CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

• TUESDAY 14 JULY

• Welcome evening at the Edge

  Ice-breaker special dinner prepared by Tracy Carr - a menu that will showcase the best that Yorkshire has to offer. This sumptuous spread will be followed by a quiz night, to test your knowledge on how chefs can benefit from utilizing food on their doorstep. With time to network with fellow professionals.

• WEDNESDAY 15 JULY
• 8:00

  Exhibition open
• 8:00 - 9:00

  Live theatre - four finalists will compete to win the accolade of Skills for Chefs Cost Sector Chef of the Year 2009.

  Competitors will use ingredients from a mystery basket to produce either a starter and main course, or main course and dessert. Entries will have been selected from Education, Healthcare, Government Departments and Contract Caterers.
• 09:15 - 10:15

  Live theatre competition - four finalists will compete to win the accolade of Skills for Chefs Restaurant Chef of the Year 2009.

  Competitors will use ingredients from a mystery basket to produce either a starter and main course, or main course and dessert. Entries will have been selected from the Hotel, Pub and Restaurant sectors.
• 10:15 - 10:45 Coffee and exhibition viewing
• 10:45

  Peter Sidwell - Good Taste Café, Keswick

  Peter will be joining us having successfully prepared a four course dinner for 70 people which was served 1000ft up a Cumbrian mountain. The menu included such delights as potted Silloth shrimps, home-cured Lakeland salmon with wild sorrel and slow-braised local shin of beef. Peter also cooked Grasmere gingerbread with minced wild boar to make sausages accompanied by a chilli and apple jam.

  Peter will be discussing how he has utilized his environment to best advantage throughout his career. From his fine dining roots at the HSBC Tower in Canary Wharf to his current everyday style of cooking in his Good Taste Café, Keswick.
• 11:15

  Vive le Difference!

  More unusual than chicken, less expensive than game meat - French Guinea fowl offers caterers a delicious alternative for their menus as this session will show.
• 12:00

  Cooking in the Credit Crunch - Nick Vadis, Compass Group

  Nick will show delegates how to create dishes from sustainable fish, crossing all sectors and budgets. He will also present a new twist on the 'bowl food' concept and demonstrate some suitable recipes to reflect the current economic climate. He will then invite delegates to join him in the luncheon area to sample some of his creations.
• 12:45 Lunch and exhibition viewing
• 14:00

  Simon Hulstone - Knorr Chef of the Year

  Simon will take delegates through his experiences in the run up to winning the 2008 National Chef of the Year (NCOTY), highlighting the stages involved in the competition and what winning means to him. He will tell delegates how he plans to make the most of his two years as NCOTY including his recent participation in the 2009 Bocuse D'Or competition. Simon will also recreate his NCOTY winning dessert.
• 15:00

  Andy Aston - Restaurant Associates

  Andy will be working with two local producers of regional and seasonal produce. He will create a number of recipes using various ways of incorporating flavour that are both flavoursome and healthy. The producers will be on-hand to answer any questions relating to the fare.
• 15:30 Coffee and exhibition viewing
• 16:00

  Andy Twells - Gala Dinner Menu Unveiled

  Under the leadership of Andy Twells and the Craft Guild of Chefs Culinary Academy of Young Chefs will offer delegates a taste of what's to come at Thursday night's Gala Dinner. The young chefs will demonstrate and explain the four course menu and how each of them plays a vital part in its production.
• 17:00 Conference Close
• 19:00

  Eat The World

  Tracy Carr of the University of Sheffield and past-winner of the University Cost Sector Catering award will invite delegates to excite their palates with food from around the world. This will be followed by entertainment from Professor Jolley with feats designed to blow your mind!
• THURSDAY 16 JULY
• 08:30 Coffee and exhibition viewing
• 09:15 - 10:15

  Skills for Chefs - Chef of the Year 2009

  Award winning chefs from Education, Contract Catering, Restaurants and Pubs have been invited to go head to head to create a two-course menu from a mystery basket of ingredients. These seasoned competitors will be notified of the contents of the mystery basket 24 hours before competing. The winning chef will be presented with the prestigious award of 'Skills for Chefs Chef of the Year 2009' by Hardeep Singh Koli at the Gala Dinner later that night.
• 10:15 Coffee and exhibition viewing
• 10:45

  Restaurant Chef - keynote session - Sat Bains, Restaurant Sat Bains

  Proud owner of the only Michelin starred restaurant in Nottingham, this world-renowned chef will demonstrate three dishes in an interactive, informal environment. Delegates will learn new techniques and have the opportunity to question this awe-inspiring chef.
• 11:30 Coffee and exhibition viewing
• 11:45

  Jonathan Doughty, Coverpoint - Future Trends

  Chairman of FCSI and Group Managing Director of Coverpoint, Jonathan has an extensive background in food service.

  Knowing that all companies strive to be industry leaders, Jonathan will share his vast knowledge of innovative concepts, and show delegates how to introduce new trends within the food service industry.
• 12:45 Lunch and exhibition viewing
• 14:00

  Tomorrow's Food - Food for Tomorrow

  Fresh from the debate on the Farm to Pharma programme on BBC4

  Debate session with panelists and Q&A session with delegates. This session will be chaired by Charles Campion - restaurant critic, TV pundit, radio personality, author, international food & drink judge and ex chef patron.

  The panel consists of : Anthony Blake, Food Scientist

  Professor Bob Rastall, University of Reading

  Donald Sloane, Oxford Brooks University
• 15:00 Exhibition open, afternoon tea
• 15:15

  Global Kitchen

  Cyrus Todiwala

  Mystery Challenger

  Cyrus will go head to head in a culture clash with a mystery top chef. Cyrus of Café Spice Namaste will recreate a traditional Indian meal, while his competitor will demonstrate his own menu. Who wins? Delegates decide.
• 16:00 Conference sessions close
• 19:35

  Pre-dinner drinks
• 20:00

  Conference and Awards Dinner prepared by Tracy Carr and Andy Twells with the Craft Guild of Chefs Culinary Academy of Young Chefs in the Octagon Centre. The winners of the Live Theatre competitions will be announced and presented with their awards.

  After dinner speaker and awards presenter - Hardeep Singh Koli, winner of BBC's Masterchef programme.

Speaker & content subject to change