With the move towards plant-based food is there a future for steakhouses? Our co-founder, Mecca Ibrahim, chatted to Katie Chesney, Head of Marketing EMEA of The One Group, who moved from  from restaurant management to marketing the STK Steakhouse group of restaurants in EMEA. Katie shared how she moved into the hospitality world, STK’s relationship with farmers, her favourite dishes on the menu and her views on some of the issues facing women in the food industry.

In the fourth of our series of Female Food Founders interviews we turn to ice cream, as summer is finally here. Also with the Allergy and Free From Show taking place in London, we met Cecily Mills founder of Coconuts Organic, dairy free ice cream.  Cecily’s ice cream secured two investment offers from Dragon’s Den. Our co-founder, Mecca Ibrahim, chatted with Cecily about about dairy-free, Dragons and driving sales in Tesco.

Our co-founder, Janie Ash, spoke to Chef Patron, Stosie Madi from The Parkers Arms about her being the only woman in the north of England to win a place in the Estrella National Restaurant Awards Top 100. Our friend James Haywood from OpenKitchen made part of our interview into a short podcast  where you can exclusively hear Stosie’s views on working as a women in the food industry and why we need more female role models in food.

July 2019 saw the 10th anniversary of Imbibe Live, one of the UK’s biggest on-trade events for the drinks and hospitality industry. Attracting thousands of visitors each year to Olympia London, our co-founder Mecca Ibrahim went along, keen to discover the latest trends.  She didn’t quite expect to see that the future of the drinks would mean less alcohol, more sustainability and an industry catering to future drinkers looking to get their kicks less intoxicating ways.

The UK’s biggest food book, writing and media awards took place on 27 June 2019 as the Guild of Food Writers Awards Ceremony and Party celebrated all that was great in food writing and media. Guild president Orlando Murrin and vice-president Felicity Cloake were the presenters and our co-founder Mecca Ibrahim (who has recently become a member of The Guild) was delighted to attend. Here’s her report of the night with a summary of which women did exceptionally well.

Celebrating winning a place in the Estrella National Restaurant Awards Top 100 and being the only woman in the north of England to win, our co-founder, Janie, chatted to Chef Patron, Stosie Madi from The Parkers Arms about what that feels like. Stosie shared her inspirations, style of cooking, passions, what it’s like to run a business and her views on issues facing women in the food industry.

You wait for one list of inspiring people in the food & drink industry and three come along at once. Hot on the heels of CODE’s Hospitality’s Over-50s Power List and the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Business Insider have just published their Top 1oo of the Coolest People in Food and Drink. Naturally we were delighted to see a number of women based in the UK in that list. Our co-founder Mecca Ibrahim highlights why she thinks they’re cool.

For the first time ever, on Saturday 29th June, Le Cordon Bleu London will throw open its doors for a very exciting Summer Food & Drink Festival. The world famous cookery school will host a fabulous array of Chef demos including Asma Khan; Olivia Burt and Anna Hansen, to name just a few.

It’s the very first Over 50 Power List, put together by CODE, the leading hospitality magazine and website. Nothing beats experience they say and we agree that each new generation can learn so much from the one before.  CODE founder Adam Hyman and editor Lisa Markwell worked with judges Tracey MacLeod, Loyd Grossman, Tom Kerridge and Dylan Jones.  The list celebrates both the pioneers and unsung heroes that make the hospitality industry richly diverse and inclusive.

Food lovers, there’s a new TV show coming your way which looks a treat.  Extraordinary Places to Eat, coming soon to BBC2, features Fred Sirieix as he travels around Europe with some of Britain’s top chefs including Angela Hartnett and Nisha Katona, visiting some of their favourite places to eat.

Posing in front of the giant letters, selfies with celebrity chefs, checking out chef demos, trying samples of  food from London’s leading restaurants, drinking gin, tasting tea, chomping cheese and eating olives in the rain, that can only be Taste of London.  Love it or hate it, our co-founder, Mecca Ibrahim, visited what is still London’s biggest food and drink festival and shares her thoughts & highlights of the four day festival which runs from June 19 – June 23 in Regent’s Park. 

We had a wonderful evening on 18th June 2019 chatting, networking and sharing our stories about sustainability. It was great to hear your views and pretty much everyone agreed that education was crucial for change and collaboration to power the message home to government and consumers.