Desert Island Dishes

With Anne Dolamore and special guest Darina Allen

Do you live to eat or eat to live?  For those contemplating the dishes they’d take to a desert island, the answer is most likely to be the former.

The video of the event is now available on our YouTube channel here

Anne Dolamore of Grub Street Books took her friend Darina Allen through the dishes that form a thread through her life, and their significance, and along the way we learned more of her personal history and anecdotes.

The event was FREE to view, as is the video, but Darina has nominated a beneficiary for any funds raised by this event, and so would like to encourage donations here

These will go to the Sustainable Food Trust who have shared their details below:

Our Mission:  We work to accelerate the transition to more sustainable food and farming systems on a global scale. To achieve this, we work catalytically to inform and influence individuals and organisations in leadership positions.

We are a small UK-based organisation making a big difference. Our direct involvement with practical agriculture, extensive experience in the fields of policy, regulation, standards, certification and the food market, coupled with our network of international contacts, makes us uniquely positioned to be a catalyst for change.

Please consider making a donation in lieu of a ticket fee here  and mention this event as a reference.

Meanwhile, enjoy the far-reaching conversation which will delight and charm in equal measure.

This event is now over but the recording can be viewed on YouTube

International Women’s Day 2023

Desert Island Dishes  featuring Asma Khan

Tuesday 14th March 2023  at 17:00

Asma Khan broke a few barriers when she turned a successful supper club into an even more successful restaurant.  As a second daughter  – and not the longed-for son – she had lived with that stigma but resolved to live her own life, her own way.  When it came to hiring the staff for Darjeeling Express she turned to the nannies and housewives who first filled her table and shared her food during those kitchen suppers and established an all-female kitchen – many ‘untrained’ and many still with her today.

Darjeeling Express outgrew its first premises in Kingly Court, Soho and, after a spell in residence at another venue in Covent Garden, Darjeeling Express 2.0 has just opened in a new and larger space in the same development.

Dame Julia Platt Leonard will quiz Asma on the dishes that have influenced her most and how her love of food inspired her to leave the law and become a restaurateur.

International Women’s Day 2022

Now Postponed

As we prepared to honour International Women’s Day it became increasingly clear that sales have been affected by the current situation in Ukraine.  Understandably many are anxious about what is happening to its citizens.

So, rather than celebrate in this way, we felt it was time to show our solidarity with the people of Ukraine, especially its women, and postpone the planned event until such time as peace – hopefully – prevails.

Our thoughts go out to the many people from Ukraine living in the UK, especially those in hospitality.

If you want to help we suggest you follow #cookingforukraine who are encouraging people to raise money via supper clubs to support humanitarian efforts, or donate to World Central Kitchen (https://donate.wck.org/give/236738/#!/donation/checkout) or other UK agencies on the ground.

International Women’s Day 2021

 Panel Discussion: Down on the Farm

Monday 8th March 2021 at 13:00

Our 5th annual International Women’s Day celebration moved, by necessity, to an online event.

Down on the Farm: the goats still need milking, the hens are still laying . . . and the beets grow on . . .  featured 3 prominent women in the UK farming community – Helen Browning, Chief Executive of the Soil Association and an organic livestock and arable farmer in Wiltshire (helenbrowningsorganic) Selina Cairns, a cheesemaker and sheepdairy farmer in Lanarkshire (Errington Cheese); Jess Vaughan (Ladie’s Organic Kefir), a dairy farmer in Gloucester making kefir; and from the USA Sylvia Ganier, whose farm in Nashville TN encompasses 350 acres producing fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers (Green Door Gourmet).  Host Sheila Dillon led the discussions of how they’ve had to adapt to the global pandemic.  And a surprise guest joined in from the foothills of the Pennines in Lancashire – Dot McCarthy of Cronkshaw Fold Farm and the brains behind Goats on Zoom.

All proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to Farms to Feed Us

“Farms to Feed Us CIC is a social enterprise which came together at the beginning of the Covid-19 lock-down to respond to the livelihood and food security crises. We expanded our objectives as we recognise the need to address long term structural issues in our food systems. We wish to nurture a regenerative food future where the harsh realities are highlighted along with the beauty and joy of agroecology. We envision Farms to Feed Us to be about fairness and justice to humanity and ecology – the men, women and ecosystems that feed us”

Video now available to watch here

Kitchen Confidence – reinvention through cooking

This event was recorded on Tuesday 26th January 2021 and can now be viewed here

Three uniquely placed women discuss how teaching a new skill – specifically cooking and baking – benefits the pupil with both physical and mental confidence .

