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Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant, located in Birmingham, only opened last year but had its windows broken on Monday night by troublemakers who had initially focused their violence at The Bullring. When this establishment was forced to close early the group moved onto other areas of the city.

Mr Oliver, an active member of the social network Twitter, tweeted, “The Birmingham restaurant lost all its windows on Monday and we now cannot open. I am only thankful that none of my staff were hurt in the trouble.” Mr Oliver also wrote that he was glad that his kitchen shop was left untouched by rioters, despite being in the centre of the riot. He commented that, “it seems the troublemakers are not very into cooking.”

Mr. Oliver reproached others on Twitter who were commenting that closing the business was no problem for him because of insurance, “Clearly, that is not relevant; our hard working staff rely on the restaurant for their livings.” Mr. Oliver, had previously stated on Twitter his anger at the rioters, saying, “has everyone gone crazy, we need to punish these idiots, it must stop.” He offered his compassion to those affected in the rioting saying, again on Twitter, that, “I hope that everyone is safe, especially those I work with. My thoughts are with you”.

The damaged restaurant in Birmingham is just outside the centre of the city, it overlooks St Martin’s Church and the city’s market. It in one of a chain of Italian restaurants Oliver own across the country.

Two Blunos wonderful gourmet events from LucyCooks

Martin Blunos one of the great chefs in the country is off in September 2011 to Kendal to make gastronomic guest appearances as a Masterclass tutor and chef demonstrator at Lake District state of the art cookery school LucyCooks.

The Bath’s Baltic Giant who’s cooking has been influence by Russian relatives and his Latvian heritage will host a Demo and Dine event in Staveley, Kendal at LucyCooks, Tuesday September 27. Attendees at the culinary extravaganza can see some of the fabulous dishes be prepared by the two Michelin star chef and then enjoy feasting on them.

Then at LucyCooks he will tutor a full day Masterclass Wednesday, September 28, helping his culinary students for the day whip up some of his greatest recipes all under his personal tutelage, making it a lifetime opportunity. The delegates then get to join Martin for lunch and take home the gourmet dishes created under his watchful eye.

Martin will be well-known to viewers of many TV cookery shows, including the exciting Food Poker, in which chefs create dishes from random ingredient cards and pitch their dish to a panel of food experts in an attempt to be crowned show winner.

Last year, he also became the creator of the world’s most expensive cheese sandwich – a gold dust sprinkled concoction composed of ingredients costing over £110!

LucyCooks founder, Lucy Nicholson, says: “Martin Blunos is known for his wicked sense of humour and for being a colourful character, distinguished by his blonde hair and walrus-like moustache.  He has had the honour of cooking for The Queen and will now be cooking for diners who book for our demo and dine event.  It’s a fabulous opportunity to dine on the dishes of a deity of the food world, so our advice is to buy tickets fast, before they sell out!

“Those who decide to sign up for our hands-on cookery course with Martin are sure to have a truly exceptional experience and learn an incredible amount when it comes to skills, gourmet recipes and tips from the top.  Some of these insights are just worth their weight in gold”.

Anyone wishing to take advantage of these Blunos-wonderful events can book tickets online at www.lucycooks.co.uk or call 015394 32288.  Tickets for the Demo and Dine event cost £65 per person and the day-time practical course tutored by Martin Blunos costs £175 per delegate, for a day running from 9.30am to 4pm

The second Food Festival in Sheffield is ready to serve starting next month. It has a menu of events that are designed to reach for more than just the local tastebuds. The event from July 4-10 will be held across the city in different venues and is set to be both a learning process of the palate and the plate for an expected 40,000 visitors.

Following the first event last year which put Sheffield in line with other big cities who have for some time been celebrating their wealth of culinary delights, food producers, chefs and experts the next one promises to be full of substance and value and fabulous gourmet taste delights.

While the center of the city will be a mini food heaven with loads of food tasting and wine slurping all around, there will also be a strong push to give people the cooking skills and knowledge of how to eat healthier as part of Let’s Change 4 Life the city’s scheme to help lower the obesity rates.

Events range from markets of local food to masterclasses and there will be over 30 events just for children at the Sheffield Children’s Festival and picnic community activities will also be offered. Complete with its own cows a temporary farm will be set up from Dungworth ice cream makers Our Cow Molly and will be sited in the pedestrianised city centre. Passers-by can milk cows and make ices out of liquid nitrogen.

Throughout the week Sheffield Hallam University’s Business School as well as local businesses and over 30 restaurants and bars will run chef demos and special offers. The most vibrant and biggest producers market in the city will line Margate and the real ale trail will help to celebrate the microbrewery culture in Sheffield as part of The Festival Real Ale Extravaganza.

Also 200 demonstrations and master classes will be staged at different locations around the city and they will range from tip on gourmet from top chefs to how to sessions about family cooking and home growing. There are also lessons planned in chocolate making and there will be cheese tasting as well.

Call for entries open for the 2011 British Smoothie Championships

The UK’s only food to go show, lunch! announced today that entries are now available for its annual British Smoothies Championship. The championship, launched in 2007 gives national recognition to the most-talented smoothie baristas in the industry. Submissions will be accepted through August 26, 2001 with a short list to compete at the event live at Old Billingsgate, London Thursday 20 September.

