Le Cordon Bleu International Chef Philippe Clergue will bring a touch of France to Tasting Australia. The Michelin star restaurant-trained chef will visit Adelaide and Sydney between April 29 and May 13 to conduct a series of Master Classes and participate in a number of Tasting Australia events including acting as VIP guest judge and presenter at the Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards.

In addition, Chef Clergue will give members of the public a fantastic opportunity to attend one of his Master Classes at the Adelaide Le Cordon Bleu school at Regency TAFE March 6 – something one would ordinarily have to be a student of the Le Cordon Bleu Academy to experience. As an added bonus, renowned Australian chef Simon Bryant will co-host the Adelaide master class. A series of Master Classes will also be held in Sydney (details below).

Le Cordon Bleu, one of the world's most prominent organisations dedicated to culinary, hospitality and tourism education, was founded in Paris in 1895. Le Cordon Bleu Australia educates over 2,000 students each year at its Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne schools in a wide range of culinary arts and hospitality management programs. Le Cordon Bleu graduates are highly desired in their respective fields, and many go on to exciting careers in leading hotels, restaurants and resorts throughout Australia and the world.

The Le Cordon Bleu International CEO, Andre Cointreau said “we are proud to be able to bring Chef Philippe Clergue - one of our top educators from France - to participate in Tasting Australia and to give food lovers such a wonderful opportunity at his Master Classes.” Chef Clergue will certainly be in high demand during his visit to Adelaide for Tasting Australia. In addition to his World Food Media Awards duties, he will be a guest-judge in the ‘Technical Ability’ section of the Lifestyle Food Channel’s Australian Culinary Competition and attend the Awards Dinner as guest of honour. He will also judge and present a number of awards at the Young Gourmet TV Challenge at Elder Park.

Philippe Clergue’s Master Class – with special guest, Simon Bryant - will be held at Regency TAFE on April 6 from 10am – 3pm, and is for anyone 18 years or older. Places are strictly limited. Bookings via Emily Paget, 08 8348 3055 or email epaget@cordonbleu.edu. Cost $90.

Chef Clergue will head to Sydney on Friday 7th May for a series of Master Classes which include the Le Cordon Bleu sponsored KOTO Sensations – a charity initiative to support quality training for disadvantaged youths in Vietnam. KOTO Sensations will be held on the 11th of May at the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Institute (TAFE NSW) and costs $110 per person. The two-hour cooking demonstration will begin at 6:30pm, followed by cocktails with KOTO founder Jimmy Pham.

A new summer food event is being planned for June, The Richmond Food & Drink Festival. The town will host a range of exciting activities, including an extensive producers market running along the riverside and activities taking place across the borough: a gourmet family picnic on the Terrace Gardens, tastings, demonstrations, celebrity chef talks and events in the restaurants and food shops of Richmond.

Patrons for the festival are local food heroes, Skye Gyngell from Petersham Nurseries, Paul Merrett, author, tv presenter and chef owner of the Victoria gastro pub and award winning chocolatier William Curley. The organisers of the event are a group of entrepreneurs with a passion for food including Melvyn Benn of Festival Republic and Phil Jones of the Manchester Food & Drink Festival.

Richmond Food & Drink Festival is going to be a very special event in one of the most attractive settings in the UK and is set to become a highlight of the British food calendar. Updates to follow.

Wales now has four Michelin Star restaurants – but Colin Pressdee author of Food Wales eating out guide has identified twenty top restaurants in Wales that specialise in seasonal menus from much locally sourced produce. With a complete geographic spread across Wales these twenty restaurants and some top contenders make Wales an even more attractive food tourism destination.

He says the quality of ingredients available that are fished, farmed and foraged from the land and sea from every region of Wales gives chefs a continual supply of inspiration for menus. The list of seasonal food outlined in Food Wales – a second helping, shows that Wales has one of the finest and most diverse supply of first class foods available.

Many restaurants throughout Wales are now sourcing their produce from local farms, smallholdings, fishermen and small artisan producers. The Top Twenty restaurants are places where first class food can be enjoyed knowing much has come from the locale and is at the right time of the year for the produce.