When someone learns how to cook, they are learning (how to read a recipe and interpret the instructions), numeracy (how measurements work, how to halve a recipe) and science (nutrition, what heat does to transform raw food into cooked food) – and even art when it comes to decorating or plating up.

In addition you are giving someone the skills to bake a child a birthday cake, or simply put a nutritious meal on the family table and, with luck and confidence, employability.

The teacher also has a role in mentoring and monitoring mental well-being, and in the case of our guests for this webinar, a continuing resource for career advice.

Sheila Dillon of BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme led the discussion with

• Dame Catherine Sloman (Teacher, Bread Ahead Bakery and owner Kitchen Confidence Cookery School)
• Rachel Stonehouse (Head Bakery Trainer, Luminary Bakery) 
• Lucy Vincent (Founder, Food Behind Bars)

Pictured left, in same order

Hospitality vs Covid

Recorded on Monday 7th December  2020

Nisha Katona in conversation with Dame Alison Swan Parente

How do you keep a business going in the face of a pandemic ? For those in the hospitality world the pressures are enormous, and many have already lost the fight. Nisha – with 11 restaurants in her Mowgli Street Food chain, and one more pending – has been able to thrive. How?

Alison, founder of the School of Artisan Food, has faced similar challenges – having to shut down during the first lockdown but luckily remain open as an educational establishment during the second – how do you continue to recruit students when they are faced with a bleak future? Where competition for jobs will be fierce? These and many other issues will be discussed during their conversation.

The recording of this event is now available on the LDE London You Tube Channel here

The Food Chain

Recorded on Tuesday 17th November 2020

Joanna Blythman in conversation with Sheila Dillon

Two giants of our food media – food journalist Joanna Blythman and, for 20-plus  years, the head of BBC’s R4 Food Programme Sheila Dillon – in a conversation covering the wide ranging subject of food through the filter of the global pandemic and Brexit: what does the future look like for the world of hospitality and restaurants; how do we trust the Food Chain post-Brexit;  gene-edited foods and labelling; sustainability and plant-based diets; and more . . .

Watch the video here

The Nine Lives of Elisabeth Luard

On Tuesday 20th of October 2020 Elisabeth was joined in conversation by her long term friend and publisher Anne Dolamore of Grub Street Publishing 

The talk took the audience through her ‘nine lives’ so far, from her life among the Latins, to her high life in Paris, feminism and life as a deb, to her ‘low life’ art school, Soho & Private Eye phase, to her painting life and more in between.

Enjoy the recording of the event here

This was the first in a series of monthly online talks highlighting issues relevant to the current pandemic crisis.

International Women’s Day 2020

Kitchen Balance: The Advantage of Employing Female Chefs

Monday March 9th at 18:00

Desert Island Dishes – Thursday 20th May at 1pm

With Sheila Dillon and special guest Prue Leith

Do you live to eat or eat to live?  For those contemplating the dishes they’s take to a desert island, the answer is most likely to be the former.  Having starred in some of the nations best-loved food shows – The Great British Menu and The Great British Bake-off – Prue needs little introduction. However, for those who don’t know here history, here are a few bullet points:

Prue Leith’s career has included her own restaurants, catering and cookery school businesses; she’s been a board director of companies such as British Rail, Halifax, Safeway, Whitbread, Woolworths, and Belmond (ex-Orient Express) Hotels.

She has published eight novels, a memoir, Relish and 14 cookbooks. Her latest cookbook, The Vegetarian Kitchen, which she co-wrote with her niece Peta Leith, was published in 2020.

Among her awards she has a CBE, 12 honorary degrees or fellowships from UK universities, the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the year, and her restaurant, Leith’s, won a Michelin star.

She is married with two children and four grandchildren.

Sheila will talk her through the dishes of her life, and their significance, and along the way we’ll learn more of her personal history.

The event is FREE but we have selected a beneficiary for any funds raised by this event, and so would like to encourage donations here

These will go to Migrateful who run cookery classes led by migrant chefs who are struggling to integrate and access employment due to legal and linguistic barriers. Their mission is to empower and celebrate their chefs on their journey to employment and independence.

Monday 8th March 2021 at 1pm

International Women’s Day Panel Discussion: Down on the Farm

Our 5th annual International Women’s Day celebration moved, by necessity, to an online event.

