The role of Head Chef will be a hands-on one and you will take full responsibility for the management of the kitchen, team and ensuring a top quality product is consistently delivered. The ideal candidate for the Head Chef role will be a strong leader with good communication skills and be financially astute, able to run a profitable kitchen.

Again, for the role of Head Chef  we are looking for strong Italian Nationals with great Italian cuisine experience to high standards and preferably with some Middle East or other international experience.

Salary package offered: AED 10,000 to 12,000 (US$2500-3000) monthly tax free plus 1 bedroom accommodation plus transport allowance.

Please send your cv to jon@corecruitment.com with recent photograph to apply, only short listed candidates will be contacted.

The role of Head Chef will be a hands-on one and you will take full responsibility for the management of the kitchen, team and ensuring a top quality product is consistently delivered. The ideal candidate for the Head Chef role will be a strong leader with good communication skills and be financially astute, able to run a profitable kitchen.

We are looking for strong Italian Nationals with great Italian cuisine experience to high standards and preferably with some Middle East or other international experience and working background of group restaurants with compliance to company standards and menu implementation.

Salary package offered: US$2500-3000 monthly tax free plus 1 bedroom accommodation and transport allowance plus medical cover

Please send your cv to jon@corecruitment.com with recent photograph to apply, only short listed candidates will be contacted.

Treat yourself to a weekend away in a restaurant with rooms this summer. Whether you venture just outside London to the Michelin-starred Hand & Flowers, or further afield to sample Simon Rogan’s celebrated cooking at L’Enclume in Cumbria (pictured), Square Meal suggests foodie destinations hidden in the UK’s loveliest locations so that you can plan your escape.

Treat yourself to a weekend away in a restaurant with rooms this summer. Whether you venture just outside London to the Michelin-starred Hand & Flowers, or further afield to sample Simon Rogan’s celebrated cooking at L’Enclume in Cumbria, Square Meal suggests foodie destinations hidden in the UK’s loveliest locations so that you can plan your escape.

In brief: An edge-of-town location, just 21 miles from London, this is Marlow’s jewel in the crown, after being awarded its second Michelin star last year.

The lowdown: Ignore the fact that this looks and feels like a pub, The Hand & Flowers is a cleverly reworked, classy restaurant with rooms, run by a chef with a great pedigree. Discreetly decadent bedrooms are housed in nearby terraced cottages and feature huge beds, vast baths, rain showers and lots of indulgent extra touches; two have their own outdoor hot-tub deck.

What’s cooking: Genuine flavours, respect for British ingredients and a refreshing lack of pretension are chef Tom Kerridge’s trademarks, so look out for salt-cod Scotch egg with chorizo; loin of Cotswold venison with ox tongue and Bérigoule mushroom; and dazzling desserts such as chocolate cake with salted caramel and muscovado ice cream.

Cost: From £140 per double room per night B&B.

In brief: Located in Petersfield – an old market town in an area of outstanding natural beauty. The former 17th-century coaching inn is in a quiet street and may look like a pub, but inside offers a restaurant look and feel.

The lowdown: This is an old-school restaurant with rooms. From the front door, you step straight into the dining room, then upstairs to three bedrooms, and that’s more or less it – but it has been beautifully done. From the cream-coloured dining room to the intimate bedrooms (with mod cons such as flat-screen TVs and Wi-Fi), everything is highly stylish, yet simple.

What’s cooking: Chef Jake Watkins believes in English seasonality, and technically brilliant dishes may include pork cooked two ways with celery and cumin; turbot with Jerusalem artichoke risotto; and hazelnut macaroon with white chocolate and muscavado.

Cost: From £85 per double room per night B&B.

In brief: This may feel like a remote retreat, yet it’s only a few twisting miles away from major roads and the M6 – and well worth the detour. Culinary precision and a walk on the wild side are ample reward for a lengthy journey.

