Omar Allibhoy

Omar is the founder of Tapas Revolution, the critically-applauded Spanish tapas restaurant group. As a chef he trained under Ferran Adrià in his native Spain then with Jason Atherton in London, and has cooked for countless celebrities and even the Royal Family. Omar is the author of two cookbooks, his debut book, Tapas Revolution is still one of the best-selling Spanish cookbooks in the world. As well as running a successful business, Omar has won several awards and maintained a career as a successful TV chef.

Dale has dedicated the last 26 years of his life to the field of Nutrition and helping people achieve better health. Dale believes that nutrition is an incredibly powerful and effective tool in the management and prevention of disease. It represents one of the key things that we can actually do for ourselves to actively play a role in our own healthcare.

Dale is a Sunday Times best-selling author of 18 books, clinical practitioner, TV presenter and teacher. Over the last 2 and a half decades he has developed tools, strategies, and clinical protocols to help people restore their health with simple effective dietary changes.

Juliet is a proud wearer of many hats. Mum, food stylist, TV Presenter, author, cook and of course – baker! She has had the honour of making all sorts of cakes and other delicious treats for countless people, including Prince Harry, Kate Moss, Holly Willoughby, McFly and Alexa Chung (to name drop a few!).

Juliet will be joined by Dick & Dom on Friday at CarFest North to challenge the dynamic duo to make pizzas! Join her to find out whether it will be carnage in ‘da kitchen’ or an impressive pizza feast!

Better known together as BOSH, Hernry and Ian have played a huge role in the Vegetarian and Vegan revolution!

Ian is a wordsmith as well as a committed vegan (the two things go together surprisingly well). He’s the creative drive behind BOSH’s recipes and is passionate about sustainable living and, above all else, superior flavour. He believes that there’s absolutely no need to miss out on taste while enjoying the benefits a plant-based lifestyle and is happy to prove it. We think he might have invented the term “eat the rainbow” but we can’t be 100% sure.

Henry is a home-taught cook who is a late but passionate convert to the joys of plant-based living. Once a voracious meat-eater and slight nay-sayer about the whole vegan thing, he is now positively evangelical about the joys of living life on the veg. His mission is to make a positive impact on reducing climate change by showing the world just how easy, delicious and life-changing plant-based eating can be.

Former Great British Menu contestant Stuart Collins has worked with the likes of Gary Rhodes, Michael Caines and Gordon Ramsay.

Now Stuart has set out on his own to open Docket No. 33, a small but perfectly formed restaurant in the beautiful town of Whitchurch in Shropshire, with a menu focusing on local, seasonal produce.

Today, Stuart’s dishes might focus on British ingredients, but there are flashes of international flavours from his time working in the Middle East and America. What brings it all together is his years of experience in top-end restaurants and natural talent at combining flavours. Docket No. 33 has more of a neighbourhood bistro feel compared to the glitzy multi-million pound mega-restaurants Stuart opened in Qatar – but the food and warm service are far, far better.

Star of Extreme Cake Makeovers gives visitors a sneak peak at what took her not only to the top of every bakers list, but helped make her an award-winning baker and creator!

A physics graduate and ex sandwich entrepreneur Neil began his career cooking late in life. At the start of his career he trained exclusively in French food in restaurants including the award-winning French Table in Surbiton before retraining at Gordon Ramsey’s Tante Marie cordon bleu cooking school. He then went on to work for the likes of Nuno Mendes during his own loft supper clubs and then moved to Pennyhill Park in Surrey to train under 2-star Michael Wignal. From there he went on to do a number of Michelin stages before ending up at Rhodes 24 in the city.

Neil's latest venture is Symplicity foods. He has spent 2 years working on the secret ingredients for unique plant-based meat and cheese products, which are now being supplied nationwide to restaurants. Neil has also collaborated with one of the world’s best known and most respected burger chains to produce a new burger just for them.

