guest this year is Spain’s Elena Arzak, who together with her father Juan Mari Arzak runs Arzak , the family restaurant in San Sebastian famous for its contemporary take on Basque cuisine. Elena is the fourth generation of her family to take charge of the business and one of an extremely elite band of three-Michelin-starred female chefs in Europe.
The stellar culinary line-up is completed by four of the UK’s best - Michael Caines, Martin Burge, Angela Hartnett (this year's Catey Chef Award winner) and Simon Hulstone. Devon’s two-starred chef-restaurateur Caines (Dartmoor’s Gidleigh Park and nationally sited Abode hotels), and the country’s newest two-star graduate Burge (Whatley Manor, Malmesbury) will co-host a culinary masterclass – as will Arzak and the the UK’s most renowned female chef-restaurateur Hartnett (York & Albany and one-Michelin-starred Murano, London).
Knorr Chef of the Year Hulstone (one-Michelin-starred Elephant Room, Torquay) and a panel of knowledgeable and respected chefs will be put on the spot in Question Time, by you – our audience. Send in a question when you book your place at the conference on any burning industry issue. Whatever gets your goat: training, the economic recession, media hype, colleges, front-of-house service, government red tape, suppliers, seasonality, competitions. Anything you want. You’ll get to put the question personally to Hulstone, Charlton House’s David Cavalier, hotel supremo John Williams (Ritz, London) and Shaun Hill (Walnut Tree, Abergavenny).
And we’ve got a different, but exhilarating, end-of-conference for you. Lunch – Chef Eats Out style – at three of London’s great restaurants, all Michelin-two-star accoladed. At Philip Howard’s the Mayfair restaurant The Square, Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley and Ducasse at the Dorchester. Just chose your preferred restaurant when you reserve your conference place. In addition to the meal itself, you’ll get a kitchen tour and a chance to get up close and personal with the chefs and their teams.
