The People
The Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival looks forward to welcoming the following celebrity chefs and food writers to Snape Maltings over the weekend of 25th and 26th September:
The Marquee Stage
sponsored by Marks & Spencer
Saturday 25th September
10.15am – Emma Crowhurst, EADT cookery writer and TV Chef
Saturday 25th September – Marquee Stage
Emma has appeared on television many times firstly as part of Leith’s School of Food & Wine where she was Head Teacher to co presenting BBC2’s Food and Drink Programme with Antony Worrall Thompson and has appeared on Ready Steady cook, Celebrity Chef Weakest Link and the Generation Game.
Since moving from London to Suffolk, she has set up a small catering business and teaches at Fermyn Woods Hall Country House. She is the Food Writer for the East Anglian Saturday Magazine. She does her own food photography and enjoys writing recipes using seasonal and local ingredients. Her cookery book first published in 2006, called ‘Men in the Kitchen’ has just been reprinted.
11.00am – Ruth Watson, The Crown & Castle Hotel, Orford and TV presenter
Saturday 25th September – Marquee Stage
Ruth Watson
Ruth Watson, and her husband David, have been based in Suffolk for nearly 30 years. In 1983 they bought Hintlesham Hall, near Ipswich which had been made famous as a restaurant by Robert Carrier. They transformed it over a period of six years into an award-winning 33-bedroom hotel and built an 18-hole golf course.
Since then Ruth and David have run the Fox and Goose Inn at Fressingfield and Ruth has spent much time writing for various food publications including Sainsbury’s The Magazine, being Food Editor of the Daily Mail’s Weekend magazine, and writing three cookery books.
In 1999, the Watsons bought the 18-bedroom Crown and Castle hotel in Orford, on the Suffolk coast. Over the last nine years it has received glowing write-ups for the food, style and service from the national press, including the Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard, The Independent, Time Out, Observer, The Times, Guardian and Financial Times. The restaurant has 2 AA rosettes and a Michelin bib gourmand.
Ruth has presented three series of The Hotel Inspector for Channel 5 before leaving for Channel 4. She has presented two series of Country House Rescue and is currently filming a third.
Her only ambition is to do the “Star in a reasonably priced car” spot on Top Gear.
11.45am – Matthew Fort, Food and Drink Editor, The Guardian and presenter of ITV Market Kitchen
Saturday 25th September – Marquee Stage
Matthew Fort
Matthew’s food writing career began in 1986 when he began a column about food in the Financial Times Saturday Review. In 1989 he became Food & Drink Editor of The Guardian, a position he still holds. Since then he has written for a wide variety of British, American and French publications and has won numerous food writing awards.
12.30pm – Judging of Suffolk breadmaking competition
organised by Tastes of Anglia, supported by Marriages the Master Millers.
12.45pm - Valentine Warner, food writer, chef and culinary adventurer
Saturday 25th September – Marquee Stage
Valentine Warner
Valentine is a culinary adventurer with a passion for food, nature, the seasons and mainly being outdoors. After a stint at art college, Valentine dropped the paint brush and picked up a spoon. He then spent five years working under chefs such as Alastair Little and Rose Carrarini before setting up a private catering company. In September 2008 Valentine first appeared on our TV screens with his first series What to Eat Now which saw Valentine seeking out the best food and dishes that Autumn has to offer. A second series of What to Eat Now was shown in July and August last year which saw Valentine concentrating on Summer’s seasonal bounty. The two accompanying books What to Eat Now and What to Eat Now – More Please have both been published by Mitchell Beazley and have been best-sellers.
Valentine writes a monthly column for BBC Magazine Olive and has written for The Times, The Independent, Waitrose Food Illustrated and more. A self-confessed, natural born fidget, Valentine always finds a cure for his restlessness at home in the kitchen.
1.30pm - Discussion Forum chaired by Sheila Dillon of BBC Radio 4 Food Programme, Rose Prince of The Telegraph and other panellists, discussing the conclusions of Friday’s food conference
Saturday 25th September – Marquee Stage
Sheila Dillon
Sheila presents BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme. She has been a food journalist for almost three decades, beginning work as an editor and writer at the New York based magazine, Food Monitor.
For twenty years she has worked on The Food Programme, first as reporter, then producer and now presenter.
