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PLEASE CREDIT PHOTOGRAPHY to TONY BARTHOLOMEW
19th June 2015
Martin Hyde of Eat Me cafe in Scarborough.
A mouth-watering line-up of top regional chefs will be cooking up a fishy feast for visitors to this year’s annual maritime festival on the Yorkshire coast later this month.
A whole host of tasty seaside delights and events are scheduled for Seafest 2016, which will take place from Friday 29 to Sunday 31 July in Scarborough’s South Bay.
A highlight for food lovers will be culinary excellence on show at the West Pier’s Seafest Food Theatre, sponsored by Scarborough Hospitality Association, with free demonstrations from:
- Harrison Barraclough (10.30am, Saturday and Sunday)
Head chef at Harrison’s at The George, Wath, near Ripon and one of the youngest chefs in the country to have won a coveted AA Rosette culinary award, with inspectors giving high praise for his food. Harrison is passionate about using local produce and using modern techniques in his cooking. He is fast making his mark on the demo scene at many food festivals across the region.
- Kathy Breckon (3.30pm, Sunday)
Voted Britain’s Top School Dinner Lady of the Year in 2016 in the Local Association in Catering in Education (LACA) awards. Since winning the accolade in March, Kathy, who has worked at Westcliff Primary School in Whitby for the last eight years, has found herself being wined and dined around Europe as a UK ambassador for school food. On the way, she has picked up sponsorship from food giants Nestle, advised the nation’s head teachers and even cooked for MPs in the House of Commons. - Rob Green (1.30pm, Saturday and Sunday)
A former Sea-fish National Seafood Chef of the Year and a winning contestant on ITV’s Britain’s Best Dish. Rob is an independent consultant chef and a resident chef at Cooks Cookery School at the prestigious Carlton Towers, as well as its fine dining corporate chef. Largely a self-taught chef and restaurateur, Rob has been in the restaurant trade all his working life, which is more than 25 years, including 15 years running the award winning restaurant Green’s in Whitby with wife Emma. He is also a business professor at Yorkshire Coast College. - Dan Hargreaves (11.30am, Saturday and Sunday)
A proud ‘Scarborian’ and self-confessed mad foodie who is head chef at popular tearoom and farmhouse restaurant, The Grainary, Scarborough. Dan also runs a community apple press and produces Hedge-Hoggers Cider, flavoured with foraged fruits, which will feature at Seafest this year. Dan trained at Yorkshire Coast College and is never happier than when he is making, creating, cooking and eating food.
- Martin Hyde (12.30pm, Saturday and Sunday)
Head chef and owner of Scarborough’s award winning Eat Me Café, based just around the corner from the famous Stephen Joseph Theatre and a key part of the area’s resurgence in high quality independent businesses in the last few years. Awards include: The Good Food Guide Best UK Café 2014, Yorkshire Life Best Newcomer 2014, Best UK Local Café 2013, Morrisons Great Grub Awards Best Café 2013 and Northern Rail Hidden Gems Winner 2012.
- Rebecca Palmer (3.30pm, Saturday)
A proud foodie currently showing off her culinary flair at The Plough, Scarborough, courtesy of a headhunt by James McKenzie, one of Yorkshire’s best known Michelin Star chefs. Making her debut at this year’s Seafest, Rebecca is a very talented and highly motivated student who made the regional finals of the Rotary Young Chef of the Year Competition and has continually excelled in her cooking and food design while at Yorkshire Coast College’s Fledglings Restaurant. Rebecca will soon complete her L3 Professional Cookery programme and is thinking internationally for her career aspirations. She is considering Australia, a huge importer of seafood, for her next career step and with the quality of food Rebecca has produced, it’s no wonder she has so many options awaiting her.
