Award-winning Team Feeds Bodies and Souls...

The Winning Team

Visitors to Chichester Cathedral may be used to nourishment for the soul, but a visit to the Award winning team cooking at the Cloisters Restaurant will also feed the body in fine style.

Cloisters Hospitality runs the Cloisters Café, George Bell House (a hospitality and conference facility in Canon Lane), and banqueting in the newly re-furbished Vicars' Hall in the Cathedral Precincts.  In the run-up to the main tourist season the Team have been honing their skills with a triumphant series of entries in the Wessex Salon Culinaire held in Bournemouth at the end of March.  Head Chef Barry Kearns scooped a Silver Medal in the Nestlé Professional Chef competition, with Assistant Chef Ian Havey gaining a Merit for his delicious starter of scallops and mango salsa, and General Manager Andrew Harvey proved that paperwork and administration have not dulled his practical skills as he came home with a Gold Medal, also in the Nestlé Professional Chef competition.

"We were chuffed with our successes" commented Andrew Harvey, "but it is is our youngsters who we are really thrilled about."  18 year old Chantelle Hammond works at Cloisters as a Customer Services Assistant and she scooped Silver, Bronze and a Merit in 3 separate classes in the regional WorldSkills Competition.  This means that her combined marks have sent her through to the UK National Finals of a competition striving to lift standards of training and performance in the hospitality industry throughout the world, with the potential to actually be part of the team that will represent the UK.

Weekender Charlotte Harvey has won two days working with Marcus Warring, holder of 2 Michelin Stars and Executive Chef at the Berkeley Hotel in London's Knightsbridge.  Charlotte pulled off a triumph creating a meal for 4 from mystery ingredients which gained her third place in the national finals of FutureChef 2010, from an entry of 7862 young people.  Under the scrutiny of Brian Turner CBE and a judging panel including John Williams, Executive Chef at the The Ritz, TV Chef Lesley Waters, Cyrus Todiwalla OBE and rising star Theo Randall, Charlotte kept her cool creating a main course of mackerel and a dessert of plum compote, almond biscuit and basil and lemon sorbet.  "Being able to practice filleting the mackerel whilst doing my shift at Cloisters really helped me to feel confident in front of the judges" admitted Charlotte.

Chichester food-writer Rosemary Moon commented "It's really easy to get tied up in the world of Masterchef and celebrity cooks but it is the people who cook in our restaurants. day in and day out, who will ultimately raise the standard of food and cooking in the UK.  Cloisters are using more and more local ingredients in their restaurant and at functions.  I really enjoy collaborating with them on Transition Chichester events and think they thoroughly deserve the wonderful recognition which they have just been afforded."

To book a private function with Cloisters Catering contact Maria Gordon on 01243 813586.