The menus of the top restaurants will be promoted throughout the year with examples of the best seasonal food highlighted every month on a newsletter. There will be information on what food is in season each month; examples of seasonal menus from the featured restaurants; recipes from the chefs with tips and hints; lists of chefs’ favourite suppliers; and news on special events and promotions.

Almost 100 delegates took part in an event aimed at celebrating innovation in the food and drink sector, held as part of the 2010 East Midlands iFestival.

Celebrity foodie Loyd Grossman OBE, former professional poker player Caspar Berry and serial entrepreneur Jonathan Hick were the key speakers at the iThrive event, which was organised by the Food and Drink iNet and took place at Center Parcs, Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire.

The event celebrated the finale of a string of working party sessions that have been run by the Food and Drink iNet over the past few months aimed at inspiring firms to look at new products, new processes and new ways of working.

Delegates heard about the importance of branding from TV presenter and the former host of MasterChef Loyd Grossman, who launched his Loyd Grossman brand of sauces in 1995. The brand is now worth more than £55 million a year.

They also learnt more about risk taking and decision making from ex international poker player Caspar Berry, who provided insights into risk, uncertainty and the science of decision making.

The final speaker, entrepreneur Jonathan Hick, who has appeared on Channel 4’s Secret Millionaire, told the audience how he had launched a series of businesses - from an enterprise selling foam hands to a company buying and preserving brands from firms that have gone into administration. He now has 21 partners in six different businesses.

“The iThrive event was a fitting finale to the first two years of the Food and Drink iNet, during which time the iNet has supported more than 300 businesses in the region, provided Innovation Support Grants to 57 businesses, and has funded nine university collaboration research projects,” said Food and Drink iNet director Peter Maycock. “The Food and Drink iNet has also run a successful series of events that attracted more than 650 delegates from 150 businesses to look at some of the key industry issues.

“In addition, the Food and Drink iNet has run three successful best practice factory visits and also raised the profile of the food and drink sector as a career choice amongst students at the region’s universities. I am delighted that so many people working in the sector were able to join us for such an informative and interesting event, and hope it has given delegates some food for thought for the future.”

The iThrive event was part of the 2010 East Midlands iFestival taking place from 12th March to 23rd April, which is the largest annual celebration of innovation in the UK and features more than 150 activities across the region. The iFestival is being co-ordinated by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and East Midlands Innovation (the region’s innovation council).

The Food and Drink iNet is aiming to foster innovation in the region’s food and drink sector by encouraging businesses to turn new ideas into new business through the development of new technologies and products. It’s also hoping to stimulate new processes, services and ways of working in the industry to help boost the sector.

Funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda), the Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by the Food & Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of Nottingham.

Artisan suppliers back Cricket Ground’s commitment to sustainability

Lord’s, the ‘Home of Cricket’, is adding carefully sourced artisan producers to its preferred list of food suppliers with Otter Valley Poultry farm in Devon, Rare Butchers of Mayfair and Carrolls Heritage Potatoes now on their supplier list.

Food choices at Lord’s are overseen by head chef Steven Smith, English provenance is the order of the day with organic meat sourced from award-winning Pipers Farm, Cullompton and field fresh vegetables and herbs delivered daily.

Acknowledged as cricket’s spiritual 'headquarters', Lord’s marries tradition and etiquette with progressive thinking and design; iconic images of the Pavilion and the RIBA Sterling Prize winning Media Centre are recognised across the globe by both cricket aficionados and upscale meeting and event planners.

The new food suppliers uphold Lord’s forward thinking attitude to the corporate and private events sector and underpin their development of an exacting sustainability policy and excellent supply chain management required as they implement the BS 8901 standard across all events. Lord’s have a full-time Sustainability Manager to support their Events team and can offer BS 8901 compliant events; the venue has been involved with the British Standard since piloting the first draft before its publication back in 2007.

