The Staff Canteen Live chef demo theatre line-up at Catering Innovation Show 2026 confirmed
The Staff Canteen Live will host the chef demo theatre at this year's Catering Innovation Show, bringing a series of high-profile chefs to the Business Design Centre in London on Monday, October 5, 2026, with the full demo timetable now confirmed.
Organised by Continental Chef Supplies (CCS), part of Bunzl Lockhart, the Catering Innovation Show is returning for 2026 after a successful first year, with the event set to showcase the latest in commercial catering equipment, live cooking, industry innovation and chef-led demonstrations.
The Staff Canteen Live stage will feature six demo slots across the day, with the full chef line-up and timetable now confirmed:
10.00-10.30am: Gareth Ward, Ynyshir
Gareth Ward is chef patron of Ynyshir, the two-Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms near Machynlleth in Wales, regularly cited as one of the most exciting kitchens in the UK. His tasting menus combine dry-aged meat, preserved seasonal Welsh ingredients and Japanese-inspired techniques and dressings. Gareth trained under Aaron Patterson at Hambleton Hall and worked as sous chef under Sat Bains before taking the helm at Ynyshir, where he won his first Michelin star before adding a second in 2022.
10.45am-11.15am: Mark Tuttiett, Da Terra
Mark Tuttiett is head chef at Da Terra, the two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Bethnal Green, where he works alongside chef patron Rafael Cagali on a menu drawing on Brazilian and Italian influences. He trained in some of London's top kitchens, including the two-Michelin-starred Kitchen Table, and represented the South West on Great British Menu 2026.
11.30am-12.00pm: Ben Murphy, 74 Charlotte Street
Ben Murphy is chef patron at 74 Charlotte Street in Fitzrovia. Ben has built a reputation as one of the most exciting chefs of his generation, combining classical French technique with a modern, accessible style of cooking. He was named Young National Chef of the Year in 2012, went on to become National Chef of the Year in 2022, and has worked across leading kitchens including Launceston Place, where he spent seven years before taking the helm at 74 Charlotte Street. Since opening, 74 Charlotte Street has quickly established itself as one of London's most talked-about new restaurants, earning three AA rosettes and a place in the Michelin Guide within months. Ben's food is known for its precision, personality and sense of nostalgia, including his signature Eggs & Soldiers dish, served in an eggshell with chicken liver parfait, scrambled egg and brioche.
1.45pm-2.15pm: Tom Shepherd, Upstairs by Tom Shepherd
Tom Shepherd is chef-owner of Upstairs by Tom Shepherd in Lichfield, Staffordshire, a Michelin-starred restaurant built around modern British tasting menus with subtle Japanese and East Asian influences. His first head chef role came at the Michelin-starred Adam's in Birmingham, before he opened Upstairs above his father's former jewellery shop in 2021, earning Staffordshire's first Michelin star within four months. He starred on Great British Menu in 2023.
2.30pm-3.00pm: Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Northcote
Lisa Goodwin-Allen is chef patron-director of Northcote, the Michelin-starred restaurant in Lancashire's Ribble Valley, a role she moved into following the hotel's 2025 acquisition by Alf and Clare Ellis, after more than two decades leading the kitchen. She joined Northcote at 20 and was made head chef at just 23, among the youngest ever appointed to a Michelin-starred kitchen, and has helped the restaurant hold its star for over 25 years. She is also culinary director at The Beaumont Mayfair in London, where she launched the restaurant Rosi in October 2025.
3.15pm-4.00pm: Tommy Banks, The Black Swan at Oldstead
Tommy Banks is chef-owner of The Black Swan at Oldstead in north Yorkshire, which holds a Michelin star, a Michelin green star and four AA Rosettes, and celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2026. From a farming family that has worked the land around Oldstead for generations, Tommy builds his menus around ingredients grown, reared and foraged from the restaurant's own kitchen garden and surrounding countryside. He also co-founded Roots York and opened The Abbey Inn near Oldstead in 2023, and is the author of the cookbook Roots.
The Staff Canteen Live at Catering Innovation Show
The chef demo theatre will form a major part of the 2026 show, giving chefs, operators and hospitality professionals the chance to watch leading chefs cook live, hear about their creative process and see the equipment, techniques and ideas shaping modern kitchens.
The wider Catering Innovation Show will also feature five cooking areas, including the return of Compass Chef of the Year to the public stage for the first time since before the pandemic, alongside live cooking areas from exhibitors including Falcon, Lincat and Welbilt.
Simon Britten, head of marketing at CCS, said: “After a huge success in our first year, attracting over 1,000 visitors across a single day, we're back for a bigger show in 2026. This year we're pulling out all the stops with five cooking areas.
"Our new partners The Staff Canteen will be hosting the chef demo theatre, whilst Compass Chef of the Year makes a return to the public stage for the first time since before the pandemic. Our exhibitors are showcasing more innovative cooking techniques than ever before with live cooking areas confirmed by Falcon, Lincat & Welbilt so far.
"This year's Catering Innovation Show will deliver on it's name and promises to be more exciting, more inspiring and more fun than ever.”
Mark Morris, founder of The Staff Canteen, added: “Everyone at The Staff Canteen is incredibly excited to be partnering with Simon, Mark and the teams at Bunzl Lockhart and Continental Chef Supplies for this year’s Catering Innovation Show.
"Their connection with chefs and hospitality professionals makes this a natural fit for us, and bringing The Staff Canteen Live to the event alongside such a strong chef line-up is something we’re really looking forward to.
"With the reach and engagement of The Staff Canteen platform before, during and after the show, we’re excited to help make this year’s event bigger and better than ever. We’d love to see the industry come together on Monday, October 5.”
Find out more and register to attend The Catering Innovation Show at the Business Design Centre, London by following this link.
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