- Richard Pawlowski (2.30pm, Sunday)
Senior Sous Chef at the recently refurbished contemporary and opulent restaurant at The Copper Horse in Seamer, Scarborough, where he works alongside Head Chef, James North. Richard was runner up in Young’s Young Seafood Chef of the Year 2012 during his three years of training at Yorkshire Coast College. His real passion for food, working with local produce and pleasing customers have been well honed through previous experiences in a busy town centre restaurant and accredited Yorkshire pub and are thriving today in his role at The Copper Horse.
- Debbie Raw (3.30pm, Saturday)
An aspiring world-class chef with a giant sweet tooth. Debbie is currently completing her L3 Professional Cookery qualification at Yorkshire Coast College and has done so through first class cooking and an eye for detail when creating the dessert options. Specialising in the most wonderful cakes and delicately designed icing decoration, Debbie is fast creating a name for herself in the local area for her excellent cooking and stylish food design. On course for very high grades on her programme of study, Debbie reached the regional finals in the Young Seafood Chef of the Year Competition and is one of the top chefs at the college’s Fledglings Restaurant.
- Steve Swift (11.30am, Sunday)
Hailing from Mainprize’s Seafood, Scarborough, Steve must be the master of the fishing trade. Having worked in the 65 year old family business since he was a young lad, perfecting the art of filleting and preparing all types of fish, he took over the helm in 1989. Always one for a bit of a challenge, he is sharpening the filleting knives and pitting his seafood skills and knowhow to the test in the Seafest Food Theatre against the talented Dan Hargreaves.
- Christian Taylor (2.30pm, Saturday)
Sous chef at The Plough, Scarborough, working alongside renowned head chef, Jon Smith. Together they have created a well-crafted menu that is packed full of contemporary dishes made with Yorkshire ingredients. In 2013 Christian started his own business producing and selling smoked mayonnaise at farmers markets and food festivals before showcasing his products at the BBC Good Food Show. He started his craft peeling onions in a small family run restaurant in Bradford, West Yorkshire and has since spent several years fine tuning his culinary skills in various restaurants and under the guidance and tuition of a multitude of inspiring chefs.
The full weekend timetable for the Seafest Food Theatre is:
Saturday 30 July
10.30am Harrison Barraclough – Harrison’s at The George, Wath, near Ripon
11.30am Dan Hargreaves – The Grainary, Scarborough / Hedge-Hoggers Cider
12.30pm Martyn Hyde – Eat Me Café, Scarborough
1.30pm Rob Green – Cooks School of Cookery at Carlton Towers, North Yorkshire
2.30pm Christian Taylor – The Plough, Scarborough
3.30pm Rebecca Palmer and Debbie Raw – The Plough, Scarborough / Fledglings Restaurant, Yorkshire Coast College
Sunday 31 July
10.30am Harrison Barraclough – Harrison’s at The George, Wath, near Ripon
11.30am ‘Best shellfish dish cook off’
Dan Hargreaves – The Grainary, Scarborough versus
Steve ‘Piffy’ Swift – Mainprizes Seafood, Scarborough
12.30pm Martyn Hyde – Eat Me Café, Scarborough
1.30pm Rob Green – Cooks School of Cookery at Carlton Towers, North Yorkshire
2.30pm Richard Pawlowski – The Copper Horse, Scarborough
3.30pm Kathy Breckon – West Cliff Primary School, Whitby
Other highlights of this year’s Seafest include more than 35 food and craft stalls, free live music all weekend, displays of maritime heritage, tours around the Royal Navy HMS Explorer, traditional fishing and lobster pot net making exhibitions, local ale tent, pirate dance displays and a grand firework display at 9.30pm on Saturday 30 July.
Organisers are busy putting the final plans in place to ensure another successful Seafest, which aims to be the best in the event’s 18 year history.
Janet Jefferson, Chairman of the Seafest Steering Group said:
“Seafest is a fantastic maritime celebration for all the family whether visiting or living at the Yorkshire coast. We’re delighted to have secured so many talented chefs for this year’s Food Theatre, both established and aspiring, and the sights, sounds and smells of their culinary creations will be a real treat that should not be missed!”
Further information about Seafest 2016 is available at scarboroughseafest.com