The winners of the annual Observer Food Monthly Awards were announced on 17th October 2019.  Celebrating the best in food and drink, the awards are voted for by both readers and a panel of judges. Hosted by Nigella Lawson and Jay Rayner 17 awards were presented at The Freemasons Hall in London. Discover some of the amazing women who picked up accolades. 

From October 21st to 22nd, dozens of exceptional chefs will descend on Food On The Edge in Galway City to dissect topics impacting the future of food. The annual symposium founded by Michelin-starred chef JP McMahon is now in its fifth year and features a host of amazing chefs and change-makers over two busy days. Food writer Chloe King will be attending and previewed some of the highlights. 

With diner demand for eating out with a minimal impact on the planet and at a time when the climate crisis is making headlines like never before, the finalists for Food Made Good Awards 2019 have been revealed. The awards recognise the restaurants, foodservice businesses and people whose accomplishments have driven progress in the industry and demonstrate that all food can be made delicious, ethical and sustainable.  45 finalists who are making a difference in the food industry are on the shortlist for this year’s awards run by The Sustainable Restaurant Association.

Acclaimed chef Léa Linster won a Michelin star in 1987 and owns three restaurants in Luxembourg: Restaurant Léa Linster, Au Quai de la Gare and Kaschthaus. She became a gold medal winner of the 1989 Bocuse d’Or, which made her the first  and to date only woman to ever accomplish this.  Our co-founder, Mecca Ibrahim, was lucky enough to speak to Mrs Linster about her inspirations and how she put Luxembourgian cuisine on a global map with her achievements.

From working in a Michelin starred kitchen with chefs such as Anna Haugh to helping develop ready meals for Tesco, development chef Phillipa Armitage-Mattin has seen two incredibly different ends of professional kitchens.  Our co-founder, Mecca Ibrahim, asked Chef Philli how she made the move and what it’s like producing meals for a mass market after the precision of working in two of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants.

We had the wonderful opportunity to catch up with Head Chef, Ruth Hansom, of Pomona’s on Hereford Road in Notting Hill who  joined the line up of chefs who competed in the Bocuse d’Or National Selection on 30th September at The Restaurant Show. The Bocuse d’Or,  is the world’s largest and most prestigious cooking contest and Ruth was the only female chef to make the finals to represent the UK. Our co-founder, Mecca Ibrahim, spoke to Ruth about the competition behind the scenes at London’s busy Olympia Exhibition Centre in our podcast and interview.

Renowned culinary institute, Le Cordon Bleu London announced the winner of their coveted  Julia Child Scholarship. Bianca-Tia Mesuria from Hackney in London, was the chosen candidate having beaten off immense competition with entry numbers for the prize at a record high this year.

An evening to discuss equality within the food industry and why it is still such a hot topic even in the 21st century. We’ll discuss the moves that many restaurants and organisations are making to ensure parity with the hospitality industry and what we can all do to make working in the food industry a more balanced place in terms of gender.

Staffing in restaurants is currently a very hot topic, particularly in London. So how do you keep a Central London restaurant with over 350 staff running like clockwork? Our co-founder, Mecca Ibrahim, chatted to Caroline Taylor, General Manager of Mayfair’s Novikov Restaurant & Bar. This glamorous and huge restaurant has two dining rooms, covering Asian & Italian food, and a Lounge Bar.  Caroline shared her experience of launching and managing two of London’s most influential and ground-breaking venues the restaurant in the OXO Tower and the Fifth Floor at Harvey Nichols.  She also shared her views on staff motivation & recruitment in the restaurant world.

The Cookbook Festival returns to Chiswick from 12th to 16th September 2019 as part of the Chiswick Book Festival.  The festival has a great and varied line-up of chefs; every single one with their own fascinating approach to cooking and inspirational stories to share. If you are looking for an  intimate venue where you can meet and see the authors in action cooking and talking about their food, recipes and kitchen style, then this is the event for you.

Continuing our series of Female Food Founders interviews we’re about to approach a number of exhibitions and trade shows which support food businesses, so we chatted to Karen Green who is speaking at some of these shows. As well as being the author of Recipe for Success, about how to run a successful food business, Karen is the founder of Food Mentor which she set up to help growing food companies overcome commercial challenges.  Our co-founder, Mecca Ibrahim, spoke to Karen for her thoughts on common challenges facing the budding food industries today & how the industry is changing.

In the tenth of our series of Female Food Founders interviews we look at a producer in the growing area of “free from” and allergy foods.  We first met Sonia Mason Founder of Slightly Different Foods  who have the largest range of FODMAP Friendly accredited sauces developed and manufactured in the UK at the huge Allergy and Free From Show at Olympia in London. Our co-founder, Mecca Ibrahim, chatted with Sonia to discover what FODMAP is, how Small Business Sunday helped her business and how to scale up from home kitchen to wider distribution.