The Staff Canteen Live 2026: Chef networking lunch at Roe

Today (Monday, July 13), we hosted our latest TSC Live chef networking lunch at Roe in London.

The Staff Canteen launched chef networking lunches in 2016, later incorporating front of house events from 2020. The concept is simple: bring chefs and key industry suppliers together in an environment where meaningful conversations can happen away from the pressures of service.

Today’s lunch brought together chefs from across restaurants, hotels and hospitality groups for a focused afternoon of networking, product discovery and industry-led conversation.

Roe is the restaurant from Will Murray and Jack Croft, the duo behind Fallow, and is known for bold, creative cooking, low-waste thinking and a menu built around flavour, technique and generous hospitality.

Guests were welcomed for drinks before a seated lunch, with a menu showcasing Roe’s modern, ingredient-led approach.

The guests

Today 14 chefs joined us for the lunch, with combined buying power in the room of £31.8million. They were:

Graham Garrett, chef owner, The West House
Jamie Shears, executive chef, Mount St.
Stuart Conibear, executive head chef, Grosvenor House Suites
Omar Shah, executive chef, Belly
Pavlin Karantatski, head chef, Opera Tavern
Michael Turner, executive chef, Belmond
Eduardo Salazar, executive chef and associate director, Arros QD
Henry Omereye, chef patron, Riding House Café
Laurie Gear, chef patron, Artichoke
Dominik Zacny, head chef, Daisy Green
Pirathiepan Navendan, chef owner, Humo Watford
Ian Brunsdon, chef patron, Orla Restaurant
Garrett Keown, group development chef, Harrods
Duncan Gommerud, sous chef, Roe

Reflecting on the event, Stuart Conibear, executive head chef at Grosvenor House Suites on Park Lane, said: “It’s a great event to get chefs and suppliers together in one room, networking and talking together.

“It’s a great introduction to meet these people face-to-face. You get to learn about them, their product, they’re very enthusiastic about the product they’re looking to sell.

“It gets you more interested in developing that relationship for a purchase later in the day.”

Asked for his favourite dish of the day, Stuart said: “The kingfish was absolutely superb. The supplier was here at the table and the product is fantastic, brought in fresh to the UK, eaten simply, raw as a sushi, delicious.”

Omar Shah, founder owner of the Maginhawa Group, said: “Today has been a great organised event by The Staff Canteen.

“It has been nice to meet fellow chefs and hear about some of the issues and challenges they have had, and also some really cool suppliers.

“I am developing and opening new restaurants, so am always on the lookout for new pieces of equipment and solutions and there was a great fish supplier.

“I got all of their contact details and hopefully we can do some business in the future. They also managed to answer some questions, direct from the source, as opposed to maybe have a middle man.

“It’s nice to have the direct contact, if I have any other questions.

“Some of the names like Hoshizaki and Adande are leaders in their industry, so it’s nice to touch base with them.”

Omar added that his favourite dish was the rhubarb dessert.

The sponsors

These events would not happen without the support of our sponsors. Today’s chef networking lunch was supported by: CCS, Adande, Control Induction, Retigo, Hoshizaki and The Kingfish Company.

The Kingfish Company supplied the kingfish yellowtail for the menu, which was served with crispy corn fritter, shiso and lime.

The lunch also gave guests the opportunity to connect directly with suppliers across equipment, refrigeration, induction, combi oven technology and premium seafood.

Sylvain Mauger, UK and Ireland sales representative for The Kingfish Company, said: “The aim for us was to introduce the yellowtail Kingfish that we farm in the Netherlands.

“It is a species that is not well known yet in the UK yet and needs to be discovered. The idea was to present the fish.

“The environment worked very well because the chefs got to taste the fish in amazing conditions.

“As far as I’m concerned, that was a success. Everybody here liked what they saw.

“A lot of the chefs are very open-minded when it comes to produce from all over and have fusion when it comes to the mix of inspirations they use in their kitchens.”

Sylvain added that his favourite dish was the banana pudding, which he described as "a lovely surprise".

Jackie Venn, UK sales manager at Adande, said: “It has been about reaching out and speaking to really good quality chefs and influencers.

“It’s not about what we need for today, it’s about generating for tomorrow.

“These events bring those sort of people to the table, with great conversations and good quality insight that’s shared.

“It puts you literally in front of somebody. We are in a culture now where everything is on emails and LinkedIn and it’s very faceless.

“To have an ability to sit in front of somebody and connect is unique really nowadays.

“Because it’s a very intimate event, it means the follow-ups are very relevant and they remember the conversation and they want to see you.

“There is an investment straightaway from them to us as well.”

Jackie added that her favourite dish was the halibut, describing it as “one of the best things I’ve ever eaten".

The menu

Snacks

Mushroom parfait, shiitake, grilled bread
Crispy stuffed chicken wings, Szechuan salt, Fallow sriracha hot honey
Smoked Cheltenham beetroot, candy beetroot, ancho chilli

Fallow Blanc de Blancs

To follow

Kingfish yellowtail, crispy corn fritter, shiso, lime
Fish supplied by The Kingfish Company

Tunworth flatbread, pumpkin, pear, sage honey

BBQ lamb shoulder skewer, black pepper ranch, guindillas

Mains

35-day dry-aged steak, walnut harissa, pickled pepper, red wine sauce

Grilled market fish, herb cream, asparagus, peas, kombu butter

Served with:

Fries, salt and pepper seasoning
Heritage tomato panzanella

Dessert

Selection of Roe desserts

Wine

Sauvignon Blanc, Domaine Saint Louis 2025
Bobal, Atance, Valencia, Spain 2022