THE autumn menu for the Signature Food Festival 2023 in Aberdeen will delight diners as renowned chefs from across the UK raise money for The JEllie Foundation in Aberdeen this September and November.
Tom Aikens, hailed as one of the most creative and talented chefs the country has ever seen and holder of two Michelin stars, will make his first Signature appearance.
He’ll be joined by Tom Brown and Lisa Goodwin-Allen cooking for the festival once again after their outstanding debuts at the 2022 event, and the ever-popular Phil Howard and Glynn Purnell who will be marking their third and fourth visits respectively to the pass at The Chester Hotel.
Between them the chefs – all regular faces on the Great British Menu and Saturday Morning Kitchen – hold seven Michelin stars and 17 AA Red Rosettes.
Tom Aikens became one of the youngest chefs to win two Michelin stars at the age of just 26. His food emphasises sustainable, high-quality British ingredients executed with creative, technical flair at his intimate experience-led restaurant Muse in Belgravia.
The Signature Food Festival, run by The JEllie Foundation, has taken place since 2017 and has raised more than £1 million for local children’s charities.
Tickets for Signature Autumn 2023 go on general sale on Monday 12 June at 12 noon on the Signature website www.signaturefoodfestival.co.uk.
The full line up for the Autumn events, which take place at The Chester Hotel in Queen’s Road in Aberdeen is:
- 22 & 23 September Tom Brown (1 Michelin star, 3 AA Red Rosettes)
- 29 & 30 September Phil Howard (2 Michelin stars, 3 AA Red Rosettes)
- 10 & 11 November Tom Aikens (2 Michelin stars, 4 AA Red Rosettes)
- 13 November Glynn Purnell (1 Michelin star, 3 AA Red Rosettes)
- 17 & 18 November Lisa Goodwin-Allen (1 Michelin star, 4 AA Red Rosettes)
Tickets which include champagne on arrival and paired wines with each course, for Tom Aikens and Lisa Goodwin-Allen are £200 per person and £150 for all other events.
Angela Hartnett, Claude Bosi and Atul Kochhar all appeared in the first ever Signature Food Festival Spring event earlier this year.
The festival, the only one of its kind in Scotland, is the creation of Gillian and Graham Wood, owners of The Chester Hotel and trustees of The JEllie Foundation.
Graham said: “The Signature Food Festival is growing in awareness amongst the UK chef fraternity and we’re able each year to attract new, very high-profile names to cook for our diners. The fact that so many much-loved faces like Glynn Purnell, Phil Howard and Atul Kochhar are returning too, year on year, shows we must be doing something right with our approach of inviting the culinary elite to Aberdeen to cook with the finest local, seasonal produce to raise money for good causes.”
Charities which have benefitted from The JEllie Foundation donations include:
- The Archie Foundation – funding, amongst other things:
- A dedicated bereavement co-ordinator to expand the child bereavement service for Grampian schools
- A Brainz monitor which provides simple, automated and secure actionable neurological information during the early stages of new-born development to help make clinical decisions
- Multiple Drager Jaundice meters to enable to non-invasive monitoring of babies with jaundice
- Wireless CTG machines for non-invasive foetal and maternal monitoring and measurement allowing mothers to move about during labour improving choice for women
- Cutting edge developments in paediatric neurology through v- telemetry
- A paediatric clinical pain nurse to support more than 500 young patients a year
- Electrocardiograph monitors which are used at the time of delivery for babies in need of extra support
More about the chefs and Signature Food Festival 2023 can be found at www.signaturefoodfestival.co.uk and information about The JEllie Foundation can be found at www.jelliefoundation.com.