2.30pm – Chris Lightfoot, Marks and Spencer lead demonstration chef
Saturday 25th September – Marquee Stage
Chris Lightfoot is establishing a reputation as one of the finest New Product Development Services in the UK having been recognised by a variety of prestigious retailers and food manufacturers. Chris has a very passionate and disciplined reputation in the kitchen, always striving for perfection having been trained by Raymond Blanc, Marco Pierre White, Paul Heathcote and Michael Caines, who remains a friend and a continued source of inspiration.
Today, Chris’s style focuses on simple techniques, extracting the maximum flavours from familiar ingredients whilst working direct with the retailers and suppliers to push the boundaries of new product development. Research trips to America, Italy and Spain haved provided continued sources of inspiration and in the spring 2006 Chris travelled to the worlds most luxurious hotel “Burj Al Arab” in Dubai, meeting the culinary team, dining in one of the world’s top ten rated restaurants, studying the attention to detail, quality and freshness of ingredients sourced globally – an experience which he found truly breath-taking and remarkable.
Chris, “dreaming the impossible – developing the future!”
3.15pm – Galton Blackiston, Morston Hall Hotel, Michelin* Chef and TV personality
Saturday 25th September – Marquee Stage
Galton Blackiston
Galton, and his wife Tracy, run Morston Hall in north Norfolk. It is one of Britain’s leading country house hotels, consistently receiving awards since the AA nominated it as Newcomer of the Year in 1992 and Emily Green as joint winner of the Country Hotel of the Year along with Chewton Glen. With a CATEY award, Michelin ‘star’ since 1998, Three AA Red Stars and Three AA Rosettes, Morston Hall has been recognised as both a great English hotel and restaurant.
For Galton, the move to Norfolk represented a return to childhood summers, foraging for mussels and shrimping and the opening of an Aladdin’s Cave of Norfolk treasures: Blakeney lobsters, Cromer crabs, Morston mussels, Cley smokehouse kippers, Norfolk apples and local wild mushrooms are just some of the goods which local producers deliver to Morston Hall’s kitchen most mornings, giving Galton the chance to work with the best seasonally available produce for his reknowned meals – the no choice, four-course dinners and hearty breakfasts.
In response to requests from Morston Hall regulars, Galton has been sharing his passion for Norfolk produce and the skills of Morston Hall’s kitchen, in twice monthly series of cookery demonstrations since 1992. He has appeared on Anglia Television, on the BBC with James Martin, on Gary Rhodes’ Food Heroes, Market Kitchen and the Great British menu, always promoting seasonal and Norfolk produce, something which he is very keen on encouraging.
Perhaps the biggest achievement so far has been the production of his three books ‘Cooking at Morston Hall’ , A return to real cooking and Summer Time. The cook books were wonderfully reviewed and received by the public and press alike. The Telegraph, Times, Financial Times, Daily Mail and others have given the books great reviews. Galton has been fortunate to have Delia, Simon Hopkinson and Mathew Fort write the forwards. Galton is a member of the Guild of Food Writers and is Patron to various Charities.
4.00pm – Thomasina Miers, former winner of Masterchef, food author and TV presenter
Saturday 25th September – Marquee Stage
Thomasina Miers
Thomasina Miers was winner of BBC 2’s MasterChef in 2005. She is a cook and food writer whose work has ranged from cheese-making and running market stalls in Ireland to opening a large restaurant and cocktail bar in Mexico City. Following her win, she spent 6 months cheffing at Petersham Nurseries Café. She then went on to open Wahaca, a restaurant now with three sites, that cooks fresh food inspired by the markets of Mexico, using sustainably caught fish, well-reared British meat from known farms and recycling everything down to its food waste. Tommi has written for Waitrose Food Illustrated, the Financial Times the Guardian and had a regular column in the Saturday Times from 2006-2009. She has written and co-edited 4 cookery books (Soup Kitchen; Cook; Wild Gourmets) the last of which was published in March 2010, “Mexican Food Made Simple”. She has presented various cookery TV programmes, including A Cook’s Tour of Spain and is the face of British markets, NABMA.
Thomasina lives with her husband in Kensal Rise, north-west London.
Sunday 26th September – Marquee Stage
10.15am – Chris Lightfoot, Marks and Spencer lead demonstration chef – see biography under earlier entry
Sunday 26th September – Marquee Stage
11.00am – Rose Prince, food author and writer from The Telegraph
Sunday 26th September – Marquee Stage
Rose Prince
Rose Prince is an acclaimed food writer who regularly contributes to the Daily Telegraph and other national papers and magazines. She is the author of The New English Kitchen, a guide to shopping, cooking and eating naturally and cost-effectively, and also The Savvy Shopper, the ethical shopper’s bible.