Simon Swift, Assistant Secretary (Catering) of MCC, said, “We are committed to Lord’s setting the pace for the capital’s private and corporate events sector. It is widely understood that corporate clients must demonstrate CSR in their business decisions and we wholeheartedly embrace this. We are seeking to differentiate ourselves with our food and beverage offering backed by what is, of course, one of the world’s most prominent sporting backdrops”.

Kitchen One Day – Film Stardom The Next: Award-Winning Whitby Chef Stars In New Dvd ... WHEN you’re officially the best seafood chef in the country, everyone wants to know the secrets of your kitchen.

Film stardom, on the other hand, is less expected – but even that is now all in a day’s work for National Seafood Chef of the Year, Rob Green.
Rob, chef/owner of Green’s Restaurant & Bistro in Whitby, North Yorkshire, has just played host to a visiting film crew making a DVD aimed at aspiring chefs.

And while Rob’s new-found film stardom may not quite have him Hollywood-bound, being asked to star in the new film is the latest in a string of high-profile endorsements for the award-winning chef, who is also a regular on Tyne Tees TV and BBC Radio York.
“I’ve done quite a bit of telly work in the past, so it wasn’t that unusual having the crew here,” said Rob, who recently appeared on Countrywise with Paul Heiney and also hosted a film crew for five days for a TV series called Raw Chefs.
“I like to do cooking demonstrations, and we’ve had the cameras here a lot, so it was quite fun doing the new film,” said Rob. “In fact, I’d like to do more TV work; though I don’t know how many people would want to watch me!”

The new film, made for Seafish and the Food Standards Agency in Scotland, is an update on a previous version which now takes account of recent research. The DVD shows chefs how to safely and correctly handle seafood and includes Rob demonstrating skills such as shucking scallops.
Rob also demonstrates two recipes on the video - steamed Scottish hand-dived scallops with sesame oil and garlic, and grilled hand-dived scallops with parmesan, pesto and cured ham.
Rob, who runs Green’s along with his wife Emma – an award-winning artist specialising in willow sculpture - is renowned as one of the best seafood chefs in the UK, and his dishes at Green’s in Whitby use produce landed at Whitby.

“I go to the fish quay here in Whitby each morning and buy the best of the catch of the day,” said Rob, 39, who was first inspired to start cooking fish and seafood as a boy when he saw celebrity chef Rick Stein’s TV programmes.
“Freshness and provenance are key ingredients on our menus, which feature locally sourced fish. Our menus are dictated by what’s landed each day. You can’t get more local than that.
“It was great to be asked to do the film and help to educate young and up-and-coming chefs in seafood. It’s a specialism in itself and I’m happy to pass on the skills I’ve learned over 15 years in the kitchen.”
Rob’s renowned menus at Green’s mix the classic and the innovative, with dishes including Whitby turbot with langoustines, fennel bahji and curried hollandaise, and Whitby sea bass with smoked mashed potato, steamed mussels and queens and broccoli tempura.

Rob is also happy to cater for the more carnivorous palate with locally reared meat starring in dishes such as Yorkshire beef with braised and pressed shin, potato fondant, roasted shallots, foie gras beignet, baby carrots and sauce diable, or Wood pigeon wellington with chipolatas, black pudding and smoked bacon faggot, turnip fondant, creamed potato, game chips and rich game sauce.

The educational DVD in which he now stars, will be released in Scotland in April this year, and is aimed at dive clubs, established chefs in hotels and restaurants throughout Scotland, and trainee chefs in Scottish catering and training colleges. It will also be used as part of Seafish’s in house company training programme.

Lee Cooper, Seafish Training Development Team Leader, said: “Rob’s contribution to this DVD Training programme, as National Seafood Chef of the Year, is invaluable and much appreciated. There is only one seafood chef 2009/10 and we are very lucky to have his contribution to this project.”

Saturday 12 - Sunday 27 June 2010 Various locations across NewcastleGateshead

EAT! NewcastleGateshead is one of the country’s leading food and drink festivals and 2010’s event promises to be bigger and better than ever.

