With this year marking the 20th Anniversary of the Christchurch food festival it is safe
to say they are pulling out all the stops to make this a spectacular event to remember.
Taking place on Saturday the 11th and Sunday 12th May, Christchurch Food Festival celebrates all that is great within the food and hospitality industry in Christchurch and the local area.
During the market weekend, the High Street is transformed with stalls brimming with local delicacies. Down on the picturesque riverside setting of Christchurch Quay, the experience continues with free-to-view cookery demonstrations, Beer Festival, fabulous cocktails, Kids Kitchen, excellent entertainment and Dorset Food & Drink trademark marquees, as well as dozens of stalls selling delicious food to eat there or take home and create exciting recipes. Also new for 2019 sees Saxon Square turned in to a Vegan and Vegetarian market with some amazing suppliers ready to showcase their products.
Festival Village
The Festival Village is home to the Demonstration Theatre, sponsored by Saxe Coburg, where the festival showcases some brilliant award-winning chefs from local restaurants, gastro-pubs and hotels as well as celebrity chefs who love our Festival and come back often! This year they are thrilled to welcome back festival ambassadors Lesley Waters (Saturday) and Dean Edwards (Sunday) as well as many top local chefs.
Kids Kitchen
The festival aims to promote a passion for learning, at the Fun Kitchen they will teach children about where food comes from, food provenance and will get hands-on with messy cookery, designed to ignite the desire to cook and question. Fun Kitchen actively promotes healthy eating in their workshops and they will get children to try food that they would not normally eat by making familiar dishes with a twist! Tickets for the events at Fun Kitchen can be purchased from www.regentcentre.co.uk or call 01202 499199
New for this year is the Kids Kitchen Learning Zone, designed especially for children and family cooking. You can come along and take part in the cooking with Dr Sean Beer from Bournemouth University and join in with the quizzes and competitions run by students from the university’s nutrition department.
Di Thomas, the Healthy Eating Specialist from Waitrose, will also be in attendance to give information about vegan and gluten free food to help you to make the right food choices for a healthy diet.
Gala Dinner, Sunday 9th June
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Christchurch Food Festival there will be a Gala dinner held on Sunday 9th June. “Ten for Twenty” will see eight of the area’s finest chefs work together to produce a gourmet dinner, working alongside one of the regions finest bartenders and one of Christchurch’s leading Sommelier for just 120 guests at the Captain’s Club Hotel. The chefs creating and cooking this delicious meal will include; Alex Aitken – Harbour Hotels Group, Andrew Gault – Captain’s Club Hotel & Spa, Colin Nash – Three Tuns Inn, James Golding – The Pig Group, Luke Matthews – Chewton Glen, Simon Hallam – Sandbanks Hotel, Kerry Witt – Chocolates by Miss Witt and Jen Williams – Naked Jam.
As part of the event Cyrus Todiwala OBE DL and his wife Pervin, from Café Spice Namaste, will be the guest speakers. Cyrus is a chef, author, educationist and entrepreneur. He is Co-Patron of Café Spice Namaste and Mr Todiwala’s Kitchen at the Hilton, London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5, Mr. Todiwala’s Kitchen in Lincoln Plaza London, part of the Hilton Curio Collection and Mr. Todiwala’s Petiscos in Buckhurst Hill. Today, Café Spice Namaste is the longest running Michelin BIB restaurant in the world. Cyrus has an MBE for his services to education and training and an OBE for services to the catering and hospitality industry. He is a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London, a Founding Member of the Guild of Entrepreneurs, and a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Cooks.
Cyrus and Pervin Todiwala comment, “It has always been a great pleasure to be involved with the Christchurch Food Festival over the years in various capacities. Meeting so many lovely people and a fabulous group of organisers is like a chef’s dream come true! The Christchurch Food Festival has an ambience, a charm and a feeling of belonging all its own. It has created a niche in the hearts and minds of thousands over the years and we are most proud to have been associated with it along its journey of success. We are delighted to be asked to speak at the celebration event and looking forward to an evening of great food prepared by some amazing chefs and lots of fun in a great setting.”
Special guests of honour on the night include Mary Reader, President of the Food Festival, Lesley Waters & Dean Edwards, Festival Ambassadors and Anton Edelmann, former executive chef at London’s Savoy Hotel and original patron of Christchurch Food Festival.
If you would like to be a part in what is set to be an incredible culinary event showcasing great food in and around Christchuch you can book your ticket by calling 01202 475111 or at www.christchurchfoodfest.co.uk
Photos courtesy of Christchurch Food Festival.
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