A brilliant opportunity is offered by the British Smoothie Championship to recognize the teamwork and wealth of creativity that is part of making a fresh smoothie taste that is so uniquely delicious. The event’s manager Chris Brazier says aside from being a hit with visitors one of the biggest successes of the competition is to highlight the pride the finalists have because of competing on their team’s behalf.

One of  lunch!’s most entertaining and exciting shows is the British Smoothies Championship with last year’s winner Vimal Depala from Skaketastic wowing the audience with Eastern Envy his delicious creation that combined melon, lychee and pear juice that was freshly squeezed and spiced with a bit of ginger, lemon grass and coriander.

“Winning was the glory moment we had all been working towards. It shows how our dedication and passion has paid off and the whole team are very proud of the achievement,” said Josh Kettle, director of Shaketastic, whose London-based stores have produced two British Smoothie Champions (Richard Debson in 2009 and Vimal DePala in 2010).

Aside from a wealth of industry kudos, the championships offer winners a year-round marketing opportunity and a big morale-boost for hard-working teams. The prize also includes a Vitamix Quiet One Blender worth over £1,000, courtesy of the British Smoothie Championships sponsor Magrini.

“The British Smoothie Championships and lunch! have become such important dates in the calendar for the industry and Magrini are thrilled and honoured to be part of them both,” comments Magrini’s marketing manager, Amanda Grove.

Entry forms are available to download from www.lunchshow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/smoothie_champs_low-res.pdf. (Please note, to be eligible to enter the awards, individuals must make smoothies from fresh or frozen ingredients, in a blender, in a commercial environment, in front of customers.) The twelve shortlisted finalists will be notified after 26 August. The British Smoothie Championships will take place in front of a live audience of out-of-home food and drink buyers at lunch!. The heats will be judged interactively by ten randomly-selected members of the audience, while the final will be judged by a panel of leading industry personalities. Voting will be based on taste, innovation, originality, best use of ingredients, and presentation.

Now in its fourth year, lunch! returns to Old Billingsgate, London, on 29-30 September 2011. Firmly established as the premier event for the entire out of home food industry, lunch! has garnered a reputation for helping businesses to do business – bringing together professional trade buyers – from all the major supermarkets, high street chains and contract caterers, as well as owners and managers of independent sandwich bars, cafés, delis, juice bars and coffee houses – with the service providers and product suppliers who can best meet their needs. The event has grown from strength to strength since its inception in 2007, with overall attendance up 24% in 2010 to 3115, while exhibitor numbers are set to top 180 for 2011.

lunch! is free to attend for pre-registered trade visitors. For further information and to register, please visit www.lunchshow.co.uk.

Chef Jean-Christophe Novelli, Michelin Star chef extraordinaire has said when he headlines the popular Southport Food and Drink Festival at the weekend he will not bring one single ingredient with him. On Sunday, the final day of the festival, the Frenchmen will present two cooking demonstrations. He said he will get his ingredients for local shops or suppliers.

He continued on to say produce is second to none in this part of the world and he feels he does not have to bring a thing. He looks forward to sampling the local produce and meeting the local farmers.

There will be Novelli as well as another dozen chefs that will demonstrate their culinary skills at the four day festival. The highlights include Tom Bridge Lancastrian chef and pie connoisseur, David Gale award winning Manchester chef and head chef at Marco Pierre White’s The Swan Inn, Matt Castelli.

This year’s design of the Festival Food Village is open aired and will have a cover to protect against sun or rain. There will be an open air restaurant under the starshade and local establishments will host their own mini kitchen and provide their own cuisine.

The Clitheroe’s annual Beer Festival will be officially opened by Paul Heathcote, celebrity chef in Church Street at the St. Mary’s Center on Friday and Saturday. Visitors can sample food that goes hand in hand with their favourite drink as Heathcote’s Grill and Bar is putting together dishes made with beer.

Running in conjunction with the East Lancs branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, CAMRA, the Beer Festival will be open from noon to 11pm both days with admission £1 before 6pm and £2 after but members of CAMRA and NUS cardholders enter free.

The festival is celebrating the 40^th anniversary of CAMRA with a huge number of beers from breweries that were in production in 1971 like Hook Norton, Fullers, Joseph Holt and Thwaites.

Local breweries will supply plenty of beer which will include Bowland Brewery the award winner as well as other beers from afield including perry, cider and for the drivers, free soft drinks.

The 2011 World of Food Event at the weekend helped to bring together different communities from all around Bolton by having food from all across the world. The event held in Great Lever at the Nightingale Centre was for different cultures to interact and promote healthy eating.

Over 20 different cultures were represented in the annual affair that had been held in the town for over 15 years, with each year bringing more diversification of cultures. All the food was vegetarian so all could enjoy and there was plenty to go around with something for everyone from Turkish cake to pumpkin soup Caribbean style that was enjoyed by the more than 250 people who came to the event.

They enjoyed great entertainment for around the world that included Turkish singing, salsa and Kosovan dancing as well as Chinese boxing. The Bolton Gathering of Organic Growers arranged the event along with the Greenhouse Project community, the Westhoughton group Kensa with a hand from NHS Bolton and the Bolton Community College.

A new location is being planned by the organizers for next year’s event in order for as many local residents as possible to take part and enjoy the festivities.