'Bordeaux Revisited' - Episode 3 & 4 - Ronan Sayburn MS

Episode 3 takes us to St Estephe in the Northern Medoc with a focus on the 'terroir' with it's deep gravel banks, which are predominantly planted with Cabernet Sauvignon. It is the most exposed and northerly  point of the 'left bank' close to the estuary of the Gironde.  Ronan makes references to Chateau Cos d'Estournel and Chateau Montrose which are the communes most premium wines which have a huge calibre for aging. 

Episode 4 journeys us south beyond the commune of Pauillac to St Julien where Ronan discusses the differences in the terroir here with it's lighter soils and the effects of the gravel mounds known as 'croupes' and ditches known as 'jalles' that separate each of the communes. He takes a look at Chateau Lagrange and Chateau Leoville-Barton. View this in HD
 
Published by the Caterer and Hotelkeeper  

BigHospitality - William Drew, 'A Day in the Life of A Kitchen Porter'

'A Day in the Life of a Kitchen Porter' was filmed at Les Deux Salon in Covent Garden starrring William Drew, Editor of Restaurant Magazine.  It's aim was to highlight the importance and provide insight into the position of Kitchen Porters in busy Restaurants and Hotels. Good Kitchen Porters are worth their weight in gold and can help on so many other levels.

Big Hospitality - Sustainability in Restaurants and Pubs

We were filming at the Preston Park Tavern Brighton for Big Hospitality and the Sustainable Restaurant Association.  They have been awarded 3 stars for their sustainability.  The piece is all about the 'do-ability' even for smaller operators that can really make a difference in terms of being sustainable.  The star rating system allowing customers to make choices about restaurants that match their ethical and environmental values.

YouTube Changes, by Jacqueline Franklin

There's no better time to have a YouTube Channel.  The reason is very simple reason.  It is the third (some say second) largest search engine in the world. That should be a strong enough reason in itself . . .  There’s even more reason to enhance your digital marketing strategy through using YouTube, with its ‘new look’, improved functionality and  which is more attractive to the business user.

In addition to general changes in design of the new 'home page', with the subscribers feed now in the centre of the page, the accent of ‘searches’ have changed and importantly the detail of the analytics has increased providing valuable insight in terms of ‘segmentation’ of followers.

Design and Relevance

With the new feed on the 'home page' you can identify videos from people you are subscribed to at the top, not some random viral video, therefore more targeted. Remember those who subscribe to you will also be seeing your activity via updates, so the tip here is to keep it frequent!

Searches

Searches appear to have changed as well.  It appears that channels are featuring much higher up the search rankings.  Once viewers are into your channel, quality and relevant videos will improve retention levels, improving ‘stickiness’ which all helps with page rankings in terms of Google’s algorithms.

Analytics

Finally the ‘all important’ analytics which have been improved providing valuable stats for measurement purposes.  The clearer layout allows for easier viewing of the analytics, to see how the video is working for you and tips and advice as to how content maybe improved.

'Chocolate' by Joanna Wood, Food Journalist and Editor

Recently I became part of showbiz, kinda. I went to watch pastry 'supremo' Claire Clark film her new television series in a studio-cum-front-room in the bowels of Battersea. Actually, it was in a very bijou part of ‘lower Chelsea’ and quite a fun afternoon. The interesting thing about it, apart from watching Claire strut her stuff to the camera, was the fact that there were so few people involved on the technical side of things: just a couple of camera operators, a sound recordist and the producer/director – oh and make-up dah-ling. It’s amazing what you can do with few resources. But then chefs know that, don’t they? 

Claire Clark

The series, called Chocolate Covered and made by the Blackbird production company, is centred around that essential of the patissier(e)s art, chocolate. And three humungus cheers for that. In fact, three even bigger cheers for any series devoted to the skills of the pastry kitchen. So often, pastry chefs are overlooked in the stampede to write about and film all things foodie in the restaurant world. Yet, theirs is the skill that we all sample last in a meal. And it’s a vital component in dining out. If the desert isn’t up-to-scratch it can spoil all that has gone before. If it is sublime, it puts the seal on a memorable evening. So, I think it’s great that the wider world is beginning to really celebrate our patissier(e)s.

William Curley

Claire is one of our finest: she’s a former head chef at California’s famous French Laundry and was involved in opening über-celeb-café The Wolesley in London. So watch out for her series when it airs next year. But it’s not only Claire who’s making waves in the big, wide world. Her contemporaries, William Curley and Damian Allsop are both carving out names for themselves on the haute couture chocolate scene. Curley’s got a couple of shops (in Richmond and Belgravia) and Allsop’s amazing dairy-free chocs have a starring role in Selfridges (and many top restaurants). I could go on…there are many more chocolateries and patisseries out there, set-up by British chefs and entrepreneurs. So a further three cheers for them, too. If you’re a chocaholic or a fine pastry person, the next decade is going to be great.

Damian Allsop

Joanna Wood
Food Journalist and Editor 
Contact email: joanna.wood885@btinternet.com



See videos on Claire Clark, William Curley and Damian Allsop masterclasses and read about our top UK chocolatiers in the Caterer and Hotelkeeper Magazine.

Claire Clarke MBE - Choux Pastry Masterclass

Claire is known within the industry as a master patissier. She is formerly of the French Laundry in the Napa Valley, California. We filmed Claire for the Caterer and Hotelkeeper Magazine, carrying out meticulously a  'choux' pastry masterclass.  Unavoidably long, but nothing could be edited out !

Host Contract Management - Food Photography by Lisa Barber

Host Contract Management required a specialist food photographer for a location shoot at one of their locations last week.  It was a quick requirement that needed a quick turn around.  We asked Lisa Barber, a specialist food photographer who works regularly for The Independent to shoot this for us.  Lisa followed the brief, added to it her creativity and attention to detail and produced these amazing results. The client is also tremendously happy!