The TMRW Project on Chefs of Tomorrow

Established to provide a platform for young chefs to grow, develop and connect with each other and others in the industry, Chefs of Tomorrow is an initiative that was launched back in 2015 – part of The TMRW Project, a collaborative project founded by chef Dan Doherty and writer Anna Sulan Masing that encompasses industry talks, dinners, front of house events and more.

Creating a multi-directional link between chefs, restaurants and guests, CoT works as a series of ticketed dinners where four local chefs at Chef de Partie level or below each cook one course of the meal, while being mentored throughout the process. 

According to Dan, the reason the particular format is so positive for rising chefs is that it works on many levels. “It’s non-competitive so you don’t inherit all of the bullshit that comes with competition – egos, testosterone, negativity – and focuses on giving these guys a day-in-the-life experience. It gets the chefs thinking, cooking and connecting some kind of emotion to their food. Equally important, they work together to connect these dishes to a coherent menu and cook it for paying customers.”

"The chefs get to work with others at the same/similar level to themselves, they network, they see outside their own kitchen," adds Anna. "It gives them a reason to work closely with the senior members in their own kitchen to work on developing a new dish, and they get to meet the people who eat their food, interact and see the response. They also have to be interviewed by us, and learn how to articulate what they think of their food, how they see themselves in relation to the rest of the industry."

Rising of the North

In highlighting the fact that great talent can be found across the length and breadth of the UK, CoT also seeks to prove that the capital isn't the only place to find a flourishing career in food and drink, and recently Dan and Anna enlisted the help of Emma Underwood, General Manager at hailed Stockport restaurant Where the Light Gets In, to help focus on the North. 

"We have a really flourishing scene up here that's growing all the time," Emma says. "There's more of a move away now from looking to London as the benchmark for restaurants and instead looking to and celebrating our own regional style – particularly up in the North West, where the restaurant empires of Gary Usher and Michael O’Hare are expanding all the time. The guests, also, are very engaged as diners; they have a lovely sense of pride and ownership when they see the Northern restaurants do well on a national scale."

Emma credits restaurants and chefs like Usher, Paul Askew in Liverpool, and Adam Reid at The French for actively working with colleges and young chefs.

"Michael O’Hare’s Head Chef at Rabbit in the Moon is only 21," Emma points out. "Kieran Bellerby, who cooked at the Hispi Chefs of Tomorrow dinner, is also extremely talented and I have watched him master every section of the kitchen with such ease – he has a wonderful career in front of him. Here at Where The Light Gets In we're also fortunate to have an incredible pastry chef, Emma Tillyer, who cooks with such wonderful heart and passion."

Chefs of Tomorrow at Le Cochon Aveugle

Following an event at Hispi in Manchester earlier this year, the next Chefs of Tomorrow dinner sees the initative move to York's Le Cochon Aveugle, a small 30-cover resturant serving a 'blind' daily-changing tasting menu. 

"Finding exceptional produce is at the forefront of the restaurant's ethos," explains Head Chef and co-owner Josh Overington, "which means we create our menus not just from seasonal products, but from what is best to eat each individual day."  

In terms of the food and hospitality industry, Josh believes that York is in a massive transitional phase. Primarily a university and tourism-based city, historically it has struggled with restaurants focusing on volume rather than quality, but now he feels the city has a rapidly improving dining scene to be proud of. 

"In the North of England, you will find restaurants that are easily as good, if not better than a lot of the London scene," Josh says. "The style of the restaurants here vary hugely, as they’re located in everything from big cities through to incredible rural locations – they are a great representation of the terroir."

And for the upcoming dinner at Le Cochon Aveugle, Josh reckons you can expect eclectic styles from the new generation of Yorkshire-based talent. "We’ll be having four chefs from local restaurants each cooking a dish of their own during the menu, and each cooking in their own individual style. I’m looking forward to seeing what they will bring to the table – literally!”