Chef Conference 2000

TV CELEBRITY chef John Torode, ITV Chef of the Year Tony Singh and BBC TV's Food & Drink resident chef Antony Worrall Thompson are the latest culinary stars to join the line-up for the Caterer & Hotelkeeper Chef Conference 2000. Run in association with Lavazza, the conference is being held at the Millennium Britannia Mayfair hotel in London's Grosvenor Square on Monday 6 March.

Torode and Singh will be appearing in the afternoon, when they will be giving a joint organic-based masterclass, while Worrall Thompson will be joining the panel for the Question Time-style session discussing the use of organic produce in restaurants, genetically modified foods and staffing problems. The session will be chaired by broadcaster Michael van Straten and Worrall Thompson will be joined by panellists Raymond Blanc, chef-patron of Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire; John Campbell, executive chef at Lords of the Manor, Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire; and Paul Merrett, newly appointed head chef of London's Greenhouse.

The conference will be opened by Britain's only three-Michelin-starred chef, Michel Roux, chef-patron of the Waterside Inn, Bray, Berkshire, and he will be followed by Pat McDonald, consultant chef, whose TV programme If You Can't Stand the Heat, appeared on Channel 4 last year.

The afternoon will include a motivational session from Flight Lieutenant John Nichol, who was shot down and captured by Iraqis during the Gulf War, and workshops from London chefs Giorgio Locatelli of Zafferano, Claire Clark of Claridge's, the Dorchester's Henry Brosi and Marcus Wareing of Pétrus. Cheese expert Juliet Harbutt will also be running a workshop in association with Jeroboams, while conference sponsor Lavazza will give delegates an in-depth coffee tasting.

The conference dinner will be cooked by Millennium Britannia Mayfair's executive chef Neil Gray and his brigade. If you would like a booking form, contact Sarah Sutton on 020 8652 8349 or see page 108.

by Amanda Afiya