Author Archive: Gastro

Catering In Summer

Of course, there are challenges to catering whatever the season or venue. What happens when you drop part of a dish, or the souffle does not rise, the cake sinks in the middle or certain ingredients are inadequate? However, over and above these year-round hiccups which caterers learn to navigate around, there are also specific [...]

The Do’s and Don’ts of hiring a caterer

Is it your first time hiring a caterer? Or have you done so before and the event didn’t quite go according to plan? Whatever your reasons there are a few things you should consider when choosing your caterer. After all, they all specialise in different areas. So whether it is a corporate function, a Party [...]

Caterers Competition

The search for the University Caterers Organisation (Tuco)-Knorr Chef of the Year 2010 is officially underway with entries now open. To enter the competition, which is open to all Tuco member universities and colleges, contestants must devise a menu including a soup course, a main course (using a 1kg free-range chicken as the main ingredient) [...]

Commonwealth Games Catering

The 8,000 athletes who would be staying at the Commonwealth Games Village will have an array of cuisines to choose from during the 12-day-long sporting extravaganza that will kick off in Delhi from October 3 next year. The catering division of the Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee (OC) is in the midst of finalising the games [...]

Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum has announced its prestigious triennial catering contract is open. Successful suppliers will be added to the Kensington landmarks’ accredited list, which runs from 2010. Some 200 events are catered for every year at the museum. Applicants must have over two years experience catering at London venues and convince the museum that [...]

Restaurant review: Market Café, London E8

Neighbourhood restaurant Market Café serves the residents of Hackney from early morning right through to supper 2 Broadway Market, London E8 (020 7249 9070). Meal for two, including wine and service, £80 Every restaurant in Hackney serves breakfast. It’s the law. They just have to, because without it the vanguard of our creative industries would [...]

Food allergies: worrying reactions

Eating out can be a nerve-racking experience if you have a food allergy, especially when restaurant staff think they know best Chefs don’t want to poison their patrons, you’d presume. But if you have a food allergy or intolerance, you may be familiar with the game of Spot The Killer Ingredient I play when eating [...]

Restaurant review: New Sum Ye, Birmingham

For gastro-porn Cantonese meats with absolutely no frills, head for Birmingham’s tiny Chinatown Arcadian Centre, 70 Hurst Street, Birmingham (0121 622 1525). Meal for two, including service, £25. Anybody who is at all serious about their lunch will be haunted by the same terror: that however good the food they are eating right now, there [...]

Restaurant review: Incanto

Incanto has the potential to be a really good restaurant. But first the kitchen staff has to learn to calm down 41 High Street, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex (020 8426 6767). Meal for two, including wine and service, £120 There are great dish ideas. There are bad dish ideas. And then there are some that fall under [...]

The signals sent by signature dishes

Talked-about specialities are often the reason customers visit certain restaurants. Do you feel compelled to try signature dishes? Signature dish. There’s something old-school and stolidly Escoffier about that phrase, suggesting carpeted dining rooms and soaring toques, curly moustaches and copperplate menus. It carries a uniquely cheffy vanity. They are vital to almost every restaurant, and [...]