Get a taste of the best of Dorset at the Weymouth & Portland Catering Show

TAKE half a dozen of Dorset's best chefs and a menu of outstanding local food and you have a recipe for a mouthwatering feast of demonstrations at this year's Weymouth & Portland Catering Show later this month.

The line-up on the opening day, Tuesday 20th October, is led by Mat Follas, winner of this year's MasterChef competition and now chef patron of his own restaurant, The Wild Garlic in Beaminster. He will be first on stage in the cookery theatre at 10.30am.

MasterChef judges and presenters John Torode and Gregg Wallace said: "Mat came in here and absolutely wowed us with food which was extraordinary in both presentation and flavour."

Mat uses natural and local ingredients, whether they are foraged, farmed, or hunted.

At 11.45am, Donna Horlock, who was the first woman head chef on the cruise liner QE2, and is now a lecturer at Weymouth College will be giving a demonstration. Donna has years of experience in many 5 star London Hotels, and has now returned to her Dorset roots.

Over lunchtime, from 12.45, the demonstrator will be Brazilian-born Luciano Da Silva, chef patron of Portland's Blue Fish Cafe, who trained at Westminster College and says his cooking is inspired by his experiences working in restaurants in New York, Europe and London including L'escargot and Daphne's.

No introduction is needed for Lesley Waters, who takes the stage at 2pm - the effervescent Ready Steady Cook star lives in West Dorset and is now running her Lesley Waters Cookery School at Minterne House, Minterne Magna, between Sherborne and Dorchester.

Another Weymouth College lecturer, Leonie Monaghan, will be cooking for the audience from 3.45pm. Leonie has been employed in hospitality and catering since the age of 13 when she began working for the D'Agostino family during her school holidays. This provided the inspiration to become a catering student at Weymouth. Leonie is passionate about expanding her knowledge of wines and has lately introduced the WSET Foundation Wine Certificate to the college curriculum

On Wednesday, 21st October, there is another impressive line-up of chef demonstrators, led off at 10.30 by Weymouth lecturer Ashley Perry.

Jamie Jones, chef patron of Yalbury Cottage, Lower Bockhampton, takes the stage at 11.30. Jamie has worked for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in London, Maldives, Cairo and Hampshire as Executive Chef. He aims to produce creative but classical French menus for Yalbury Cottage, using local suppliers and the best seasonal British fish, meat, vegetables and dairy products available locally.

Multi-award winning Russell Brown, chef proprietor of Sienna in Dorchester is on at 12.30. Sienna is a small, modern British restaurant serving seasonal menus, using lots of regional produce. Holder of 3 AA rosettes since January 2007, it is listed in all the major guides. Russell is a Fellow of the Masterchefs of Great Britain.

At 1.30pm, it's the turn of another award-winner, Steve Titman, executive chef of Summer Lodge Hotel at Evershot, and joint winner of this year's Taste of Dorset Restaurant of the Year Award. Steve came to Summer Lodge from the White Barn Inn in Kennebunkport in Maine, USA, a fellow Relais and Chateaux property and also worked at Longueville Manor on Jersey, and Michelin starred establishments in Germany. He is passionate about Dorset's abundant local produce.

The Hive Beach Cafe at Burton Bradstock won the 2009 Coast magazine Award for Best Coastal Café. Opened 18 years ago as a "shed on a beach" it has become a favourite for its glorious sea views and excellent seafood with visitors and foodies alike. Head chef Tim Attrill will be demonstrating at 2.30pm.

Have a Piddle at the show

Winners of the 2009Taste of Dorset Best Drinks Producer Award, the Dorset Piddle Brewery will be back at this second Weymouth & Portland Catering Show.

Director Paul Goldsack was thrilled to win the Blackmore Vale Magazine award and says : "It's been such a busy year with our brewery and brands going from strength to strength, and the Weymouth & Portland Catering Show helps us to meet more of our customers face to face to spread the news.

Other award winning exhibitors include the Bournemouth-based Italian Connection which recently won two gold stars in the Great Taste Awards 2009 for its Sicilian MOAK espresso beans. and Coastline Produce of Christchurch which reached the finals of the Grocer of the Year Awards at the Dorchester Hotel in the summer.

The Weymouth & Portland Catering Show is for the trade. If you are in the hospitality, tourism, leisure or retail industry, you can pre-register for the Weymouth & Portland Catering Show at www.hotel-expo.co.uk/weymouth or call 01425 485040.