The lowdown: It’s a breath of fresh air – the dark beams, rough-stone walls and unfussy, neutral space could not be further from nostalgic Lakeland sentimentality. Bedrooms and suites have spread from the converted blacksmith’s to lavish houses and cottages throughout the village – none more than a couple of minutes’ walk from the restaurant.

What’s cooking: Recent years have seen chef Simon Rogan become more focused on the raw materials available in this part of Cumbria, acquiring an organic farm to grow the herbs, vegetables and fruits that now feature on his tasting menus. It’s this passion for food, as well as the commitment to excellence, that really steals the show.

Cost: From £99 per double room per night B&B.

In brief: Just over an hour by train from St Pancras International, Read’s occupies a grand Georgian manor house on the outskirts of Faversham, home to 500 listed buildings and England’s finest medieval street.

The lowdown: Run by David and Rona Pitchford, this is arguably the perfect base for exploring the area (Canterbury Cathedral is close by). The cosseting luxury of the six elegantly furnished rooms is on the traditional side, although one room does come with a wet-room shower.

What’s cooking: Terrifically assured cooking is rooted in classic French technique and built around the seasons. Expect dishes such as sautéed tiger prawns with orange-infused Puy lentils and Chardonnay butter sauce; slow-cooked belly of pork with crackling and baby spinach; and hot quince soufflé with homemade vanilla ice cream.

Cost: From £135 per person per night for dinner, B&B.

In brief: The former showroom of furniture designer Gordon Russell mixes city style with a cute olde-worlde Cotswold village. Nearby Chipping Campden and Stow-on-the-Wold provide the antique shops, or there’s the aspirational Daylesford Organic Farm Shop & Café.

The lowdown: A weekend in the Cotswolds is the quintessential break and Russell’s makes a delightfully unpretentious getaway. A warm welcome and a relaxing, convivial air draw an appreciative crowd of both locals and out-of-towners. Bedrooms are modishly luxurious and beautifully designed.

What’s cooking: Chef Damian Clisby sources his ingredients diligently, and quality shines through in dishes such as a bracingly fresh crab cocktail; rump of Lighthorne lamb with crisp-topped pommes Anna; and a perfect cherry clafoutis with crème anglaise. A constantly changing wine list and a cracking Sunday lunch also wow the crowds.

Cost: From £105 per double room per night B&B.

This feature was published in the spring 2012 edition of Square Meal Lifestyle.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced and hard working Events Head Chef to take full responsibility at development level for the day-to-day running of this contemporary Events Company.  

The role of Head Chef will require you to oversee the Events but will also be hands on in the kitchen. High volume, good quality food – this Head Chef role will need an organised and structured individual who can manage a team and work to tight deadlines. 

The successful Head Chef must have events experience and excellent communication skills and you must be able to work under pressure and have experience working in Events. It is preferable to have had at least 2 years experience in a similar role. A positive attitude and good work ethic are essential.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a fantastic company who has a fresh and exciting outlook and who offer excellent career progression.

Salary Offered: Up to £30k + dependent upon experience

Candidates must be eligible to live and work in the UK.

Interested in this challenge – send your CV to CL@corecruitment.com

COREcruitment operate one of the best referral schemes in the industry – know anyone looking for a new challenge? email team@corecruitment.com

Investment manager and City ‘superwoman’ Nicola Horlick has expanded her business interests with a café/restaurant in the heart of Barnes village. Named after her late daughter, Georgina’s offers all-day treats in a striking white setting with splashes of colour from pale-green leather banquettes, terracotta lights and vases of flowers. Clapham-based chef Adam Byatt (of Trinity and Bistro Union fame) advised on a menu that promises eclectic, contemporary ideas along the lines of warm beetroot salad with nuts and apple vinegar or grilled sea bream with harissa and toasted couscous – plus char-grilled meats and fish from a purpose-built BBQ. An adjoining deli section deals in vibrant salads, cakes and sarnies, while those wanting to eat alfresco have the chance to sit on the patio surrounded by a ‘living wall’ of plants.

