The Staff Canteen Live 2025: Six top chefs sign up as TSC Live returns to Universal Cookery and Food festival

The Staff Canteen Live is again teaming up with the Universal Cookery & Food Festival (UCFF), bringing six of the country’s leading chefs to cook on a demo stage in Hertfordshire.

UCFF this year is set to take place at Tewinbury Farm on Tuesday, September 16.

Spread across four cooking slots, the TSC stage will feature Daniel Clifford and Liam Anderson (Midsummer House), Tom Aikens (Muse), Josh Angus (HIDE), Brad Cacela (The Coach) and Sarah Hayward (The Hand and Flowers). Between them, the chefs hold seven Michelin stars.

Dubbed ‘the Glastonbury for chefs’, UCFF moves around the country each year for an event which combines local farmers, suppliers, foragers and growers, as well as networking opportunities with hospitality professionals.

RECAP: Check out what happened at UCFF last year

UCFF 2024 — Guests last year were given the opportunity to join foraging tours

Daniel Clifford and Liam Anderson

Daniel is the chef patron of two Michelin-starred Midsummer House in Cambridge.

He took over Midsummer House in 1998 and earned the restaurant’s first Michelin star in 2002. A second followed in 2005, which it has retained ever since, for two decades.

In 2024, Liam returned to Midsummer House to become its new head chef, leaving his job with Chapter One in Dublin.

Tom Aikens

Tom is the chef and owner of Muse by Tom Aikens in Belgravia, London.

Tom's mark on the UK's culinary landscape is undeniable; after being the youngest chef in the country to secure two Michelin stars when he was 26, his latest restaurant earned one in the 2021 guide despite being closed for most of the year.

brad cacela and Sarah Hayward

Brad and Sarah are key cogs in the Tom Kerridge Group.

In June of this year there was some movement from some of the chefs across Tom's various restaurants.

After The Hand and Flowers head chef Tom De Keyser launched his first solo venture, under the Kerridge umbrella, named The Chalk Freehouse in Chelsea, Sarah replaced Tom at the two-Michelin-starred Hand, having previously worked as head chef at The Coach in Marlow, which also holds a Michelin star.

She was crowned 2023 Michelin Young Chef of the Year.

Sarah's exit from The Coach saw Brad Cacela, formerly Tom De Keyser's sous chef, go the opposite direction, moving from The Hand and Flowers to become head chef at The Coach.

Josh Angus

Josh joined HIDE in Mayfair ahead of its launch in 2018, working as head chef under Ollie Dabbous.

Following Ollie’s departure from the Mayfair restaurant earlier this year, Josh stepped up to his new role as chef director.

HIDE’s breakfast is often touted the best in London, with the Michelin-starred venue serving up to 300 covers each morning.

Also at UCFF this year is the wild food – feather, fur, fire and fungi demo stage, and foraging walks with Colin Wheeler-James and the Ground Up Cookery School.

Nigel Barden will host a trends and debates stage, tackling topics around foodservice, including B-Corp certification and AI in the kitchen.

Mark Morris, the founder of The Staff Canteen said: “We thoroughly enjoyed our first experience being part of the Universal Cookery & Food Festival last year.

“We can’t wait to return again this September, bringing a brilliant line-up of Michelin-starred chefs to showcase their talents for the guests on the farm in Hertfordshire.”

Tickets are available from £125 + VAT, which includes breakfast, lunch, refreshments and all the experiences on the day (8.30am-5pm).

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