Down on the Farm: the goats still need milking, the hens are still laying . . . and the beets grow on . . .  featured 3 prominent women in the UK farming community – Helen Browning, Chief Executive of the Soil Association and an organic livestock and arable farmer in Wiltshire (helenbrowningsorganic) Selina Cairns, a cheesemaker and sheepdairy farmer in Lanarkshire (Errington Cheese); Jess Vaughan (Ladie’s Organic Kefir), a dairy farmer in Gloucester making kefir; and from the USA Sylvia Ganier, whose farm in Nashville TN encompasses 350 acres producing fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers (Green Door Gourmet).  Host Sheila Dillon led the discussions of how they’ve had to adapt to the global pandemic.  And a surprise guest joined in from the foothills of the Pennines in Lancashire – Dot McCarthy of Cronkshaw Fold Farm and the brains behind Goats on Zoom.

All proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to Farms to Feed Us

“Farms to Feed Us CIC is a social enterprise which came together at the beginning of the Covid-19 lock-down to respond to the livelihood and food security crises. We expanded our objectives as we recognise the need to address long term structural issues in our food systems. We wish to nurture a regenerative food future where the harsh realities are highlighted along with the beauty and joy of agroecology. We envision Farms to Feed Us to be about fairness and justice to humanity and ecology – the men, women and ecosystems that feed us”

Video now available to watch here

Monday 8th March 2021 at 1pm

International Women’s Day Panel Discussion: Down on the Farm

Our 5th annual International Women’s Day celebration moved, by necessity, to an online event.

Down on the Farm: the goats still need milking, the hens are still laying . . . and the beets grow on . . .  featured 3 prominent women in the UK farming community – Helen Browning, Chief Executive of the Soil Association and an organic livestock and arable farmer in Wiltshire (helenbrowningsorganic) Selina Cairns, a cheesemaker and sheepdairy farmer in Lanarkshire (Errington Cheese); Jess Vaughan (Ladie’s Organic Kefir), a dairy farmer in Gloucester making kefir; and from the USA Sylvia Ganier, whose farm in Nashville TN encompasses 350 acres producing fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers (Green Door Gourmet).  Host Sheila Dillon led the discussions of how they’ve had to adapt to the global pandemic.  And a surprise guest joined in from the foothills of the Pennines in Lancashire – Dot McCarthy of Cronkshaw Fold Farm and the brains behind Goats on Zoom.

All proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to Farms to Feed Us

“Farms to Feed Us CIC is a social enterprise which came together at the beginning of the Covid-19 lock-down to respond to the livelihood and food security crises. We expanded our objectives as we recognise the need to address long term structural issues in our food systems. We wish to nurture a regenerative food future where the harsh realities are highlighted along with the beauty and joy of agroecology. We envision Farms to Feed Us to be about fairness and justice to humanity and ecology – the men, women and ecosystems that feed us”

Video now available to watch here

Kitchen Confidence – reinvention through cooking

This event was recorded on Tuesday 26th January 2021 and can now be viewed here

Three uniquely placed women discuss how teaching a new skill – specifically cooking and baking – benefits the pupil with both physical and mental confidence .

When someone learns how to cook, they are learning (how to read a recipe and interpret the instructions), numeracy (how measurements work, how to halve a recipe) and science (nutrition, what heat does to transform raw food into cooked food) – and even art when it comes to decorating or plating up.

In addition you are giving someone the skills to bake a child a birthday cake, or simply put a nutritious meal on the family table and, with luck and confidence, employability.

The teacher also has a role in mentoring and monitoring mental well-being, and in the case of our guests for this webinar, a continuing resource for career advice.

Sheila Dillon of BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme led the discussion with

• Catherine Sloman (Teacher, Bread Ahead Bakery and owner Kitchen Confidence Cookery School)
• Rachel Stonehouse (Head Bakery Trainer, Luminary Bakery) 
• Lucy Vincent (Founder, Food Behind Bars)

Pictured left, in same order

Kitchen Confidence – reinvention through cooking

This event was recorded on Tuesday 26th January 2021 and can now be viewed here

Three uniquely placed women discuss how teaching a new skill – specifically cooking and baking – benefits the pupil with both physical and mental confidence .