Alpha female Nicola Horlick’s new business venture is a neighbourhood restaurant in her native Barnes. Named after Horlick’s eldest daughter Georgina, who planned the restaurant with her mother before she died of leukaemia in 1998, the all-day venue serves tempting breakfasts, salads and light bites at lunch time, and treats such as cakes and frozen yoghurt in the afternoons; come the evening, it turns into a bistro-style restaurant complete with candles on the tables.

Celebrated chefs including Jason Atherton, Pierre Koffmann, Hélène Darroze and Marcus Wareing will be treating diners to meals on board the London Eye this autumn, Caterersearch can reveal.

The chefs have all signed up to this year's London Restaurant Festival, which will return to the capital for a fortnight from 3 to 17 October.

Now in its third year, the festival has been created by the London Evening Standard's food critic Fay Maschler and Simon Davis, who together run restaurant consultancy Private View, and this year has the support of VisitBritain and tourism minister John Penrose.

It is a city-wide celebration of dining out and is designed to raise the profile of establishments involved and drive footfall. Organisers hope to sign up 800 restaurants this year and operators wishing to participate can sign up by visiting the festival's website.

The London Restaurant Festival runs as an umbrella under which a myriad of events will take place. A series of new events will be introduced this year including walking gourmet odysseys in Soho, Mayfair, Covent Garden and Clerkenwell where diners will walk between different restaurants from course to course; and a tapas passport allowing punters to enjoy a different dish and glass of wine at different tapas restaurants.

Other events will include gourmet odysseys on London buses; a food quiz held at the Criterion on Piccadilly as well as participating pubs; and the Great Food Debate. The festival will culminate in an awards ceremony to be held at the Old Spitalfields Market.

Organiser Davis told Caterersearch this year the festival was about offering smaller operators the opportunity to raise their profile.

"The festival is a vehicle for restaurants to attach themselves to. It's as much about the big names as it is about helping smaller, neighbourhood restaurants who are struggling to get bums on seats," he said.

The London Restaurant Festival is supported by headline sponsor American Express, which has signed a three-year deal with the organisers.

London Restaurant Festival joins forces with Livebookings >>

London Restaurant Festival video: Jason Atherton Pollen Street pop-up >>

Eleven leading London chefs to man mini restaurant on the London Eye >>

By Kerstin Kühn

E-mail your comments to Kerstin Kühn here.

If you have something to say on this story or anything else join the debate at Table Talk - Caterer's new networking forum. Go to www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk

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Smart Hospitality and Angela Hartnett have struck Olympic gold in the second round, with a contract to cater at the Olympic Hospitality Centre (OHC).

The OHC will be a temporary hospitality facility for London 2012 marketing partners and their guests, situated centrally in the Olympic Park.

Smart and Hartnett have collaborated on a London 2012 tender before. Earlier this year, Caterersearch reported that the partnership had worked with Create (part of the Concerto Group) on a bid to provide hospitality at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and The Olympic Partner (TOP) sponsorship.

The contract was awarded to Austrian firm Do & Co.

Hartnett, the first female to pick up the Catey Chef award, began collaborating with Smart Hospitality in January when the caterer took over the contract to operate the restaurant at the Whitechapel Gallery, after the incumbent operator Vacherin pulled out.

More recently the collaboration has worked on a private preview of the new Bentley Continental at the Kensington Palace Orangery.

Olympic caterers confirmed, Compass and Aramark join the list >>

Caterers Smart Hospitality and Angela Hartnett to collaborate at the Whitechapel Gallery >>

BaxterStorey and Sodexo in line for Olympic contract wins >>

By Janie Stamford

E-mail your comments to Janie Stamford here.

