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Who will you see at The London Gathering?
Scotland is home to some of the worlds leading celebrity chefs. We have assembled culinary masters including celebrity chef Nick Nairn, Shirley Spear of The Three Chimneys, winner of the 2007 Hotel Review’s Best Restaurant in Scotland and Master Chef Winner Sue Lawrence, to entertain and inspire everyone with demonstrations of their culinary prowess, showcasing the best of Scottish cuisine.
Additional food and beverages will be available on “Sauchiehall Street.”
Nick Nairn
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Nick is Scotland’s best-known chef and one of the country’s most popular figures. Entirely self taught, it was a passion for cooking that led him to open his first restaurant, Braeval, in 1986 and by 1991 he was Scotland’s youngest chef ever to be awarded a Michelin star. To date, he has written 10 cookery books with total sales well in excess of 500,000 copies. He has co-presented on the ever-popular Ready Steady Cook programme since 1996, and recently represented Scotland in the finals of Great British Menu, ultimately winning through to cook the main course for The Queen’s 80th birthday banquet. Nick is the owner of the Nick Nairn Cook School where he also teaches. Generally held to be the best cook school in the country, it receives over 7,000 customers every year.
www.nicknairncookschool.com
www.nicknairn.tv
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Shirley Spear & Michael Smith
Shirley Spear was Head Chef at The Three Chimneys restaurant at Colbost, north-west Skye for over 20 years. A self-taught chef, she was born in Peebles in the Scottish Borders and her passion for cooking and Scottish food stems from childhood. Since moving to the island, Shirley’s reputation has grown to have a worldwide following and a string of restaurant awards dates back to 1990.
Shirley is renowned for her use of Skye’s abundant supply of seafood. She uses as much fresh, local produce as possible from Skye and the Highlands with great emphasis placed upon quality and flavour. The List Judge’s Special Award she received in 2006/2007 recognised her achievements: “for elevating the reputation of Scotland’s larder on an international scale, devotion to top ingredients and influence upon Scottish chefs, particularly in the central belt”.
In April 2005, Shirley handed over the kitchen reigns to her Head Chef Michael Smith and, as Chef Patron, now spends her time managing the whole business with her husband Eddie.
Michael Smith was determined to become a chef from an early age. Born in Inverness he started his career in the Highlands at the Arisaig House Hotel near Mallaig before moving to London where he joined Le Pont de la Tour, one of Terrance Conran’s new restaurant group. During his three years there, the restaurant won a Michelin Red M and he spent two and a half months training at the Roux brothers’ Le Gavroche, then moved on to Jeremy Lee’s Blue Print Cafe at the Design Museum, which also won a Michelin Red M while he was there.
He returned to Scotland to open Blue with Andrew Radford in Glasgow’s Lighthouse Centre, Arta at the Old Cheese Market in Glasgow’s Merchant City with Stafan King and also, Gong, in the West End. His reputation in Scottish culinary circles grew year upon year and, in 2004, he joined The Three Chimneys on Skye becoming Head Chef in April 2005.
Sue Lawrence
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Sue Lawrence won Masterchef in 1991 and has written regular columns in Scotland on Sunday newspaper and Scotland magazine. She was a Sunday Times columnist and has also written for Sainsbury's magazine, Woman & Home, Country Living and BBC Good Food magazine. She has appeared regularly on radio and television talking about Scottish food and traditions. She won the Regional Writer Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award in 2003 for her work in Scotland on Sunday and is the author of 12 books including A Cooks Tour of Scotland, Scottish Kitchen, Sue Lawrence's Book of Baking and Scots Cooking.
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Mary Contini
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Mary has been a director of the famous Italian delicatessen, Valvona & Crolla Ltd in Edinburgh since 1983.
Having been involved in the food business all her life and grown up with strong women who were all distinctive great cooks, Mary has a direct attitude to food and cooking. She believes in using the best seasonal produce and treating it very simply to really enjoy the best flavours.
In 1995 she began writing a weekly food column for The Scotsman newspaper and appeared for three years as a guest presenter for STVÕs Square Meals, promoting easy, healthy cooking. In 2000 Mary co-presented ScotlandÕs Larder with Catherine Brown and Derek Cooper.
Mary has written several books including, the best-selling childrenÕs cookery book, 'Easy Peasy' in 1999 with co-author Pru Irvine and a second baking book for children, 'Easy Peasy Sweetie Pie'.
Her best-selling book, 'Dear Francesca - A Cook Book with Love', was first published in 2002. The book is a humorous, comforting and passionate evocation of family history and the power of good food. 'Dear Olivia: An Italian Journey of Love and Courage' , the follow up was recently published. Compiled from first-hand oral history and extensive research, the book takes the reader to the heart of the Contini and Crolla families, bringing the colourful and fascinating stories of the first Italian Scots vividly to life. |
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