When someone learns how to cook, they are learning (how to read a recipe and interpret the instructions), numeracy (how measurements work, how to halve a recipe) and science (nutrition, what heat does to transform raw food into cooked food) – and even art when it comes to decorating or plating up.

In addition you are giving someone the skills to bake a child a birthday cake, or simply put a nutritious meal on the family table and, with luck and confidence, employability.

The teacher also has a role in mentoring and monitoring mental well-being, and in the case of our guests for this webinar, a continuing resource for career advice.

Sheila Dillon of BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme led the discussion with

• Catherine Sloman (Teacher, Bread Ahead Bakery and owner Kitchen Confidence Cookery School)
• Rachel Stonehouse (Head Bakery Trainer, Luminary Bakery) 
• Lucy Vincent (Founder, Food Behind Bars)

Pictured left, in same order

Hospitality vs Covid

Recorded on Monday 7th December  2020

Nisha Katona in conversation with Dame Alison Swan Parente

How do you keep a business going in the face of a pandemic ? For those in the hospitality world the pressures are enormous, and many have already lost the fight. Nisha – with 11 restaurants in her Mowgli Street Food chain, and one more pending – has been able to thrive. How?

Alison, founder of the School of Artisan Food, has faced similar challenges – having to shut down during the first lockdown but luckily remain open as an educational establishment during the second – how do you continue to recruit students when they are faced with a bleak future? Where competition for jobs will be fierce? These and many other issues will be discussed during their conversation.

The recording of this event is now available on the LDE London You Tube Channel here

The Food Chain

Recorded on Tuesday 17th November 2020

Joanna Blythman in conversation with Sheila Dillon

Two giants of our food media – food journalist Joanna Blythman and, for 20-plus  years, the head of BBC’s R4 Food Programme Sheila Dillon – in a conversation covering the wide ranging subject of food through the filter of the global pandemic and Brexit: what does the future look like for the world of hospitality and restaurants; how do we trust the Food Chain post-Brexit;  gene-edited foods and labelling; sustainability and plant-based diets; and more . . .

Watch the video here

The Nine Lives of Elisabeth Luard

On Tuesday 20th of October 2020 Elisabeth was joined in conversation by her long term friend and publisher Anne Dolamore of Grub Street Publishing 

The talk took the audience through her ‘nine lives’ so far, from her life among the Latins, to her high life in Paris, feminism and life as a deb, to her ‘low life’ art school, Soho & Private Eye phase, to her painting life and more in between.

Enjoy the recording of the event here

This was the first in a series of monthly online talks highlighting issues relevant to the current pandemic crisis.

Desert Island Dishes – Thursday 20th May at 1pm

With Sheila Dillon and special guest Prue Leith

Do you live to eat or eat to live?  For those contemplating the dishes they’s take to a desert island, the answer is most likely to be the former.  Having starred in some of the nations best-loved food shows – The Great British Menu and The Great British Bake-off – Prue needs little introduction. However, for those who don’t know here history, here are a few bullet points:

Prue Leith’s career has included her own restaurants, catering and cookery school businesses; she’s been a board director of companies such as British Rail, Halifax, Safeway, Whitbread, Woolworths, and Belmond (ex-Orient Express) Hotels.

She has published eight novels, a memoir, Relish and 14 cookbooks. Her latest cookbook, The Vegetarian Kitchen, which she co-wrote with her niece Peta Leith, was published in 2020.

Among her awards she has a CBE, 12 honorary degrees or fellowships from UK universities, the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the year, and her restaurant, Leith’s, won a Michelin star.

She is married with two children and four grandchildren.

Sheila will talk her through the dishes of her life, and their significance, and along the way we’ll learn more of her personal history.

The event is FREE but we have selected a beneficiary for any funds raised by this event, and so would like to encourage donations here

These will go to Migrateful who run cookery classes led by migrant chefs who are struggling to integrate and access employment due to legal and linguistic barriers. Their mission is to empower and celebrate their chefs on their journey to employment and independence.

Monday 8th March 2021 at 1pm

International Women’s Day Panel Discussion: Down on the Farm

Our 5th annual International Women’s Day celebration moved, by necessity, to an online event.