Now in its fourth year, EAT! continues to champion local food producers, restaurants and culinary talent through a programme of events that includes; The Big EAT! (Sat 12 – Sun 13 June). This free weekend includes street food markets, themed satellite festivals, cookery demonstrations, a Fairtrade City Fête and the Food Adventure Playground and will take over the streets of NewcastleGateshead. Sample food and drink from the North East’s finest producers, spice up your life at the Chilli Festival, try your luck with World Cupcakes or take your pick of the morning’s catch as a local fishing boat lands on the Quayside.

Other festival highlights include; The Great North Eco-Feast (Sun 27 June) with leading environmental chef Arthur Potts Dawson, The Pearly Diner (22-26 June), a restaurant like no other where diners can choose anything, anything they want to eat and Cakebook (Sun 20 June), which sees 100 iconic structures and buildings from NewcastleGateshead modeled out of cake!

The festival moves out of the city and into people’s homes with Artisan House Party (throughout the festival). You host the party and invite the guests and EAT! supplies the artisans as bakers, butchers, brewers and more show off their skills and teach some tricks of the trades. Following its huge success in 2009, Secret Paladares (14-19 June) returns as five more amateur chefs from a range of ethnic backgrounds open up their homes for an entirely unique and authentic dining experience.

EAT! NewcastleGateshead takes place from Saturday 12 – Sunday 27 June 2010, it is directed by Simon Preston and managed by NewcastleGateshead Initiative as part of its innovative, eclectic and family-friendly festivals and events’ programme 2010/11.

DENVER, CO - Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc., operator of the fast casual restaurant chains Spicy Pickle in the U.S. and Bread Garden Urban Cafe in Canada, today announced the opening of a Spicy Pickle restaurant in Temecula, CA and a Bread Garden Urban Cafe in downtown Vancouver.

"The Temecula location is on the ring road of a shopping center that attracts a typical Spicy Pickle customer," said Marc Geman, CEO of Spicy Pickle. "Our franchisee is very familiar with the area and already has gained catering customers which we believe is the foundation for a successful restaurant. The restaurant design and build out were done very economically with a focus on return of investment for the franchisee," said Mr. Geman, "and in this economic environment that is a key to growth."

The location is 4075 Margarita Road, Unit D, Temecula, CA 92591. Restaurant hours are 11 AM to 8 PM seven days a week. The phone number is 951-296-5660 and the fax is 951-296-5611. Franchisees Michael and Nicole Serpico are very excited to be opening their doors and Nicole plans on working closely with the schools in the area to promote fund raising activities that will introduce Spicy Pickle and help generate funds for local schools.

The new Bread Garden Urban Cafe at 855 Davie Street in downtown Vancouver is the third downtown location opened in recent months and the fifth location in the densely populated downtown area.

"Bread Garden Urban Cafes are well known in Vancouver and with this new restaurant we continue to establish a strong position in the growing Vancouver market," said Marc Geman, CEO of SPBG Franchising, Inc., a British Columbia company which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc. and the franchisor of the Bread Garden Urban Cafes. "Our staff in Vancouver continues to do an outstanding job of finding and opening high visibility locations throughout Vancouver and British Columbia."

Mr. Geman said, "The Bread Garden purchase continues to prove an extremely valuable asset of the company and its value is increasing every day. We continue to work on our portfolios of restaurants in both the United States and Canada and overall we continue to have net increases in our restaurant counts. More importantly, we are building more economically, finding better rents, and increasing efficiencies in the kitchen that reduce costs and labor. All of this should show up as better returns for the franchisees and increased unit sales which we believe will translate into increased royalty revenue for the company and continuing interest in expansion by existing and new franchisees."

About Spicy Pickle™ and Bread Garden: Founded in 1999, Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc. (OTCBB: SPKL) serves high quality meats and fine artisan breads, baked fresh daily, along with a wide choice of eight different cheeses, twenty-two different toppings, and fourteen proprietary spreads to create healthy and delicious panini and sub sandwiches with flavors from around the world. As a leading "fast-casual" concept, Spicy Pickle offers menu items that are far beyond traditional fast food but without the price point of casual dining.