11.45am – Simon Wadham, Head Chef, Rivington Grill
Sunday 26th September – Marquee Stage
Simon was born on the Isle of Wight. He attended Kingham Hill School in Oxfordshire until the age of 15 and it was there that he decided to join the army. He served abroad for the next seven years. Upon leaving the army he moved to London and began working at the fashionable Joe’s Café in South Kensington. He then went to work for Oliver Peyton at the famous Soho restaurant, Atlantic Bar & Grill. Simon spent the next ten years working for Peyton, being involved in most of his operations at one stage or another. In 2007, Simon joined Caprice Holdings as Head Chef at Rivington Grill Shoreditch and Greenwich where he works with locally sourced produce, creating distinctively British dishes. Outside of the kitchen, Simon is interested in film, food and drink, mountain sports and sky diving, and loves going on holiday (don’t we all?!).
12.30pm – Brett Graham, Chef Patron, The Ledbury, Notting Hill, London
Sunday 26th September – Marquee Stage
1.15pm – Marcus Verberne, Head Chef, Brown’s Hotel, Mayfair, London
Sunday 26th September – Marquee Stage
New Zealander Marcus Verberne, has worked alongside Mark Hix for the last eight years. Previously sous chef at Le Caprice, J Sheekey and The Ivy, Marcus is currently Executive Chef at Browns Hotel, Mayfair. Marcus began his career in Wellington before moving to Melbourne to work alongside Bill Marchetti at Marchetti’s Latin, and then Cecconi’s. Marcus now lives in Colchester and enjoys foraging for wild food in Suffolk and Essex, including picking sea vegetables in West Mersea, which frequently appear on his menus.
2.00pm – Rory Whelan, Head Chef, The Swan, Southwold
Sunday 26th September – Marquee Stage
Rory joined Adnams two years ago (2008) as head chef at The Swan Hotel in Southwold. His menu features classic dishes presented with flair such as Roast Fillet of Pork with Parma Ham, Pommes Anna, Spinach, Sage and Onion and a Port jus.
Rory works closely with local suppliers to source the ingredients he uses each day in the kitchen, getting to know the individual growers and producers as well as where his ingredients come from.
Rory’s love of food stems from cooking at home in Dublin with his mother as a child and working in kitchens throughout his teenage years. He loves the buzz and creativity of being a chef and completed his training at L’esgargot in Soho, before taking up the role of Senior Sous Chef at Hintlesham Hall in Suffolk.
While working at Hintlesham, he was consultant chef at the Riverside Hotel in Mildenhall, helping them achieve 2 Rosettes. Rory made two further moves to the Swan at Lavenham, and the award-winning Hoste Arms in Burnham Market, Norfolk before joining Adnams.
2.45pm – Suffolk County Council and Paul Freeman of The Queen’s Head, Blyford demonstrating winning recipes from Suffolk school children
Sunday 26th September – Marquee Stage
Paul Freeman runs the Queen’s Head, Blyford, and is a classically trained chef. Combining his extensive knowledge of preparing fine cuisine with a desire to run a self-sufficient restaurant, Paul has brought great food to the sleepy village of Blyford. His goal is to use only home-grown or local produce on his menu and over the past six months, he and wife Charlotte have created a well-stocked smallholding on the land surrounding the pub to achieve this. A specialist in hunting game and fowl, Paul values great tasting, fresh food and won’t compromise when it comes to the food he prepares for his customers.
COMPERING on the Marquee Stage by Mark David and on The Courtyard Stage by Simon Cook of The Cooking Experience cookery school, Hadleigh www.cookingexperience.co.uk
Mark David along with his wife, Annie runs an exciting recreational cookery school in Hadleigh, near Ipswich where the emphasis is on Fun and Inspiration. Spending the day with Mark and the team means you step out of your normal routine into a world of wonderful ingredients, inspirational cooking and lively chat with like-minded people.
