Learn from some of the city’s top chefs at the Food Festival’s Theatre Kitchen.
Friday 24 May
Hosted by Sweet Hospitality’s Justin Rowntree
Kicking off the weekend’s Theatre Kitchen programme is Justin Rowntree who many of you will know as the former owner of the Runaway Girl/Silversmiths and recipient of the infamous Gordon Ramsey treatment on an episode of Kitchen Nightmares back in 2008.
Following the episode, Justin’s Silversmiths rebrand helped the restaurant to win a number of awards and national acclaim, before ironically heading out on his own to become a hospitality consultant in 2017.
Justin’s programme will represent a slice of the incredibly vibrant international food scene he has worked with in Sheffield, with each session showcasing a signature dish particular to a cuisine. The demos include south east- Asian, American BBQ, Nepalese, Romanian, Caribbean,Italian and British.
11AM – CHRIS HANSON – BLEND KITCHEN
South-east Asian fusion. Chris has travelled the world and fuses some of his biggest inspirations in a Scandinavian-style home-cured salmon dish with intense south-east Asian spices.
12PM – TOMMY HAGUE – FIREPIT ROCKS
FirePit Rocks has a reputation for the real deal when it comes to BBQ and the ‘pit king’ Tommy will show you how to make an authentic BBQ rub and share the secret of
the perfect hot wing with a homemade peri-peri sauce.
12:50PM – THE BLEND KITCHEN TEAM
This unique social enterprise uses cooking to enhance lives. Some of the trainees will show you how to make authentic falafel with a hot or mild tahini sauce accompanied by Moroccan carrot salad and homemade flat bread.
1:40PM – ADRIAN BRICIU AND MIHAI VERZA – SFINX ROMANIAN RESTAURANT
Possibly the most famous Romanian dish is a ‘samale’, and you can learn the secret of these tasty cabbage rolls stuffed with ground pork, pickled cabbage and bacon. Served with home-baked cornbread and sour cream.
2:30PM – NATASHA FARRELL – TASTE THE FUSION LOVE
Natasha will be on hand to prepare her famous jerk chicken bites. She’ll show you the Antiguan jerk recipe handed down through her family, served with tangy mango and tomato salsa.
3:20PM – SIMON CLARK AND LEE MANGLES
Both ex-head chefs of Silversmiths Restaurant, this pair are reunited with its founder Justin to showcase the best local, seasonal produce with some foraged delights to boot. So expect top class dishes with something fishy (mackerel/ plaice), veggie delights (asparagus, samphire, wild nettles) and a demonstration of baking fresh Yorkshire milk rolls too.
4:10PM – GLORIA CHIEN – SHUJU KITCHEN
Gloria creates traditional dishes from Taiwan every week at the Union Street ‘pop-up’ cafe. She will show how simple spaghetti can become tasty Taiwanese style chow-mein with all the authentic flavours and spices of her home country.
