Snow Day at Royal Pavilion Ice Rink

This Saturday is snow day at the Royal Pavilion Ice Rink! The ice rink and Jamie Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts rinkside restaurant will be decked out in snow following a tv film shoot on Friday evening. 

Said Shella Parkin, MD of Laine Ltd which manages the rink: “This is a real one off – the rink already looks like a beautiful winter wonderland, but this weekend it will be even more festive, with a coating of snow – albeit synthetic – so a very special weekend to come down and enjoy the rink.”

The South East’s most beautiful ice rink is open from November 10 to January 20. With the former Royal pleasure palace as backdrop, the 800 square metre rink has space for 250 skaters per session, with a beginners area and skates from ‘just walking’ to adult sizes, offering seasonal fun and a unique and special Christmas experience.

Royal Pavilion Ice Rink tickets cost from £10 for adults and £7 for children under 12 and the one-hour skate times run from 10am to 10.15pm daily. This year off-peak prices run from 10am to 5.15pm, one hour longer than last year and schools can buy tickets for £4 per student. Box office is open from 9.30am to 9.45pm, but it is advisable to book tickets in advance. 

Buy your tickets now from www.ticketmaster.co.uk/royal-pavilion-ice-rink or call 0844 8472352 or for group bookings of ten or more call 0844 8471512.

Sussex Young Chef Finalists Announced

Six of the best young chefs in Sussex took part in a sizzling cook off at City College Brighton & Hove to win the hotly contended Sussex Young Chef of the Year award, sponsored by Cheese Please and Gram UK Ltd, as part of the Sussex Food & Drink Awards 2012/13.

They were Charlie Tayler from The Pass at South Lodge Hotel in Lower Beeding, Paul Peach from The Horseguards Inn in Tillington, Jimmy Gray from Jeremy’s Restaurant at Borde Hill Gardens near Haywards Heath, Steve Pelling from The Felbridge Hotel in East Grinstead, Ryan Hunter from Wingrove House in Alfriston and Tom Goodchild from The Crabtree in Lower Beeding.

Each young chef was asked to prepare a three course meal made from locally sourced Sussex produce to be judged by an expert panel including Roy Perrett from the Craft Guild of Chefs, Leroy Clarke, Chef Lecturer and Course Manager at City College’s catering department, sponsors Fiona Kay of Cheese Please and Glenn Roberts of Gram UK Ltd and chair of judges, Clive Beddall OBE.

The young chefs were judged not only on the sourcing of ingredients but also on the taste, presentation, creativity, saleability and customer appeal of their menus and after much deliberation on the part of the judging panel the three finalists were agreed as follows:

Twenty-year old Charlie Tayler from South Lodge in Upper Beeding near Horsham, works as demi chef de partie in The Pass restaurant at the hotel.  His starter of scallops and butternut squash was followed by wood pigeon, finishing off with a blackberry cheesecake of outstandingly high standard which was singled out for particular praise by the judges.

 

Twenty-four-year-old Jimmy Gray from Jeremy’s Restaurant at Borde Hill Gardens near Haywards Heath produced a menu which was judged to be exceptionally creative.  The presentation of his butter poached lobster to start was excellent and was followed up by a main course of Sussex mallard, the ingredients for which were all produced within a five mile radius of Borde Hill.  The finale to his menu was a poached pear and Slipcote cheese mousse.

Twenty-year-old Ryan Hunter is the youngest of the three finalists and was delighted to be back cooking at City College Brighton & Hove where he did his training.  Now working as part of the team at Wingrove House in Alfriston, he produced a sea bass starter, freshly caught on the morning of the competition, followed by downland rabbit of exceptional taste and finishing off with a rice pudding complemented with a plum, apple and blackberry compote.

Roy Perrett, Vice President of the Craft Guild of Chefs who lives in Sussex said, “The six young chefs all produced menus of an amazing standard and selecting just three finalists was challenging with a display of such exceptional culinary skills.  It was a very exciting and highly competitive afternoon from which I have come away with the names and addresses of six fantastic Sussex eateries.”

Said Leroy Clarke, Chef Lecturer and Course Manager at City College’s Catering department, “When we have young chefs as talented as today’s competitors working in our restaurants and hotels, the hospitality and catering industry in Sussex has a great future and can only go from strength to strength.”

Other categories in these coveted awards include best Sussex eating experience, food producer, drink producer, farmer, food/farm shop, butcher and farmers market.  Winners and runners up will be revealed at the ‘Sussex foodie event of the year’, the awards banquet, being held at the Amex Stadium on 31^st January 2013, hosted by Sally Gunnell OBE adn Danny Pike from BBC Sussex.  Tickets for the sumptuous seven-course Sussex feast and awards ceremony are now on sale.

To find out more visit www.sussexfoodawards.biz

Flying Time Aviation all set to help young people find their wings

Flying Time Aviation will be among companies encouraging youngsters to reach for the skies at a fun packed information day aimed at inspiring the next generation of pilots and aircraft engineers.

Shoreham (Brighton City) Airport-based Flying Time Aviation has been invited by Virgin Atlantic to attend their Future Flyers and Fixers Day, which will inform young people aged 13-25 years about potential career options within the aviation industry. The event, organised jointly by the airline’s Flight Operations and Engineering departments, takes place at Virgin’s multi-million pound training facility in Crawley on November 24.