Mark’s career is somewhat chequered! From the cavernous, almost tropical kitchens of a large city centre hotel in Yorkshire, Mark has worked as a waiter in Paris, a chef at Waltons Restaurant, Chelsea, London, a restaurant and hotel inspector for Egon Ronay and much more including a memorable year with Robert Carrier at Hintlesham Hall, Suffolk. As well as running the cookery school courses, Mark works closely with AGA demonstrating their world famous cookers in East Anglia and the home counties. As if that isn’t enough he writes regularly for East Anglia’s premier glossy, The Suffolk Magazine as their resident Food Columnist reviewing the county’s best food producers and eateries. Mark loves a stage and a lively audience. Waitrose Magazine once referred to him as “A cross between Tommy Cooper and Geoff Capes!” His latest venture is setting up Demonstration Theatres at Food Festivals and inviting local chefs to showcase their recipes on stage!
COURTYARD STAGE
Saturday 25th September
10.15am – Simon Cook, The Cooking Experience
Saturday 25th September – Courtyard Stage
11.00am – Madalene Bonvini-Hamel, British Larder Suffolk
Saturday 25th September – Courtyard Stage
‘Food and cooking is in my blood and it’s my life. As a passionate driven individual who strives for perfection I’ve never been satisfied with just the ordinary. I strive to go that little bit further and push the boundaries just that little bit more’.
With a successful career as a professional chef spanning over 15 years, I’ve had the privilege to work at Michelin starred restaurants and explore the world of contract catering. I therefore currently offer my expertise on a consultancy basis and host various cooking demonstrations.
The British Larder is a recipe diary that is written, trialled and tested by a professional chef and self-confessed food fanatic. It’s been specially created for likeminded foodies who’d like to expand their repertoires and share their cookery tips with others via the blog on my website www.britishlarder.co.uk. The recipes mainly feature British seasonal produce; however, this does not stop me from writing about food, ingredients and recipes inspired by my travels. Each recipe is accompanied by photographs because the way that food looks is as important as the way it smells and tastes.
Gardening has also entered my repertoire and I’ve been enjoying planting various fruits and vegetables. This has lead to a new found respect for the food that we see in abundance at the market, or even the supermarket, as I’ve had firsthand experience of the love and attention that is needed for something to grow and ripen naturally.
11.45am – Anna Mosesson, Author of ‘Sweedish Food and Cooking’
Saturday 25th September – Courtyard Stage
Anna Mosesson shares her time between Sweden, Italy and Aldeburgh! She runs cooking tours in all three places. She has recently been filmed picking mushrooms with Jamie Oliver and will prepare a couple of dishes from that programme. Her book Swedish Food and Cooking has been on the Amazon 100 best seller list, Anna also took part in the first Masterchef programme which was won by Tomasina Miers. She cooks with flair, enthusiasm & without fuss and loves an audience!
12.30pm – Suffolk County Council and Paul Freeman of The Queen’s Head, Blyford demonstrating winning receipes from Suffolk school children
Saturday 25th September – Courtyard Stage
Paul Freeman runs the Queen’s Head, Blyford, and is a classically trained chef. Combining his extensive knowledge of preparing fine cuisine with a desire to run a self-sufficient restaurant, Paul has brought great food to the sleepy village of Blyford. His goal is to use only home-grown or local produce on his menu and over the past six months, he and wife Charlotte have created a well-stocked smallholding on the land surrounding the pub to achieve this. A specialist in hunting game and fowl, Paul values great tasting, fresh food and won’t compromise when it comes to the food he prepares for his customers.
1.15pm – Robert Mace, Head Chef, The Crown, Southwold
Saturday 25th September – Courtyard Stage
Robert’s kitchen career started at the age of 15, washing pots and peeling vegetables in a small hotel in Thetford. Having set his heart on a catering career, he signed up for a catering diploma at West Suffolk College and practised his trade at a variety of prestigious events including Buckingham Palace garden parties and Newmarket Races.
College led to a brief spell in France, followed by a job at the Old Bridge Hotel in Huntingdon. Three years later Robert joined Adnams as Sous Chef of The Swan Hotel where he became more involved in the development of dishes and started to find his own unique style.
In 2007, Robert moved a couple of doors along Southwold High Street to become Head Chef at The Crown, The Swan’s sister hotel. Here, Robert and his team serve up to 200 diners a night from a menu of deliciously uncomplicated dishes created from really good ingredients. He is a firm believer in local produce and strives to use the best that Suffolk and the surrounding area has to offer.
