J.Sheekey oyster bar announces first three names in all new female guest chef series
Rosie Birkett, Olia Hercules, Anna Jones
J.Sheekey Oyster Bar, in association with Guardian Members, announces an all-female guest chef series with one very special guest headlining each month, throughout spring and summer 2016. The first three talents to be cooking in the kitchen alongside resident executive chef Andy McLay, are; Rosie Birkett, Olia Hercules and Anna Jones.
Six women have been invited to cook in the J.Sheekey Oyster Bar kitchen, bringing their unique flavours and styles to a series of ticketed dinner events for the public, in a series of guest chef evenings from April until August. Guests will have the opportunity to experience six skilled chefs cook, present and discuss their food philosophy, integrated with the Oyster Bar’s ethos of family-style, sharing plates.
Each guest chef began her career in food as a writer and stylist, which led to her cooking professionally. These formidable women are now published authors, each with their own cookbook but without a standalone restaurant. This exciting series of female guest chefs at J.Sheekey Oyster Bar gives the unique opportunity for existing, and new, fans to experience the chefs cooking in a restaurant environment; “What I love about these chefs”, says J.Sheekey Oyster Bar’s head chef, Andy McLay, “is that they didn’t come into the culinary world as conventionally-schooled chefs. They’ve had a sort of a reverse schooling – reporting on food trends first, then learning the skill to be a part of creating new ideas.”
Using her own cooking philosophy as featured in her cookbooks and across national media through her journalism, each chef will work with executive chef Andy McLay to develop her menu in order to prepare it for 50 diners at J.Sheekey Oyster Bar, for one night only:
- Tuesday 5 April, Rosie Birkett (British) – playing with quintessential comfort food and the changing seasons, Birkett has an enticingly modern approach to reviving classics and bringing a literal vibrancy to the idea of what makes ‘British’ cuisine.
- Tuesday 26 April, Olia Hercules (Uzbeki, Moldovan, Georgian and Azeri) – Mamushka author and ex Ottolenghi chef Hercules, will be cooking up a feast of flavours. With a family heritage (inspiring her cuisine style) hailing from Siberia to Azerbaijan, and a wanderlust spirit, guests can expect the unexpected.
- Tuesday 24 May, Anna Jones (vegetarian) – leading the vegetable revolution, Jones will use her stage to impress on guests that a multi-course, dining out experience, can be comprised solely of roots, grains, leaves, plants, flowers and more.
The second instalment of three female guest chefs will be announced in April. Based on a minimum of three courses, menus will be designed in keeping with the style of J.Sheekey Oyster Bar; serving family-style sharing plates.
Tickets cost £50 per person and can be booked through the Guardian Members website here. Cookbooks specific to each chef will be available for purchase on the relevant evening.