The hallmark of a Spicy Pickle restaurant is quality, service and an enjoyable atmosphere. The company is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with restaurants open across 10 states and more in development nationwide. Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc. also operates as franchisor for Bread Garden Urban Cafes, a bakery cafe concept with restaurants in the metropolitan Vancouver, Canada area and British Columbia. Bread Garden Urban Cafes serve coffee, pastries and breakfast items as well as lunch and dinner along with a wide variety of desserts and are found in typical high density urban settings along with specialty locations in two airports in British Columbia.

The historic market town of Malton, North Yorkshire has established a reputation as a gourmet destination and the return of the Food Lovers Festival on Saturday, 22 May signals fine local food and drink will be the order of the day.

The popular family celebration, launched last year to huge applause, has even more to shout about this year as two Michelin chefs – both running acclaimed local gastro pubs – will be exhibiting their skills in small demonstration kitchens within the Producers’ Market, alongside other talented chefs from some of the area’s top restaurants

Andrew Pern, the well known Michelin chef at The Star Inn, Harome will be joined by James Mackenzie, the chef proprietor of the Pipe and Glass at South Dalton. James joined the ranks of Yorkshire’s esteemed six Michelin starred chefs just this year and the Food Lovers Festival will be a unique opportunity for foodies to see these two top professionals in close-up action and to speak about all things comestible.

This year’s Food Producer's Market will be significantly larger and enhanced to give participants an improved platform for their wares. These new compact kitchens will accommodate a full programme of cookery shows, producer demonstrations and tasting tutorials. Visitors will have the chance to meet and talk to some of Malton’s food heroes, and producers and local chefs will be offering a taste of the superb cheeses, meats, dressings, breads, deli and all manner of treats on sale.

And another Festival first will be the Real Ale bar and beer tasting tutorials by local brewer Suddabys. However this year’s Festival won’t just cater for foodies; families can enjoy the improved and expanded programme of entertainment, traditional fairground rides and games, the playing of a local brass band and watching street theatre.

Malton is a North Yorkshire market town with a success story to shout about. Under the banner of “We Love Malton”, a campaign was launched in March 2009 to reinstate the town through a series of activities as a top visitor destination and thriving local focus for shopping and entertainment. Since the town’s campaign started it has registered a 17 percent increase in visitor numbers.

Encouraged and supported by the Malton Estate and Malton & Norton Business in Action, the third We Love Malton Food Lovers Festival will showcase fine food and drink, and the eclectic range of high quality shops, eateries and quality shopping around the ancient Market Place and throughout the town.

Same great features, same delicious taste – but the latest TASSIMO by Bosch adds a new look to the range for 2010.

The new TASSIMO T20 drinks machine is sleek, white and beautiful!

Now there are two more great reasons to keep it on display: a great new, more compact design and a brilliant white finish.

The TASSIMO T20 offers the best of the award-winning Tassimo system, Bosch’s renowned quality and superb premium coffees, teas and creamy hot chocolate.

The T20's newly-sculptured form in white will grace any kitchen or even dining room. Drinks are prepared at the push of a button, and a barcode system with single-shot “T-DISCS” enables the machine to set up the perfect caffe crema, espresso, latte macchiato, cappuccino, tea or chocolate. But if you want your brew your way, no problem – the TASSIMO T20 can be manually overridden with your personal preference. And, whatever size of cup you prefer, the cup platform can be adjusted to accommodate it.

Bosch’s brilliant flow-heater technology ensures water at the perfect temperature for each drink is available almost instantly – no waiting for water to heat up. The 1.5 litre water tank means you aren’t constantly refilling.

The TASSIMO T20 drinks machine couldn’t be easier to use and care for. It is energy-efficient because water is only heated on demand for each cup and when not in use the TASSIMO T20 goes into stand-by mode.

When you’ve finished using it, the main parts can easily be dismantled and popped in the dishwater. It even has a compartment for the quick-start manual, as well as cable storage. Neat!

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