If you have something to say on this story or anything else join the debate at Table Talk - Caterer's new networking forum. Go to www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk

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When Angela Hartnett cooked at an all-female event in Brazil, she decided to hold a similar festival in London, with the help of food and wine writer Fiona Sims and in partnership with American Express. Joanna Wood reports

Once upon a time, female head chefs and chef-proprietors were rare - at least at the highest level, and particularly in the UK. However, slowly but surely things have been changing.

These days there are several internationally renowned women cooking in headline kitchens across the world - Elena Arzak in Spain, Lea Linster in Luxembourg, and here in the UK we have the likes of Hélène Darroze, Angela Hartnett, Clare Smyth and Anna Hansen to name a few. Women haven't taken over the restaurant industry yet, but then they haven't staged a mass takeover of boardrooms in business in general. As Hansen - chef-proprietor of London's Modern Pantry - points out: "Restaurants are only falling into line with the rest of society".

Earlier this month, Hansen was one of six chefs taking part in an all-female food festival at 1 Lombard Street, in the City of London. Also cooking at the event were Hartnett, Smyth and three other internationally regarded female chefs - Gabrielle Hamilton of New York's Prune (a winner of one of the USA's prestigious James Beard awards), South Africa's Margot Janse of Franschhoek's Le Quartier Francais, and darling of the Brazilian restaurant scene, Helena Rizzo of Saõ Paulo's Mani restaurant.

Dreamed up by Hartnett and food and wine writer (and regular Caterer and Hotelkeeper contributor) Fiona Sims, the event ran for three nights, pairing the women together to cook - a London host chef with a visiting chef on each night.

"It wasn't meant to be two fingers up at male chefs," explains Hartnett, "but when I met Helena it was at an all-female event I cooked at in Brazil, then I did another one in Australia, so I thought, 'why not London?' It's just meant to be a celebration of the cooking of some great female chefs."

Hartnett opened the festival on the Sunday night, cooking for 130 guests, alongside Hamilton - whose recent book Blood, Bones & Butter: the Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef - has achieved best-selling status along the lines of Kitchen Confidential.

"It went really well," said Hartnett, speaking the following night. "There were a few miscounted plates, a few moments, but nothing unusual. It was a bit nerve-wracking because it was obviously an event I'd set up, but we had a room of genuinely happy diners when we came up to say hello after service."

Although she wasn't headlining on the remaining nights, Hartnett stayed in the kitchen during the Monday and Tuesday evening services, helping out where necessary. Most of the time, she actually wasn't needed, as the atmosphere was calm to the point of being laid-back, certainly when Smyth and Rizzo were bossing the pass.

"I think women work really well together," says Smyth (the only woman in the UK in charge of a three-Michelin-starred kitchen). "They just get things done."

Cool and self-contained, Smyth, surprisingly, doesn't cook at food events very often.

"When Angela asked me to do this I thought it was unique. Some of the best chefs in the world are female, but you don't often see them at this type of event, so I think it's important for women to step into the limelight and raise the awareness of female chefs. There are still not enough. I think the public's perception is still that chefs are men, as most of the chefs on TV are male and the women cooking on TV are mainly non-professional cooks or cookery writers. So it's an ongoing crusade to get more women into top positions in the industry, and events like this help."

That said, Smyth admits to a bit of ennui when it comes to promoting her gender in the press. "I do get sick of journalists always picking up on the female angle when they interview me. I'm just a chef doing a job."

It's a sentiment that Smyth's counterpart on the night, Rizzo, echoes. Like her London colleague, she doesn't often travel out of her restaurant kitchen. That will probably change as her international status rises. She's Brazil's leading female chef, famous for a modern sensibility in her cooking, which often takes dishes from the cultural melting pot of Brazilian cuisine and translates them for a contemporary audience. She does this at her restaurant Mani, co-owned with her husband, Spanish chef Daniel Redondo, who she met when they were working at Spain's El Celler can Roca.

Two dishes on her Girls' Night Out menu typify her style: fish moqueca with arracacha terrine and her dessert, which comes to the table looking like a fried egg: but the white is coconut foam, the yolk an ice-cream and hidden underneath are bits of crunchy coconut.

