Events
good-natured personality to provide an account of how he earned his reputation as ‘The Dragon Slayer’ after appearing on the BBC Dragon’s Den series in 2007 and sent his sauces business soaring. “He’s going to be quite an interesting one,” she adds. Another of those speakers will be writer, broadcaster, and former Conservative Member of Parliament, Gyles Brandreth, who says he has planned an address that “will be absorbing and crammed full of important messages, as well as fascinating facts”. This should prove riveting for all, considering he can with some authority deliver anecdotes about the late Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, David Cameron, and US Presidents Clinton and Obama. Charles Campion, he of the restaurant- review and food-writing
world, will be
making an appearance to educate the audience on food trends. Campion, who describes himself as the man “who makes no excuses”, examines if the UK is merely a copycat nation lagging 18 months behind the US. An interesting discussion as UK school caterers look more and more at the US school meals service. Campion will also highlight popular cuisines and not- so-popular trends, as well as discuss the driving forces behind the rapid growth of street food in the country. 2012 Olympic Gold medalist Katherine Grainger and Greg Nugent, director of branding, marketing and culture at the London 2012 Games and Paralympic Games, will be there to put a gilded edge on the proceedings. Nugent aims to share his experiences about the planning that went into building a team of diverse individuals who put a special shine on the London Olympics, while Grainger – Britain’s most successful female rower – will look at the mindset required to keep on moving forward to Gold.
HIGHLY POLISHED
One of the most important items on the agenda for The Main Event is the Finishing Touches salon
culinaire. The event,
sponsored by Dr Oetker Foodservice, has a reputation for being the most important opportunity of the year for LACA members to show off their culinary talents and for these skills to be judged by the Craft Guild of Chefs against national standards. “LACA is rightly proud of the high quality of entries over the last five years of the competition and in seeing the progressive rise in numbers of entrants to over 130
LACA national chair Anne Bull
“I don’t think
I’ve seen times as tough in the
industry as they
are now”
in 2012,” Anne says. Two live classes – a sandwich and wrap class and a carved fruit platter class – for education caterers, as well as two development classes for their pupils or students, have been added to the line-up this year to boost the reputation of the competition and to encourage the growth of new talent in the industry.
The criteria for each category is set by the Craft Guild of Chefs, whose senior members will judge the entries. Certificates of Gold, Silver and Bronze are awarded to those who achieve the highest standards and a Best in Class will be picked in each category, as well as a Best in Show from all eight categories.
The full list of categories for 2013 is: • Apple pie/tart • Biscuits • Cold Canapés
• Cupcakes • Decorated Celebration Cake • Decorated Novelty Cake • Filled sponge/gateau • Floral Sugarcraft display piece • Petit Fours • Traybake
Steve Munkley, vice president of the Guild, says: “We are really pleased to continue developing this competition with LACA. The organisation has some really talented chefs and this gives them an opportunity to shine in their own environment. It will also hopefully give them the confidence to compete against other sectors of the industry in the future.” “The standard of exhibit at Finishing
Touches 2012 exceeded that of 2011, with an amazing amount of effort put into every category,” he continues. “The introduction of the new classes last year tapped
June 2013 31
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