2.00pm – Guy de Moubray with ideas for ‘Easy Entertaining at Eighty’
Saturday 25th September – Courtyard Stage
Guy was born in Kuala Lumpur in 1925, the son of a colonial civil servant. He studied Japanese at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London – 1942/3, served in the Army 1943 – 1946, fought the Japanese in the teak jungles of Burma in 1944/5, was present at the Liberation of Singapore in September 1945 and personally rescued his parents from prison camp. Trinity College, Oxford 1946/8. He worked in H.M.Treasury 1948/50. Served with the Bank of England from 1950 to 1976 with many senior jobs including Chief Economist in the mid-1960s. Adviser to the Governor of the Bank of Morocco 1976/78, then a management consultant until the age of 70. After his wife died in 1999 Guy started to entertain and write and publish his own cookery books, including Dinner at Eighty and Dinner for One. Guy will be guiding you through his ideas and tips for simple entertaining enabling you to spend as much time as possible with your guests! He will be selling copies of his cookery books too. For more information see www.buxlow.com.
2.30pm – Gerard King, Butcher, The Suffolk Food Hall
Saturday 25th September – Courtyard Stage
Gerard King is a third generation butcher originally from London. He takes great care to source the best meat, poultry and game in Suffolk, working closely with local farmers and gamekeepers who take pride in their animal welfare and husbandry ensuring that only good quality meat with provenance is on offer in the Broxtead Butchery.
Meat arrives as whole carcasses and is cut using traditional methods by Gerard and his skilled team, enabling them to prepare any cut to suit your needs. They actively encourage customers to try new or indeed forgotten cuts such as brisket, skirt steak or pork cheeks. The attention to detail and the team’s skill earned the Broxtead Butchery, the well deserved title of Best On-Farm Butcher in Britain (National Farm Shop Awards 2010).
3.15pm – Stephen David, The Crown at Woodbridge, Thorpeness & Aldeburgh Hotels Ltd.
Saturday 25th September – Courtyard Stage
Chef-Patron of the Crown at Woodbridge, a boutique townhouse inn and one of East Anglia’s hottest properties, Stephen David’s stylish cooking makes good use of the wonderful Suffolk produce on his doorstep.
At the heart of this charming riverside market town, The Crown at Woodbridge may have stood at the crossroads for over 500 years but it now blends 21st century cutting edge design and cossetting interiors with historic architecture in four distinctive dining areas, a glass-roofed bar with suspended skiff boat and ten calming luxurious bedrooms. A distinct fan of the County’s best artisans such as Suffolk Farmhouse Cheeses, Pinney’s of Orford smoked fish, Sutton Hoo chickens and Lane Farm charcuterie, Stephen combines these local delicacies with an array of worldly tastes. His catholic cosmopolitan menu in the main extends to refined yet earthy, modern European dishes with the occasional nod to the Far East.
Chef/Proprietor of the 2 AA Rosette-winning Earsham Street Café at Bungay for ten years before moving to Woodbridge, Stephen was previously Executive Chef of the famous Hoste Arms, the celebrity haunt in North Norfolk’s Burnham Market.
The Crown at Woodbridge, Thoroughfare, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1AD
T: 01394 384242 W: www.thecrownatwoodbridge.co.uk
4.00pm – Mike Keen, The Brewery Tap, Ipswich
Saturday 25th September – Courtyard Stage
Mike is cook & joint owner (with his wife Georgie) of The Brewery Tap in Ipswich Docks which celebrates its first birthday on 1st October 2010. Mike works closely with local suppliers to promote & celebrate Suffolk’s fantastic food heritage, Mike makes his own air-dried ham from pigs fed on the spent grains from the microbrewery on site, has his own chickens (& fledgling snail farm) & uses salad & veg grown near Woodbridge. Before The Tap Mike spent a while as Head Chef at The Anchor in Walberswick, prior to that Mike completed a contract as a troubleshoot chef for an Italian cruise company in China, Korea and Japan. Previous work has included private event catering for celebrities such as George Michael & Jamie Oliver and a stint as general manager of Jimmy’s Farm of BBC TV fame. To complete a wide & varied career Mike has also catered on board cruise chips in the Caribbean, cheffed in Montreal & Buffalo, NY, and run a restaurant in New Zealand.
A passionate advocate of East Anglian produce, Mike loves top class, seasonal & locally sourced produce and cooking it simply to great effect.
Sunday 26th September
10.15am – Steve & Marie Taylor, Pakefield Produce: ’From Field to Fork – A guide to preparing and cooking rabbit’
Sunday 26th September – Courtyard Stage
Pakefield Produce is the collaboration of three friends whose aim is to cater for the demand locally for clean, fresh and healthy harvested rabbits by the restaurants, pubs and people of Suffolk.
