Take your seat at the table to hear from a panel of food & drink experts on the past, present and future of west London food.
West London is a hotbed of food and flavour. It has a vibrant community of diverse food entrepreneurs, catering colleges doing great things for the hospitality talent pipeline and cookery schools changing the way we eat at home. And its heritage is indisputable. Chiswick, for example, gets its name from cheesewick, as it played host to a cheese market up until the 18th Century. Despite all that, London's food scene is disproportionately concentrated in Central and East.
Join Mallika Basu and her panel of local food industry friends to uncover why this is the case and explore what steps can be taken to put west London back on the food & drink map. Hosted in Kindred’s Library, the event will be open to everyone and though we expect the panel to attract the great and good of the food world we're keen to welcome people from outside of the industry, too. This will be your chance to learn about new west London restaurants and learn more about the area's history.
A glass of wine comes as complimentary with the ticket and you’re welcome to grab some food and drink with us before and after the event to continue the conversation.
Meet the Panel
Mallika Basu (Host)
Having landed in the UK from Kolkata as a kitchen-shy student, Mallika Basu is now regarded as one of the food industry’s leading voices. Over her 20 year career, she has written a string of successful cookbooks, acted as a trusted adviser for food businesses committed to improving their culture and diversity, and used her voice and standing to champion a more inclusive and culturally sensitive approach within hospitality and the food & drink media.
Tom Parker-Bowles
Tom Parker Bowles is a British food writer and food critic. He won the Guild of Food Writers 2010 award for his writings on British food. He is known for his appearances as a judge in numerous television food series, including Masterchef on BBC, and for his reviews of restaurant reviews for the likes of GQ and Esquire.
Fran Warde
Having trained as a chef, Fran Warde worked at the Café Royal before setting up her own cookery school and then moving into food styling and food writing. She was the food editor at Red Magazine and is the author of various cookbooks. A proud west Londoner, Fran set up and continues to run Chiswick Cheese Market.
Mursal Saiq
Mursal Saiq is the co-founder of Cue Point, a British Afghan fusion restaurant based in Chiswick. Mursal came to the UK as a refugee from Afghanistan, via India, as a child and is passionate about the role food can play in bringing diverse communities together. She worked at Street Feast London after studying where she met chef Joshua Moroney, her partner at Cue Point.