Down on the Farm: the goats still need milking, the hens are still laying . . . and the beets grow on . . .  featured 3 prominent women in the UK farming community – Helen Browning, Chief Executive of the Soil Association and an organic livestock and arable farmer in Wiltshire (helenbrowningsorganic) Selina Cairns, a cheesemaker and sheepdairy farmer in Lanarkshire (Errington Cheese); Jess Vaughan (Ladie’s Organic Kefir), a dairy farmer in Gloucester making kefir; and from the USA Sylvia Ganier, whose farm in Nashville TN encompasses 350 acres producing fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers (Green Door Gourmet).  Host Sheila Dillon led the discussions of how they’ve had to adapt to the global pandemic.  And a surprise guest joined in from the foothills of the Pennines in Lancashire – Dot McCarthy of Cronkshaw Fold Farm and the brains behind Goats on Zoom.

All proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to Farms to Feed Us

“Farms to Feed Us CIC is a social enterprise which came together at the beginning of the Covid-19 lock-down to respond to the livelihood and food security crises. We expanded our objectives as we recognise the need to address long term structural issues in our food systems. We wish to nurture a regenerative food future where the harsh realities are highlighted along with the beauty and joy of agroecology. We envision Farms to Feed Us to be about fairness and justice to humanity and ecology – the men, women and ecosystems that feed us”

Video now available to watch here

Monday 8th March 2021 at 1pm

International Women’s Day Panel Discussion: Down on the Farm

Our 5th annual International Women’s Day celebration moved, by necessity, to an online event.

Down on the Farm: the goats still need milking, the hens are still laying . . . and the beets grow on . . .  featured 3 prominent women in the UK farming community – Helen Browning, Chief Executive of the Soil Association and an organic livestock and arable farmer in Wiltshire (helenbrowningsorganic) Selina Cairns, a cheesemaker and sheepdairy farmer in Lanarkshire (Errington Cheese); Jess Vaughan (Ladie’s Organic Kefir), a dairy farmer in Gloucester making kefir; and from the USA Sylvia Ganier, whose farm in Nashville TN encompasses 350 acres producing fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers (Green Door Gourmet).  Host Sheila Dillon led the discussions of how they’ve had to adapt to the global pandemic.  And a surprise guest joined in from the foothills of the Pennines in Lancashire – Dot McCarthy of Cronkshaw Fold Farm and the brains behind Goats on Zoom.

All proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to Farms to Feed Us

“Farms to Feed Us CIC is a social enterprise which came together at the beginning of the Covid-19 lock-down to respond to the livelihood and food security crises. We expanded our objectives as we recognise the need to address long term structural issues in our food systems. We wish to nurture a regenerative food future where the harsh realities are highlighted along with the beauty and joy of agroecology. We envision Farms to Feed Us to be about fairness and justice to humanity and ecology – the men, women and ecosystems that feed us”

Video now available to watch here

Kitchen Confidence – reinvention through cooking

This event was recorded on Tuesday 26th January 2021 and can now be viewed here

Three uniquely placed women discuss how teaching a new skill – specifically cooking and baking – benefits the pupil with both physical and mental confidence .

When someone learns how to cook, they are learning (how to read a recipe and interpret the instructions), numeracy (how measurements work, how to halve a recipe) and science (nutrition, what heat does to transform raw food into cooked food) – and even art when it comes to decorating or plating up.

In addition you are giving someone the skills to bake a child a birthday cake, or simply put a nutritious meal on the family table and, with luck and confidence, employability.

The teacher also has a role in mentoring and monitoring mental well-being, and in the case of our guests for this webinar, a continuing resource for career advice.

Sheila Dillon of BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme led the discussion with

• Catherine Sloman (Teacher, Bread Ahead Bakery and owner Kitchen Confidence Cookery School)
• Rachel Stonehouse (Head Bakery Trainer, Luminary Bakery) 
• Lucy Vincent (Founder, Food Behind Bars)

Pictured left, in same order

Kitchen Confidence – reinvention through cooking

This event was recorded on Tuesday 26th January 2021 and can now be viewed here

Three uniquely placed women discuss how teaching a new skill – specifically cooking and baking – benefits the pupil with both physical and mental confidence .

When someone learns how to cook, they are learning (how to read a recipe and interpret the instructions), numeracy (how measurements work, how to halve a recipe) and science (nutrition, what heat does to transform raw food into cooked food) – and even art when it comes to decorating or plating up.

In addition you are giving someone the skills to bake a child a birthday cake, or simply put a nutritious meal on the family table and, with luck and confidence, employability.

The teacher also has a role in mentoring and monitoring mental well-being, and in the case of our guests for this webinar, a continuing resource for career advice.