Steve Taylor was born within a stones throw of the New Forest, from there he has spent most of his life in rural Lincolnshire, before finally settling in deepest darkest Suffolk. The beautiful places that he has lived have allowed him to develop his passion to pursue his love for fishing many other field sports, either as an active participant or in the capacity of a field sports photographer, with his work being regularly published in the Shooting Times and the Countryman’s Weekly. Marie Taylor is passionate about using, cooking and understanding the value of locally grown and harvested food. Marie took to the hunter gatherer philosophy at the earliest age with her father, a gamekeeper. Qualifying as a chef at Broadstairs Catering collage many years ago she has continued to work in the food industry, and is currently putting her skills to good use helping the next generation of chefs at her local catering college.
Simon Whitehead
When Mrs Beaton whispered those immortal words: “First catch your rabbit.” little did Simon know how relevant that quote would become. Simon is not only a local warrener who runs a successful rabbit management company, but also an author of three books on ferreting, countless DVDs and the subject of many TV and newspaper/magazine articles. His writings can be seen regularly in the Shooting Times and The Countryman’s Weekly magazine. During the winter he harvests rabbits around East Anglia. He also travels around the country demonstrating at many of the major summer events under the auspice of Pakefield Ferrets and is in great demand for talks at clubs and associations.
11.00am – Galton Blackiston – Morston Hall Hotel, Michelin* Chef & TV personality – see biography under earlier entry
Sunday 26th September – Courtyard Stage
11.45am – Valentine Warner – food writer, chef and culinary adventurer – see biography under earlier entry
Sunday 26th September – Courtyard Stage
12.30pm – Orford Primary School pupils and Thomasina Miers
Sunday 26th September – Courtyard Stage
Orford Primary School’s pioneering kitchen classroom was opened in March 2009 with the aim of delivering comprehensive cooking skills to the children, with the added benefit of some cross curricular learning.
Thought to be the first for a primary school in the UK, the purpose built kitchen can accommodate up to 10 children being taught at a time.
Delicious meals, using local and seasonal ingredients, such as leek and smoked haddock risotto, followed by pancakes with apples in a fudge sauce are typical of the food produced. Taking home the recipes of the day, many of the children have gone on to demonstrate their new found cooking skills at home and teaching their parents!
1.15pm - Justin Kett, The Brudenell Hotel, Thorpeness & Aldeburgh Hotels Ltd.
Sunday 26th September – Courtyard Stage
‘Award-winning head chef, Justin Kett, has held his position at the Brudenell Hotel in Aldeburgh for more than two years. Born in Suffolk and inspired to cook at an early age by his mother, Justin trained as a chef before working overseas, where he gained valuable experience in working with a variety of culinary styles. He returned to England and settled at the Michelin starred Castle Hotel at Taunton, where he worked under the auspices of Richard Guest, before returning to his Suffolk roots. Using his wealthy experience and the delicious produce so readily available to him, Justin’s menus are imaginative and seasonally inspired, without being outrageous or pretentious.’
2.00pm – Yoxford Primary School’s Cookery Club
Sunday 26th September – Courtyard Stage
2.45pm – Ugur Vata, The Galley, Woodbridge & Ipswich
Sunday 26th September – Courtyard Stage
Ugur Vata is the charismatic owner of the historic Galley Restaurants in Ipswich and Woodbridge. His restaurants have been covered in various magazines by well-known gourmets many times and Ugur himself has been recognised not just for his cooking but for his involvement in the community particularly Education and the Arts. Cooking is in his blood.
Ugur came to Suffolk from Turkey in 1983 on a Scouts expedition. He fell in love with Suffolk and it’s abundance of high quality food produce and vowed to return as soon as possible. He studied at Suffolk College and the Colchester Institute and City College Norwich and was quickly recognized for his outstanding creative cooking flair and focus on ingredient quality. Supported by his wife Samantha his career quickly progressed.
Despite his 24/7 working schedule he remains as passionate about fine food and the importance of sourcing locally as when he started. “Our emphasis is on high quality local ingredients that are well-cooked and beautifully and simply presented. I will not compromise on quality. I buy nothing prepared, it is all freshly made in each restaurant – my Suffolk Suppliers deliver direct or I pick up myself. When I talk about from the field to the fork –I do really mean it!”
3.30pm – Simon Cook, The Cooking Experience – see earlier entry for biography
Sunday 26th September – Courtyard Stage
