Publican Live: Kitchen theatre

The theme of this year's live cooking demonstrations, presented by food wholesaler 3663, is 'Profit Through Innovation'. A packed schedule includes theatre demonstrations and product sampling, as well as practical advice to benefit your pub.

Three days in the theatre kitchen should give you real food for thought about how you can develop your dry business.

Inspiration will come in the shape of some fantastic ideas on how to use everyday ingredients to create exceptional dishes - dishes that will impress your customers while generating additional profits for you. You can also join 3663 at Café Lounge Live and discover how to adapt your food and drink offering to take advantage of the growing trend towards all-day dining.

Leading the sessions will be 3663 chefs David Wood and Shaun Hill.

David has worked as executive chef for hotel and restaurant groups, running a training centre for head chefs and setting up a chefs' graduate scheme.

Shaun has been an executive chef with 3663 for nine years and sees his position with the team as an ideal opportunity to travel the country, talk to people and play with food.

His key piece of advice for pub chefs is: "Listen to the customer - if a customer asks for a steak medium, don't serve it up rare!"

Demonstrations will include:

Delifrance pod

Come and see the Delifrance bakery chef at work to get hints, tips and menu ideas that can make a difference, from sandwiches and snacks through to evening dinner.

The chef will be working with a wide selection of products, including:

• Sweet and savoury snacks to go with your morning coffee offer

• Premium starters, breads and desserts for gastropubs

• Great sandwich breads

• Microwaveable snacks that can be served in minutes any time of the day - serve a hot panini by the time you have poured a pint!

3663 product pod

For those pubs that want to take their food a little more upmarket, premium casual dining is the focus of this feature. Menu ideas will be demonstrated using products from the Whites range, including:

Starters​

• Cream of watercress soup

• Farmhouse cheddar tartlet

• Feta and pesto tartlet

Mains​

• Cumbrian chicken supreme

• King prawn fricassée

• Stuffed chicken with haggis, neeps and tatties

• Wild Alaskan salmon

• Sea bass fillets

• Risotto base

• A selection of sausages

Desserts​

• Raspberry fig and plum tart

• Peanut butter and nougat cheesecake

• Garibaldi baked egg custard brulée

• Apple and calvados tarte tatin

• Pear and quince tart

• Sticky toffee pudding

• Cheeseboard

The Unilever pod

The dedicated foodservice business of Unilever UK Foods, Unilever Foodsolutions' pod at the 3663 Food Experience will see the company's dedicated pub chef developing a range of recipes.

Hot and cold sandwich ideas will be among the key features - according to the latest Ontrack research 38 per cent of pub customers would buy sandwiches if they were sold.

Kenco Coffee Clinic

Pubs are already giving the high street coffee houses a run for their money, but there is still more you can do to exploit this growing opportunity. Hosted by Kraft in a comfortable café area, the Kenco Coffee Clinic will look at new ways of enhancing your offer, demonstrating the importance of hot beverage menus, upselling opportunities and premium coffees.