Sheila Dillon of BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme led the discussion with

• Catherine Sloman (Teacher, Bread Ahead Bakery and owner Kitchen Confidence Cookery School)
• Rachel Stonehouse (Head Bakery Trainer, Luminary Bakery) 
• Lucy Vincent (Founder, Food Behind Bars)

Pictured left, in same order

Hospitality vs Covid

Recorded on Monday 7th December  2020

Nisha Katona in conversation with Dame Alison Swan Parente

How do you keep a business going in the face of a pandemic ? For those in the hospitality world the pressures are enormous, and many have already lost the fight. Nisha – with 11 restaurants in her Mowgli Street Food chain, and one more pending – has been able to thrive. How?

Alison, founder of the School of Artisan Food, has faced similar challenges – having to shut down during the first lockdown but luckily remain open as an educational establishment during the second – how do you continue to recruit students when they are faced with a bleak future? Where competition for jobs will be fierce? These and many other issues will be discussed during their conversation.

The recording of this event is now available on the LDE London You Tube Channel here

The Food Chain

Recorded on Tuesday 17th November 2020

Joanna Blythman in conversation with Sheila Dillon

Two giants of our food media – food journalist Joanna Blythman and, for 20-plus  years, the head of BBC’s R4 Food Programme Sheila Dillon – in a conversation covering the wide ranging subject of food through the filter of the global pandemic and Brexit: what does the future look like for the world of hospitality and restaurants; how do we trust the Food Chain post-Brexit;  gene-edited foods and labelling; sustainability and plant-based diets; and more . . .

Watch the video here

The Nine Lives of Elisabeth Luard

On Tuesday 20th of October 2020 Elisabeth was joined in conversation by her long term friend and publisher Anne Dolamore of Grub Street Publishing 

The talk took the audience through her ‘nine lives’ so far, from her life among the Latins, to her high life in Paris, feminism and life as a deb, to her ‘low life’ art school, Soho & Private Eye phase, to her painting life and more in between.

Enjoy the recording of the event here

This was the first in a series of monthly online talks highlighting issues relevant to the current pandemic crisis.

Kitchen Confidence – reinvention through cooking

This event was recorded on Tuesday 26th January 2021 and can now be viewed here

Three uniquely placed women discuss how teaching a new skill – specifically cooking and baking – benefits the pupil with both physical and mental confidence .

When someone learns how to cook, they are learning (how to read a recipe and interpret the instructions), numeracy (how measurements work, how to halve a recipe) and science (nutrition, what heat does to transform raw food into cooked food) – and even art when it comes to decorating or plating up.

In addition you are giving someone the skills to bake a child a birthday cake, or simply put a nutritious meal on the family table and, with luck and confidence, employability.

The teacher also has a role in mentoring and monitoring mental well-being, and in the case of our guests for this webinar, a continuing resource for career advice.

Sheila Dillon of BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme led the discussion with

• Catherine Sloman (Teacher, Bread Ahead Bakery and owner Kitchen Confidence Cookery School)
• Rachel Stonehouse (Head Bakery Trainer, Luminary Bakery) 
• Lucy Vincent (Founder, Food Behind Bars)

Pictured left, in same order

Hospitality vs Covid

Recorded on Monday 7th December  2020

Nisha Katona in conversation with Dame Alison Swan Parente

How do you keep a business going in the face of a pandemic ? For those in the hospitality world the pressures are enormous, and many have already lost the fight. Nisha – with 11 restaurants in her Mowgli Street Food chain, and one more pending – has been able to thrive. How?

Alison, founder of the School of Artisan Food, has faced similar challenges – having to shut down during the first lockdown but luckily remain open as an educational establishment during the second – how do you continue to recruit students when they are faced with a bleak future? Where competition for jobs will be fierce? These and many other issues will be discussed during their conversation.

The recording of this event is now available on the LDE London You Tube Channel here

The Food Chain

Recorded on Tuesday 17th November 2020

Joanna Blythman in conversation with Sheila Dillon

Two giants of our food media – food journalist Joanna Blythman and, for 20-plus  years, the head of BBC’s R4 Food Programme Sheila Dillon – in a conversation covering the wide ranging subject of food through the filter of the global pandemic and Brexit: what does the future look like for the world of hospitality and restaurants; how do we trust the Food Chain post-Brexit;  gene-edited foods and labelling; sustainability and plant-based diets; and more . . .