Young people interested in a career path in aviation will be able to find out the answers to pertinent questions, from which GCSE subjects to study to become an aircraft engineer to how long it takes to qualify as a pilot.

Flying Time is one of the top training schools in the UK and is the only centre in the South East to offer the UK Civil Aviation Authority approved Flight Deck Programme, an intensive one-year course which leads to a Commercial Pilot Licence qualification - the minimum qualification that a European Airline would require from prospective pilots.

Flying Time MD Jonathan Candelon said: “We are flattered to have been invited to attend this event which aims to inspire young people to reach for the skies and look further into the exciting array of careers available within the aviation industry.”

“Flying Time Aviation will be on hand to explain how we assist dozens of prospective commercial pilots from the south east and across the globe to gain their wings every year.”

He added: “Some students will be very surprised at the diversity of career routes on offer. It’s a little known fact that you don’t need a degree to become a commercial pilot and that training can provide a cost effective alternative to undergraduate study. What is absolutely vital is that young people have the drive, energy, motivation and commitment to succeed in this demanding but highly rewarding career.”

Flying Time Aviation trains students from its base in Shoreham on its modern training fleet of Jet A-1 fuelled aircraft equipped with EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrument System), DA40 Diamond Stars, DA42 Diamond Twin Stars as well as flight deck simulators. Flying Time is the largest operator of Diamond aircraft in the UK.

Future Flyers and Fixers will take place at Virgin’s purpose built facility fitted with rigs which can simulate emergency procedures from an evacuation down a Boeing 747 slide to a smoke-filled cabin. Air Cadets, Gliding clubs and The Royal Navy will be among the industry partners attending. Virgin Atlantic pilots and engineers will also be on hand to share their experiences and young people can attend informative presentations from a variety of speakers.

The free event takes place at The Base, Fleming Way, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 9LX. Participants should register their interest in the event at futureflyers.andfixers@flyvirgin.com.

Sign up for Santas on the Run!

Why not start the seasonal celebrations by joining hundreds of other people of all ages dressed as Father Christmas for some festive family fun, raising money for a good claus?

Last year saw over 350 Santas running through Crawley Town Centre and raising £15,000 for Chestnut Tree House, the children’s hospice for Sussex.  Will you take the challenge this year and take part in the hospice’s annual Santas on the Run event?

The sponsored Fun Run takes place on Sunday 18 November at 10am, starting and finishing in the Memorial Gardens in Crawley, with a choice of a one or two mile route. You don’t even have to train for the run – you can walk, jog or sprint!

Registration costs £12 per adult, £6 for children aged 6 to16 years old, and just £3 for children under 6.  Upon registration, all runners over 16 will receive a Santa suit, and under 16s will receive a Santa hat which of course can be kept afterwards! And all of our special Santas will receive a Santas on the Run medal and refreshments at the end.

Register online today at www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk or call The Events Team on 01903 706354 and help your local children’s hospice this Christmas.

Brighton & Hove Foodie winners receive trophies

The winners of Brighton & Hove Foodie Awards 2012, chosen by the city’s public, last night [October 1] received their trophies from Latest food writer Andrew Kay and Juice FM DJ Andrea Fox at an awards presentation hosted in the beautiful Dome Room at the Pub du Vin and sponsored by mylivevision.

More than 120 finalists and guests gathered to hear the public verdict on best restaurant, best food pub, best café and best food shop before going on to enjoy the now traditional fabulous foodie showcase, sampling mouth watering treats provided by finalists and aptly demonstrating why the city has a reputation for making the ordinary taste extraordinary when it comes to food.

Award for best restaurant went to Brighton’s original vegetarian eaterie, Food for Friends in Prince Albert Street, followed by Terre a Terre in East Street, with the Chilli Pickle, now firmly established in the MyHotel overlooking Jubilee Square, taking third place.  

The Ginger Pig in Hove Street took Best Food Pub 2012, just holding off fierce competition from The Basketmakers in Gloucester Road who came in second but only by one vote,  narrowly beating The Foragers in Stirling Place in Hove into third place.

Café culture clearly works in the North Laine which dominated this award with another vegetarian outlet, Iydea in Kensington Gardens, winning first place; Moksha Caffe in York Place taking second; and Mange Tout, in Trafalgar Street, coming in third.

The Best Food Shop trophy was once again carried off by the much-loved Infinity Foods, also vegetarian, in Gardner Street, this year celebrating its third successive victory, with The Brighton Sausage Company in Gloucester Road taking second position and third place going to ice cream maestros Boho Gelato in Pool Valley.

“This year’s awards competition was even better than last year, fiercely fought and yet there was a fantastic atmosphere with a lot of camaraderie between the city’s favourite food places at the awards presentation.” said Paula Seager, MD of Natural PR, who runs the awards.

“The competition once again shows what a superb and unique range of independent restaurants, food pubs, cafés and food shops we have in the city and that there is huge support for them here, as the public came out in force to vote for their favourites again.”

“We want to thank everyone who took part, our sponsors mylivevision, all the food outlets who joined the competition and the public who voted so enthusiastically – and we hope that they will all support us again when we launch the Brighton & Hove Foodie Awards 2013 at the city’s Spring Harvest Food and Drink Festival next April.”

Companies interested in sponsorship of next year’s awards can contact Sandra Murphy at sandra@naturalpr.biz.  For a full list of finalists and fantastic pictures of the fun had by all at the awards party go to www.brightonfoodawards.com.