Neil started his career in fine dining but moved to cooking BBQ food after a stint at Barbacoa with acclaimed US BBQ chef Adam Perry Lang. He went on to open and be head chef for the original Pitt Cue in Soho which was one of London’s most successful restaurant openings, won numerous accolades and had famous queues stretching round the block.

A CarFest regular and favourite, Candice was born in North London and grew up in the pubs her parents ran. She would always chip in when needed, be it pulling pints or mopping floors. She now lives with boyfriend Liam and pug Dennis in Bedfordshire. She was taught to bake by her beloved Nan, and strives to emulate her bakes aiming to be “even half the lady she was.” She loves everything vintage and though she usually bakes in her PJs, she has been known to break in a new pair of heels whilst baking too.

Adam Bennett was born in Coventry. Like many chefs, he didn’t enjoy academia, but he’d always had an interest in cooking. When he left school, he studied food at Henley College. At nineteen, he worked with Anton Mosimann OBE for eighteen months at The Dorchester, London and he also worked in France at Restaurant Guy Lassausaie and Restaurant Marc Meurin.

At 35, he went to work for chef and restaurateur Andreas Antona at Simpsons and worked his way up to the role of head chef at Simpsons in Edgbaston, Birmingham. After the success of Simpsons, Andreas Antona opened The Cross at Kenilworth. Adam was appointed head chef, and shortly after opening, The Cross at Kenilworth was awarded its first Michelin star in 2014, making it the only restaurant in Warwickshire with the award.

Adam’s unique modern pan-European food style takes inspiration from his diverse culinary background.

Juliet is a proud wearer of many hats. Mum, food stylist, TV Presenter, author, cook and of course – baker! She has had the honour of making all sorts of cakes and other delicious treats for countless people, including Prince Harry, Kate Moss, Holly Willoughby, McFly and Alexa Chung (to name drop a few!).

Ryan and Liam met whilst working for Simon Hulstone at The Elephant Restaurant in Torquay and knew from that moment on they were going to climb the culinary ladder together.

In 2010 Ryan and Liam decided to start their own business and Orwells Restaurant was born. Since May 2010 Orwells has been recognised in many of the major guide achieving 4AA Rosettes a cooking score of 7/10 in The Good Food Guide and Orwells is included in the UK Top 50.

Former Great British Menu contestant, Andrew Sheridan is ambitious, inventive and completely dedicated to his craft and recognised as one of the finest chefs North Wales has ever produced.

Andrew is Executive Chef at ‘8’ in Birmingham, which offers an immersive, theatrical, slightly bonkers 16-seater chef’s table that combines light, sound and food into a multi-sensory evening. It’s Andrew’s career on a plate; dishes that encapsulate his cooking style and reference parts of his life and career. What’s more, everything is themed around the number eight; from the titles of the dishes to the price, opening time and number of courses. Andrew will be bringing a little taste of his innovative concept to CarFest this year.

Many of our CarFest visitors may recognise Dominique from the recent C4 series The Great Cookbook Challenge with Jamie Oliver. We’re delighted she’s going to be bringing her delicious recipes to life at CarFest this year…

Her simple, accessible East and Southeast Asian-style recipes won her a publishing contract with Penguin Michael Joseph and her first cookbook, Dominique’s Kitchen hits shelves in June 2022. Dominique also has her own food brand, The Woolf’s Kitchen, inspired by her Thai roots and made in London, which sells a range of sauces, condiments and snacks. A busy mum of three, Dominique’s style of cooking is all about delivering bold flavours the whole family will love with simple recipes that slot into busy schedules with ease.

A protégé of Raymond Blanc, Chris Harrod has built his own niche in the heart of glorious Monmouthshire, creating beautiful, organic dishes that make the most of the countryside around him.