Watch the video here

The Nine Lives of Elisabeth Luard

On Tuesday 20th of October 2020 Elisabeth was joined in conversation by her long term friend and publisher Anne Dolamore of Grub Street Publishing 

The talk took the audience through her ‘nine lives’ so far, from her life among the Latins, to her high life in Paris, feminism and life as a deb, to her ‘low life’ art school, Soho & Private Eye phase, to her painting life and more in between.

Enjoy the recording of the event here

This was the first in a series of monthly online talks highlighting issues relevant to the current pandemic crisis.

Kitchen Confidence – reinvention through cooking

This event was recorded on Tuesday 26th January 2021 and can now be viewed here

Three uniquely placed women discuss how teaching a new skill – specifically cooking and baking – benefits the pupil with both physical and mental confidence .

When someone learns how to cook, they are learning (how to read a recipe and interpret the instructions), numeracy (how measurements work, how to halve a recipe) and science (nutrition, what heat does to transform raw food into cooked food) – and even art when it comes to decorating or plating up.

In addition you are giving someone the skills to bake a child a birthday cake, or simply put a nutritious meal on the family table and, with luck and confidence, employability.

The teacher also has a role in mentoring and monitoring mental well-being, and in the case of our guests for this webinar, a continuing resource for career advice.

Sheila Dillon of BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme led the discussion with

• Catherine Sloman (Teacher, Bread Ahead Bakery and owner Kitchen Confidence Cookery School)
• Rachel Stonehouse (Head Bakery Trainer, Luminary Bakery) 
• Lucy Vincent (Founder, Food Behind Bars)

Pictured left, in same order

Hospitality vs Covid

Recorded on Monday 7th December  2020

Nisha Katona in conversation with Dame Alison Swan Parente

How do you keep a business going in the face of a pandemic ? For those in the hospitality world the pressures are enormous, and many have already lost the fight. Nisha – with 11 restaurants in her Mowgli Street Food chain, and one more pending – has been able to thrive. How?

Alison, founder of the School of Artisan Food, has faced similar challenges – having to shut down during the first lockdown but luckily remain open as an educational establishment during the second – how do you continue to recruit students when they are faced with a bleak future? Where competition for jobs will be fierce? These and many other issues will be discussed during their conversation.

The recording of this event is now available on the LDE London You Tube Channel here

The Food Chain

Recorded on Tuesday 17th November 2020

Joanna Blythman in conversation with Sheila Dillon

Two giants of our food media – food journalist Joanna Blythman and, for 20-plus  years, the head of BBC’s R4 Food Programme Sheila Dillon – in a conversation covering the wide ranging subject of food through the filter of the global pandemic and Brexit: what does the future look like for the world of hospitality and restaurants; how do we trust the Food Chain post-Brexit;  gene-edited foods and labelling; sustainability and plant-based diets; and more . . .

Watch the video here

The Nine Lives of Elisabeth Luard

On Tuesday 20th of October 2020 Elisabeth was joined in conversation by her long term friend and publisher Anne Dolamore of Grub Street Publishing 

The talk took the audience through her ‘nine lives’ so far, from her life among the Latins, to her high life in Paris, feminism and life as a deb, to her ‘low life’ art school, Soho & Private Eye phase, to her painting life and more in between.

Enjoy the recording of the event here

This was the first in a series of monthly online talks highlighting issues relevant to the current pandemic crisis.

The Food Chain

Recorded on Tuesday 17th November 2020

Joanna Blythman in conversation with Sheila Dillon

Two giants of our food media – food journalist Joanna Blythman and, for 20-plus  years, the head of BBC’s R4 Food Programme Sheila Dillon – in a conversation covering the wide ranging subject of food through the filter of the global pandemic and Brexit: what does the future look like for the world of hospitality and restaurants; how do we trust the Food Chain post-Brexit;  gene-edited foods and labelling; sustainability and plant-based diets; and more . . .

Watch the video here

The Nine Lives of Elisabeth Luard

On Tuesday 20th of October 2020 Elisabeth was joined in conversation by her long term friend and publisher Anne Dolamore of Grub Street Publishing 

The talk took the audience through her ‘nine lives’ so far, from her life among the Latins, to her high life in Paris, feminism and life as a deb, to her ‘low life’ art school, Soho & Private Eye phase, to her painting life and more in between.

Enjoy the recording of the event here

This was the first in a series of monthly online talks highlighting issues relevant to the current pandemic crisis.