Andrew Kay: Live food
Well, Heaven only knows how we did it but once again we did, delivering the Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival. Despite everything that fate and the weather could throw at us we managed to stage a host of events throughout the ten days that
culminated in a huge event on Hove Lawns.
I started the previous week by hosting the launch event, Make Your Case and Bitter and Twisted. Then, while our vast Sussex Food Market dominated the centre of the city, I was running up and down stairs in the Regency Town House like Ruby (from Upstairs, Downstairs) on a bad day.
“Mrs Bridges, Mrs Bridges – when the Prince of Wales visits can I look over t’ bannister?”
I did resist screaming from the Piano Nobile: “Mrs Bridges, Mrs Bridges – when the Prince of Wales visits can I look over t’ bannister?”, all delivered with a nasal and slightly regional accent. Not that I didn’t want to, I simply did not have the time.
That was followed by a Regency Wine and Cheese tasting with Henry Butler of Butler’s Wine Cellar and David Deaves of La Cave au Fromage.
Sunday was a day of rest but Monday had me back on my feet hosting the Three Chefs event at Blanch house, a jolly evening of fine food and wine that saw great dishes from 24 St Georges, The Restaurant at Drakes and a very talented young chef with a roving portfolio.
Tuesday was free but on Wednesday I took on two separate roles, on one hand the host of our very prestigious International Chef Exchange programme, and the other as producer, director and presenter of the Latest TV documentary of the same name.
Our visiting chef was the delightful Pepijn Schmeink from Eendracht restaurant in Rotterdam, and boy, can that man cook. On Wednesday we took him shopping for fine ingredients at Taj and Infinity Foods where he was truly impressed and by night he joined us for the Vegan Maki Challenge at Moshimo.
By 10am the following day he was cooking up a storm in the kitchen of Hotel du Vin for our special dinner which was attended by the Lord Lieutenant of the County of East Sussex, Mr Peter Field, and by the Lady Mayor of Brighton and Hove, Denise Cobb. I move in very high circles, you see. It was a gastronomic triumph and Pepijn received a standing ovation.
The next day more filming for TV as I took him on a foodie tour of the city with a superb early dinner at Terre à Terre and finishing up at the Beer and Cider Festival on Hove Lawns.
He joined me again on the Saturday morning to cook live, before being dashed away to cook dinner back in Holland.
The live food stage was a hoot, great chefs and few disasters. I hosted the Extreme Food Challenge and the final of the Brighton and Hove Council Food Hygiene curry chef competition where excellent dishes from Desi and Sabai were beaten into runner-up positions by a superb offering from Chef Alun Sperring of Chilli Pickle.
Sunday was a blustery day but we fought the weather, delivered a full day of chefs and finished off with a newly formatted Brighton and Hove Food Awards in the evening where once again our lovely Lady Mayor was in attendance plus Caroline Lucas MP and Mike Weatherly MP.
And after that I staggered to a taxi and went home to a flat that looked like it had been burgled. A bag of booze did not make up for a fridge bereft of food and after a supper of cheese and onion crisps, not a gourmet delight, I collapsed in bed, exhausted but happy.
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