Last week, Korubu were proud to exhibit and act as headline sponsors of the 19th Northern Restaurant and Bar Show at Manchester Central. The two day event designed specifically for hospitality professionals, welcomed record numbers of visitors this year and included 275 exhibitors as well as 65 live food and drink demonstrations.

We attended the “Too Many Critics” charity event on Monday 18th March at Manchester’s Dishoom. The event sees restaurant critics and food writers don chef whites and take their place on the other side of the pass for one night only. The charity event raises money for Action Against Hunger, a global charity committed to saving the lives of malnourished children in over 40 countries. The event has so far raised over £22k with that figure still rising.

Hosted by NRB CEO Thom Hetherington, part two of the debate welcomed international restauranteur Jason Atherton to discuss what fired the Northern chef to global success and chat about his role as principal patron for Hospitality Action. Jason, who was head chef at Manchester’s legendary Mash & Air in the ‘90s, has built a global restaurant empire that now includes sixteen restaurants, four of which have Michelin stars, across three continents, seven countries and eight cities. Jason Atherton started out working alongside great chefs including Pierre Koffmann, Marco Pierre White, Nico Ladenis and Ferran Adria at el Bulli, before joining the Gordon Ramsay Group in 2001. After launching ‘Maze’ Jason left to launch his own flagship restaurant ‘Pollen Street Social’, which was awarded a coveted Michelin star within just six months of opening.

Arguably one of the most eye catching stands came from the UK’s leading independent supplier of horticultural displays, I Want Plants. The family run business counts a number of well known hospitality brands as their customers, including newly opened The Food Well and Mowgli Manchester owned by this year’s NRB Special Achievement Award Winner Nisha Katona.

Everyone’s favourite greengrocers, Noones once again created a beautiful stand showcasing their seasonal produce.