Chefs including Sat Bains, Dan Doherty and Pip Lacey are among the line-up for this year’s event.
The chefs will be showing off their skills in live cooking demonstrations as part of The Staff Canteen Live kitchen theatre. The line-up, which also includes Shaun Rankin and John Williams, will be sharing practical advice, on-trend ingredient combinations and top trade tips.
What else is on?
This year’s event will play host to a range of panel discussions focusing on different areas of the industry.
The Tech Innovation Stage will be running talks covering the latest updates in hospitality technology. Speakers include Gary Goodman, the founder of ‘intelligent bill’ technology Yumpingo, who will be talking with Wahaca CEO Mark Selby about how the group is using the platform to develop the menu at their Test Kitchen restaurant in Shoreditch.
At a time of uncertainty for the industry the brand-new Hospitality Futures Stage will seek to offer answers to some of the burning questions around Brexit, staffing and sustainability.
Meanwhile panels at the Café Commerce Stage will explore the future of artisan coffee, while the co-founder of Gail’s bakery chain will give his views on the future of the food industry.
The Launchpad will see the team behind Searcys discuss the group’s 150 years in business, and its upcoming Champagne bar at St Pancras station.
To view the full seminar programme click here.
Fine dining gets competitive
Visitors can also reserve their spot at La Parade des Chefs, Hotelympia’s two fine dining restaurants set in the middle of a competitive team cooking challenge. Over the four-day show The Dining Room will play host to teams from Compass Group, Celtic Manor Resort, The Craft Guild of Chefs, and Sodexo, who will be bidding to impress judges with a three-course menu. The combined Services Culinary Arts Team and three National Culinary Teams will be competing against each other for medals in The Terrace restaurant.
To book your table at La Parade des Chefs click here.
Exhibitors
This year’s Hotelympia will be split in to four shows playing host to specialist products and suppliers, ranging from kitchen knives to craft beer and cordials. The events, running concurrently, will include the Foodservice show; Hospitality Tech Show; Professional Kitchen Show; and Interiors and Tableware Show,
International Women’s Day
The final day of the show falls on International Women’s Day (8 March), and Hotelympia will be marking the event with a specially designed programme looking at the challenges and opportunities facing women in the hospitality industry. Chef Emily Roux will be discussing female chefs in the "post-Gordon Ramsay age", while Pip Lacey will discuss her experience working for Angela Hartnett and opening her first restaurant Hicce in London this year.
Hotelympia runs from 5-8 March at ExCel London. Pre-register online here to avoid to the £30 entrance fee.