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Head Chef, The Red Lion Inn, Bradley
Stuart has worked for the Lewis Partnership since September 2000. He trained for 3 years at Walsall college NVQ 1,2,3 in catering. His first job role was as a commis chef at the Terrace restaurant nr Brownhills, West Midlands on a part and then full time basis before joining the Lewis Partnership as a commis chef in the pastry kitchen at the Moat House, Acton Trussell. He then moved into the main kitchen where he progressed to sous chef before being promoted to Head Chef at the Red Lion, Bradley when the Lewis Partnership bought the property in 2015.

Head Chef, The Oyster Club, Birmingham
Back in 2012, a talented young chef working at Aston Marina took to the demo kitchen stage, fresh from being named runner-up at in Taste of Staffordshire’s Young Chef of the Future competition. Rosanna has gone on to achieve big things – rising through the ranks at Michelin-starred Adam’s in Birmingham and reaching the final 12 of ‘Masterchef The Professionals’ in 2016. With her star on the rise, she has recently taken tenure of mentor Adam Stokes’ latest venture – The Oyster Club in Birmingham’s Temple Street as Head Chef.

Senior Sous chef at The Moathouse Hotel, Acton Trussell
Luca grew up in Stafford and attended Stafford College to do his culinary training. During his time at the college he did work experience at The Moathouse Hotel where he was offered a position as a Commis Chef and has now worked for the business for the last 21 years.
During his time at The Moathouse he has been lucky enough to work with the likes of Adam Handling, Tom Brown and Brad Carter to name a few. He was the lead chef for the World association off Chefs annual dinner and conference. Is a member of the British culinary Federation and acted as a judge for the BCF at the Salon Culinare in the Hospitality show at the NEC in Birmingham.

Executive Head Chef @ The Tawny
Chris’ love for food and produce started at a young age, always wanting to know more about where things come from and what could be done with them. At 25 working as a Commis Chef overnight in a hotel while studying at the UCB College of food in Birmingham, he quickly worked his way up the team to the fine dining restaurant as Sous Chef.

Well and truly ‘bitten by the bug’, Chris started going to stagiaire’s in different Michelin kitchens to gain more experience. Chris is now relishing his role at Executive Head Chef at Staffordshire’s new Tawny Hotel; finding talent at local colleges to build the team that will inspire the restaurant’s style with their ideas, tastes and influences while passing down his knowledge, instilling passion & giving back to the industry. During his demonstration, Chris will showcase the style he describes as ‘simple with a twist’; getting as many flavours out of the ingredients as possible using new & old techniques.

Sous Chef, No.26
Lee moved back to the UK from Spain at 16 to attend Stafford College’s catering & hospitality academy. During his first year he secured work experience at the Swan hotel in Stafford, where he made an impression that was to see him continue working for The Lewis Partnership on and off for 10 years, throughout all the kitchens within the company, under the guidance of Matt Davies.

During his time out of the Lewis Partnership, he worked for The Weston Hall Group as well as at Tom Kerridge’s 2 Michelin star The Hand & Flowers before returning to his hometown to work at The Moat House, Acton Trussell before becoming Head Chef at the Dog & Doublet, Sandon. Lee has just taken tenure as Sous Chef at Aston Marina’s No.26 eatery; helping ensure diners enjoy the outstanding food for which the marina is renowned.

Head Chef (weddings and events) @ Aston Marina
Jamie began his career studying at Stafford College before a 13 year tenure at Harper Adams University; winning a sustainable award for the kitchen’s ‘farm to fork’ approach.
Jamie further honed his skills in managing large-scale catering; working at Telford International centre for three years; running teams of up to 25 chefs working on multiple functions and events. Jamie’s professional, proactive approach with a focus on exemplary delivery made him a great fit to take on his new role at the marina, heading up the weddings and events kitchen team. Look out for exciting new masterclasses led by Jamie in the marina’s new event space ‘The Hideaway’ later this year – in the meantime, you can get a flavour for his culinary style in the demonstration kitchen at this year’s fest!

Founder, iCookIndian

Amarpal is passionate about sharing a lifelong love of authentic Indian cuisine that began in childhood, when he was entranced by the sights and smells of delicious street food in the Punjabi village where he grew up. Through his demonstration the audience will get a flavour of the cookery classes Amarpal runs with his family.

Little Seeds
Jake heads up the young, vibrant team at Stone’s Little Seeds who pride themselves in delivering fresh, seasonal food alongside a friendly, professional but relaxed service. Little Seeds was opened back in June 2016 and has grown into a busy, well liked neighbourhood restaurant. Its vision is to deliver a menu that is accessible to all; using ingredients when they are at their best, treated simply to create dishes with maximum flavour. Head chef Jake is always creating new dishes that make Little Seeds stand out from the crowd. He is a talented self-taught chef with a drive to push the restaurant to be better and better with a vision of continuing to grow and develop the food, service and team to the best it can be.

A la carte at home
Allan was a regular in the Stone Food & Drink Festival demonstration kitchen during his tenure at Keele Hall – and has now turned his attention to creating dishes for people in the comfort of their own homes, as he explains:
“All my dinner parties are very interactive, I like to engage with the diners and get them involved in things like spherification or stewed rhubarb with vanilla espumas as a pre-dessert. Who knows where this journey will take me, one day I would love to work with a brigade of chefs who all share my dream and ethos.”

The Flintlock at Cheddleton
Thom Bateman is a classically trained chef and restaurant owner with a vast spectrum of styles and unique dishes, becoming a head chef at the age of just 18.

The Flintlock at Cheddleton gave Thom his platform to show the world the more refined side of his cooking while his social media presence allows an open creativity and more accessible recipes for users to follow. Since becoming the executive chef and content creator for Jack Whitehall’s food page things have gone from strength to strength as Thom now has a number of high-profile associations and works with global brands to bring his culinary imagination to life. Thom is also a passionate fire cook and recently broke several records at the Taste of London festival for his food at the fire pit stage.

FEASTed
It’s been 4 years since Cris stepped back into the kitchen to develop Feasted. Prior to that he was in education; teaching in the classroom and sharing a wealth of hospitality industry he had under his belt from running kitchens.
Over the last 4 years Feasted has developed from its inception delivering soup and bread through Facebook to creating spectacular dining experiences locally and further afield. This year has seen Feasted Gastronomy launch at Stoke On Trent College last September. Cris and the college continue to work together to help students aim for the highest echelons of gastronomy; instilling the belief that ambition simply needs to become a common and daily goal. Cris’s vision is to establish gastronomy in North Staffordshire and specifically Stoke-on-Trent, and you’ll see him create some of his locally-inspired dishes during his demonstration.

Rose Petals & Rice

Zalena founded Rose Petals and Rice in 2014. The cookery class business teaches people how to cook Parsi dishes; traditional and authentic dishes from her Indian heritage passed down from her grandmother and mother.

Zalena teaches people how to use both fresh and dry spices and masalas to make a balanced meal, and is keen to promote the health benefits of many of the ingredients used in her cooking. She joins us once again at the festival to demonstrate some popular street foods still eaten across Mumbai.