Sunday, May 20, 2012

Wine events promise perfect accompaniment to food theatre in new Festival partnership

The finest wine will be complementing the best food at the 2012 Wimborne Food Festival, with the announcement of a new local partnership that brings an exciting new dimension to this great Dorset event. The festival’s popular Cookery Theatre, which has hosted star names like Jun Tanaka, Sophie Grigson and Dean Edwards, will this year be sponsored by Wimborne wealth management experts Andrew David Associates, in conjunction with the Wimborne Wine Society. And as part of this new alliance there will be a series of entertaining wine events to accompany the popular cooking demonstrations, which will be held right next to the Cookery Theatre at Andrew David Associates offices in the Cornmarket. "We all know that the right bottle of wine can turn great food into the perfect meal and this brand new partnership will celebrate that age-old partnership!" said Festival organizer Clare Kavanagh. "We’re always looking to bring new elements to the Festival and I’m thrilled that we’re teaming up with a Wimborne business and a popular local group to bring this latest innovation to the event. We’ll be looking to explore the relationship between food and wine and there’ll no doubt be plenty of opportunities to sample some of the finest vintages!" Andrew Start, Director at Andrew David Associates, said: "For the local community and businesses alike, the Festival offers a great platform to show off the town and we are delighted to support it." "I’m sure that the Wine Theatre will take its place among the impressive list of events and activities already arranged for this high quality Wimborne event." The Wimborne Wine Society has been part of the town’s social life for more than 40 years and member Linda Dugdale said: "We are delighted to be taking part in the Wimborne Food Festival for the first time this year. We will be offering wine tastings which complement the dishes made during demonstrations." "We are looking forward to sharing our knowledge and passion for wine in a fun and informal way and hope to become a regular fixture at this fantastic local event in the future." The event, held this year over the weekend of October 27 and 28, will be the sixth Wimborne Food Festival.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Talented young chefs wanted to cook up a storm!


Does your family clamour for your curry or go ga-ga for your goulash? Will your friends do anything for a slice of your homemade pie? If you're always in the kitchen and you want to show the world how good you are then this competition was made for you.

Following the success of last year's competition, the 2012 Hotel du Vin Young Chef competition, in conjunction with Wimborne Food Festival, launches again to find the next young rising star.

Budding chefs, aged 8 to 16, are invited to enter and the competition, aiming to encourage and inspire young people to get into the kitchen and get cooking, is open to pupils of local schools.
Wimborne Food Festival organiser Clare Kavanagh said she was delighted to be working in partnership with Hotel du Vin. "This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to get involved in creating delicious dishes from the best of Dorset produce," she said.

Hotel Head Chef Darren Rockett said "Last years competition was a great success and Gemma Hart, our winner, was fantastic on stage at the Wimborne Food Festival cooking her winning dish. We are now looking to find our next young cooking star. The aim is to encourage young members of the community to have the confidence to create healthy, balanced meals using local, seasonal produce. We would also like to raise the profile of our local heroes who are striving to make Dorset a foodie's heaven."

Participants must enter an original recipe for a starter or a main course and all produce used in all rounds of the competition must be seasonal and locally sourced in Dorset. A shortlist of entrants will then be invited to a cook-off where they will be asked to cook their chosen recipe. Following the cook-off, two finalists will be selected.

The two finalists will take part in a live cook-off at Hotel du Vin & Bistro Poole in September where they will prepare and present a dish of their choice to Darren Rockett and a team of expert judges.

The runner up will receive a voucher to invite their family in for Afternoon Tea at Hotel du Vin & Bistro, Poole.

The prize for the overall winner will be the opportunity to cook their dish live on stage at the Wimborne Food Festival with Darren Rockett and also to assist a Celebrity Chef with their preparations at the Festival. Not forgetting, Sunday Lunch for the winner’s family at Hotel du Vin & Bistro Poole and their very own Hotel du Vin chef whites! This prize will be presented at the Wimborne Food Festival Launch Evening in October.

Please send your recipes including your name, age, address and school by email to michelle.henry@hotelduvin.com
Entries can also be submitted by post to:
Michelle Henry, Hotel du Vin & Bistro Poole, The Mansion House, Thames Street, Poole Quay, Dorset. BH15 1JN
The deadline for entries is 6th April 2012.