Moqueca is a traditional Brazilian fish stew, which in Rizzo's skilful hands was much more than a rustic favourite: instead of using shrimp and a lot of broth in the moqueca, she served a sliver of sea bass on a purée of the carrot-like arracacha, with a taster of sauce.

She was careful when choosing her dishes to consult with Smyth, both chefs tailoring their food to build a menu that reflected both their styles while at the same time eating logically. They both, like all the other chefs taking part in the event, made sure they chose dishes that had substantial pre-prep and mise en place and were not over-complicated. "Maximum flavour," was Smyth's mantra for the evening.

And when it comes to dishing out advice to aspiring young girls thinking of following the cheffing route, Smyth, Rizzo, Hansen et al have this to say: go to a good college, do stages where you can as you train, be prepared to work hard in a mentally, as well as physically, demanding environment - and don't quit if the going gets tough. It is worth it, if you are passionate enough.

Left to right: Anna Hansen, Gabrielle Hamilton, Helena Rizzo, Angela Hartnett, Margot Janse, Clare Smyth, Fiona Sims

THE CHEFS

11 March
Angela Hartnett
(Murano, London)

Gabrielle Hamilton
(Prune, New York, USA)

12 March
Clare Smyth
(Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, London)

Helena Rizzo
(Mani, Saõ Paulo, Brazil)

13 March

Margot Janse
(Le Quartier Francais, Franschhoek, South Africa)

Sommelier Dawn Davies (head wine and spirit purchaser, Selfridges, London)
Venue 1 Lombard Street -Tim Richardson, head chef
Wines all made by/originated by female wine-makers

CLARE SMYTH AND HELENA RIZZO'S MENU

Canapes - butter poached langoustines with lard di colonnata, steamed truffle bun with artichoke and Parmesan, mini Scotch eggs (Clare Smyth)
Bollinger NV

Waldorf salad with apple jelly, celery sorbet, gorgonzola cheese emulsion and caramelised nuts (Helena Rizzo)
2011 'Y' series Riesling, Yalumba, Australia

Wild garlic risotto with morels and roasted veal sweetbreads (Clare Smyth)
2010 Mud House "Golden Terraces" Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand

Fish moqueca with arracacha terrine (Helena Rizzo)
2005 Marques de Murrieta Reserva, Rioja, Spain

"The Egg" egg yolk ice-cream, coconut foam and crispy coconut (Helena Rizzo)

Lemon parfait with bergamot, honey and sheep's milk yogurt sorbet (Clare Smyth)
2007 Cypres de Climens, Barsac, France

STAGING A GASTRONOMIC EVENT
● Plan at least six months in advance, preferably a year ahead (in order to get the venues and chefs you want)
● Clear your diary for the month prior to the event - you will not work on anything else
● Choose your partners/sponsors carefully to reflect your event - be prepared to have several sponsors in the current economic climate
● When choosing a venue make sure the kitchen space can accommodate guest chefs alongside its functioning team
● Get the venue's host chef on board (he or she will be the one who sorts out produce logistics with guest chefs)
● Think about making the event a fundraiser for charity - often this will sell tickets more quickly
● Have a month-by-month marketing plan in place (to include features in industry and national publications, it's useful to have a list of feature angles to give to media contacts)
● Consider having competitions and/or deals for places at the meals
● Give the guest chefs budgeting guidelines for the dishes they cook

CHOOSING DISHES FOR A ONE-OFF GALA/BANQUETING DINNER

WOMEN IN THE KITCHEN
● There are 151 Michelin-starred restaurants in UK - 11 are headed up by female chefs
● Lexington Catering estimates that 18% of its chef workforce are female
● Anna Hansen: "I think more and more females are coming in to the industry. People are a bit more relaxed in the kitchen, they don't feel as aggressive as in the past. It's become a more acceptable occupation."

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