For immediate release

April 2015

ESSEX CHEF BECOMES MEMBER OF SLOW FOOD UK'S PRESTIGIOUS CHEF ALLIANCE

An Essex chef, who trained at South East Essex College of Arts & Technology in Southend, executive chef atChamberlain's Restaurant in Leadenhall Market,has been made a member ofSlow Food UK'srenownedChef Alliance. This Roux Scholar now joins other chefs, including such esteemed names as Marcus Wareing, Michel Roux Jnr, Raymond Blanc, Simon Rogan and Tom Kerridge who are also members.

Jones, whose father is also a chef at trained at the same college, comes from a catering family; his parents, who live inSt. Lawrence, met while working atThe Contented Sole in Burnham on Crouchin the early 1960s and were married there.

Slow Food UK's Chef Alliance engages British-based chefs in actively championing small-scale producers, and promoting good quality local and sustainably produced food.

The Chef Alliance identifies members who share its Slow Food ethos and are keen to work with itsArk of Taste programme. It encourages chefs to use seasonal forgotten foods, helping to raise awareness of these traditional British products.

Commenting on his new appointment to theSlow Food Chef AllianceJones says: "I am proud and honoured to have become part of Slow Food UK's Chef Alliance. I am a firm believer in using small-scale producers, sustainable, seasonal produce and of course, being owned by Billingsgate fish wholesaler Chamberlain & Thelwell, Chamberlain's is fortunate to have easy access to the very finest fish from the UK coast.

"I have always felt strongly about using sustainable produce and reaping the taste benefits of using food at its seasonal peak. I am already usingdulse(seaweed) and makingPerryvinegar, as well as using numerous other Ark of Taste products. I addition, I demonstrated recipes using Cromer Crab and Colchester Native Oysters this month at theNatural Foods Show at Excel, in my first event as an member of Slow Food UK." He adds.

There are over 125 Chef Alliance members of Slow Food UK and they include Angela Hartnett, Simon Rogan, Raymond Blanc, Sat Bains, and Shaun Hill. Slow Food started in Italy in 1989 and today is a global movement, with thousands of members, linking the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment. It is a not-for-profit organisation seeking to promote a better way to eat.

Alessio Bascherini, Chamberlain's director - and himself Italian - adds: "The Slow Food Movement is enormously important in my home country. I am glad to see that it is also so powerful in the UK and we will be very pleased to support it."

Chamberlain's Restaurant will also be taking part in Slow Food Week, which runs from 1-7 June.

ENDS

For further information please contact Alison Jee on 020 8744 0744

alison@alisonjee.co.uk