By Angela Green, Content Executive, H&C News: BM appoints pop-up guru to develop and expand street food offer.
Catering News is sponsored by Two Services
BM has appointed Sunil Varma to the role of pop-up chef to oversee the development of bespoke and modern street food concepts across the company.
The role involves identifying food trends for the business and designing concepts around these – reflecting London’s evolving food culture.
Varma has worked for BM over the last 10 years across a number of sites and is also a part-time DJ. As part of this activity, Varma also develops specific playlists to accompany each cuisine – something that has become hugely popular with guests.
During his time, he has developed vegetarian-focused food concepts that took inspiration from the diets of countries with the longest life expectancy.
He adopted dishes, ingredients and trends from nations such as Japan, Switzerland and Macau to explore creative ways in which BM could offer healthier dishes to customers.
He also developed a popular raw vegetable pop-up concept around seasonal nutrition.
Prior to this, he held head chef positions at other foodservice firms including Aramark, Compass and Restaurants at Work, as well as at healthy meal delivery service Fresh Fitness Food and high street chain Giraffe. He also spent four years as a chef de partie at Peter Gordon’s Sugar Club in Soho, London.
A passionate advocate of community outreach, Varma led a project with Streets Kitchen in London’s Clapham to feed homeless communities and refugees during the pandemic, and over the last decade has run similar initiatives alongside his day job in partnership with Streets Kitchen and the Big Warm Up as a project chef.
Every Christmas for the last 10 years, he has worked as a head chef and development chef for charity Crisis at Christmas, and this year will be no different.
Varma said: “I’m so excited to have been tasked with heading up BM’s pop-up and street food offering. Having been a part of the #BMfamily for the last decade, I’ve seen how well pop-ups go down both with our customers and teams, and I can’t wait to explore and share the brilliant new concepts I have in mind with the teams.”
BM chef director Pete Redman said: “Sunil has been with BM for 10 years over a few different sites and is always contributing cutting edge street food ideas and bringing them to life at our client sites. We’re thrilled that he’s going to be using his new role to focus solely on pop-ups and look forward to developing some new creative concepts and explore new food styles with him.”
Catering News is sponsored by Two Services
