Your friends in the north

Northern Restaurant & Bar Show promises the biggest showcase of regional food, drink and business operators ever assembled. As the trade prepares for the smoking ban, Tony Halstead says it couldn't take place at a better time

All roads lead to Manchester next week for the north's biggest food and drink spectacular in the UK licensed trade calendar, the Northern Restaurant & Bar Show, being held in the city on 26 and 27 March.

The show, staged at Manchester's G-Mex

Exhibition Centre, brings together the biggest array of regional food, drink and business operators ever assembled under one roof.

Northern brewers and pub operators will rub shoulders with global brewing and drinks brands, top chefs, restaurant operators, food companies and equipment suppliers.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to enjoy a range of talks and demonstrations led by personality chefs, blue-chip hospitality companies and recognised trade and hospitality industry experts.

With exhibitor and visitor rates soaring, the seventh annual show is shaping up to be the biggest and best yet, introducing scores of new ideas and developments designed to help operators grow their businesses.

A record number of at least 300 exhibitors are taking stands at the show, expected to attract an estimated 8,000 operators alongside hundreds of visitors with varied interests.

The show will reflect growing trends in British food development, with the accent on local sourcing of fresh, home-reared produce from some of the North's top food suppliers.

This top-quality event aims to leave visitors informed and inspired, and is wholly dedicated to the vibrant northern hospitality industry, which annually brings together the sector's major players.

Unique experience

"Our show appeals to all northern operators who do not have time to visit the southern-based show," says event director Gilly Shaw.

"The north has a thriving industry and Northern Restaurant & Bar offers the perfect meeting and buying situation for all of our visitors.

"Northern Restaurant & Bar is dedicated to offering those visitors and exhibitors a unique experience, with the focus again being on food, drink and the all-important business side of the sector."

Theatre of food

The Culinary Theatre will introduce outstanding names from the region, while national drinks supplier Matthew Clark contributes "Perfect Solutions", an informative line-up of talks and demonstrations.

This networking forum is packed with industry tips and advice and features topical presentations from leading associations and operators.

The North West Fine Food Theatre is back after last year's successful launch, offering tastings and demonstrations for the region's finest artisan producers.

The award-winning South Trafford College will also be on hand to provide top-class dishes from the industry's greatest chefs.

"Last year these features were flooded with visitors hungry for ideas, and with such fantastic features for 2007 we expect bigger crowds than ever," says marketing executive Katy Chilton.

"The northern industry is pretty self-contained and it's great for operators to have a focal point for inspiration and business tips."

For the second year running, the Northern Hospitality Awards will take place alongside the exhibition.

Once again, a strictly invitation-only awards dinner for 250 of the most important, influential and talented hospitality professionals in the northern hospitality industry will take place at Manchester's renowned five-star Lowry Hotel on Monday, 26 March.

These prestigious awards are intended to recognise the true talent and diversity within the industry in the north of England.

FOOD Specialists attending

Food is a major feature of the two-day

Northern Restaurant & Bar show.

Artisan producers represented will include:

Johnson & Swarbrick: Goosnargh duckling and chicken; plus game and turkeys

Claire's Handmade: award-winning

chutneys, jams and marmalades

Taylor Puddings: dessert range including bread-and-butter pudding, sticky toffee

pudding and gluten-free chocolate slab

Andrews Continental: continental sausages from authentic recipes, including chorizo, frankfurters and kabanos, but using locally sourced meat and ingredients

JJ Sandham Ltd: hand-made traditional Lancashire cheese

Pain De Paris: specialist bread and pastries

Chat Moss Herbs: freshly cut herbs

H&P Ascroft: famous golden beetroot and purple carrots

Mrs Kirkhams: traditional farmhouse

Lancashire cheese

A varied series of talks on food will include:

Cheese talk: Cheese, Beautiful Cheese

Charcuterie talk: Regional Charcuterie: Anything The Continent Can Do, We Can Do Better

Chocolate talk: Chocolate, The Perfect End

Hygiene talk: What To Expect When The Inspector Calls

Aspire Restaurant

Signature dishes from the following chefs will feature over the two days:

Rupert Rowley: Fischers, Baslow, Derbyshire (1 Michelin */4 AA Rosettes)

Paul Kitching: Juniper, Altrincham, Greater Manchester (1 Michelin *)

Eyck Zimmer: the River Restaurant, Lowry Hotel, Salford

David McLaughlin: Holbeck Ghyll, Cumbria (1 Michelin *)

Paul Heathcote: the Longridge Restaurant (Heathcotes), Longridge, Lancashire

Ernst Van Zyl: Stanneylands, Cheshire

Simon Gueller: the Box Tree, Ilkley, Yorkshire (1 Michelin *)

Lisa Walker: Isinglass, Urmston, Greater Manchester (Bib Gourmand)

Marc Verite: the Warehouse, Southport, Merseyside

Beautiful Beer with the Beer Academy

Leading industry experts will look at key trends and themes driving the beer industry.

Great Northern Beers -

with the Beer Academy

The north boasts some of the best-known beer names in the brewing industry and is home to the largest number of individual brewers to be found anywhere in the UK.

Names such as Timothy Taylor's Landlord, Black Sheep, Daniel Thwaites, and John Willie Lees are instantly recognisable.

Many of these brewers have been

operating in the region for more than 150 years and are firmly established as bedrock companies producing quality cask ale and bottled-beer products.

Many northern brewers have firmly nailed their colours to the mast of beer and food matching, an important feature of the show.

The brewers are supporting new drives to establish beer as a national accompaniment to food, and are part of a growing lobby urging the British Government to support the product as the country's national drink.

Leading brewers argue that if the Government offered as much support as the French government gives to their wine industry, beer would be one of the UK's iconic institutions. A tutored tasting of beers will describe the brewing methods and raw materials used by the brewers.

Matching Beer with Food -

Mark Stroobandt

The great beers and food available at the show lend themselves to some wonderful opportunities to complement and contrast their natural flavours.

Beers of the World -

with the Beer Academy

The choice of beers available in the UK has never been better, and this practical talk will explore some of the world's great beers.

The Northern Lights Bar

Once again the slickly run bar will feature some of the best brands available, as well as a welcome place to rest your legs and catch up with friends and colleagues in the style bar or beer garden.

Contributors will include Budvar, Highland Spring, Britvic and Crown Awnings.

The Mojo Rhum Room

The invitation-only Mojo Rhum Room is an atmospheric VIP bar reflecting the unique, vibrant atmosphere of Mojo Bars in Leeds, Manchester and Barbados.

The Rhum Room offers rum-based cocktails from more than 18 brands, including Pampero (Venezuela), Appleton VX, Goslings, La Mauny Rhum, Agricole and Elements Eight, and showcases rare rums for tastings.

SMOKING BAN

Everything a licensee or restaurant operator wants to know