Chris Harrod had been cooking at a high level for nearly twenty years before he burst into the public sphere in the 2018 series of Great British Menu. Alongside short-sleeved, swashbuckling chefs Tom Brown, Ellis Barrie and James Cochran, the nation warmed to Chris’ long-sleeves and gentle demeanour. In what is generally quite a boisterous work environment, Chris is a bit of an outlier – reserved and modest – but his food speaks for itself. Anyone who makes the journey to eat at The Whitebrook leaves knowing they’ve just eaten dishes cooked by one of the most talented chefs in the UK.

The young and talented chef Jeremy comes from three generations of Chinese chefs. Being surrounded by food connoisseurs Jeremy developed his passion for food and cooking at an early age.

After several career changes, Jeremy decided to follow his heart and bring the world of Chinese cuisine to fellow food enthusiasts. In autumn 2009 he established School of Wok in London, a mobile cookery school specialising in teaching Eastern cuisine to students in the comfort of their own homes.

Following the success of his mobile kitchen and help from sponsors, School of Wok opened its first permanent professional kitchen in May 2012 in Covent Garden, a well-thought-out location near London’s Chinatown and surrounded by some of the finest restaurants in the capital.

Jeremy is now also a regular chef on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, and has published two of his own cookbooks: demystifying Chinese cooking in Chinese Unchopped, and exploring different delectable dishes in Hong Kong Diner.

Juliet is a proud wearer of many hats. Mum, food stylist, TV Presenter, author, cook and of course – baker! She has had the honour of making all sorts of cakes and other delicious treats for countless people, including Prince Harry, Kate Moss, Holly Willoughby, McFly and Alexa Chung (to name drop a few!).

In this session, Juliet joins forces with her son and daughter to celebrate the joys of cooking together!

Formerly Patron of The Sisters Restaurant in Glasgow, Jak is well known and respected in the culinary world in Scotland. Her many television and radio appearances include BBC’s Great British Menu and STV’s Scottish Kitchen.

A CarFest regular and favourite, Candice was born in North London and grew up in the pubs her parents ran. She would always chip in when needed, be it pulling pints or mopping floors. She now lives with boyfriend Liam and pug Dennis in Bedfordshire. She was taught to bake by her beloved Nan, and strives to emulate her bakes aiming to be “even half the lady she was.” She loves everything vintage and though she usually bakes in her PJs, she has been known to break in a new pair of heels whilst baking too.

Eva is a Nottingham-based, leading BANT registered nutritionist, who takes a more relaxed and realistic approach to nutrition. From nutritional therapy to wholefood plans and corporate wellness, Eva offers a variety of services. Eva helps people choose whole foods that promote health, instead of the processed, health-boosting foods that are promoted to us every day through media outlets. She advocates having a warrior mentality to choose true health over convenience.

In 1979, a typically cash-strapped 17 year old high school student, Galton Blackiston, set up stall at Rye market selling his own range of home-made cakes, biscuits and preserves. The range became known as ‘Galton’s Goodies’ and such was its success during that year that Galton abandoned plans to be a professional cricketer, deciding instead on a career as a chef.

Galton has held a Michelin star for 18 years and become UK Craft Guild of Chefs ‘Chef of the year’, East Anglian Chef of the Year and fellow of the craft guild of chefs.

Galton has appeared on Anglia Television, Gary Rhodes Food Heros, Market Kitchen, Great British Menu and is a regular on Saturday Kitchen with James Martin (BBC) where he’s always promoting seasonal and Norfolk produce. Galton will always tell people that there is “No finer area” than Norfolk.

Omar is the founder of Tapas Revolution, the critically-applauded Spanish tapas restaurant group. As a chef he trained under Ferran Adrià in his native Spain then with Jason Atherton in London, and has cooked for countless celebrities and even the Royal Family. Omar is the author of two cookbooks, his debut book, Tapas Revolution is still one of the best-selling Spanish cookbooks in the world. As well as running a successful business, Omar has won several awards and maintained a career as a successful TV chef.

Dentistry or food? Yes, believe it or not, Spanish chef, José Pizarro considered both career paths, but thankfully his love of food was just too strong and he had no choice but to leave his passion for dentistry at the kitchen door.

Originally from a beautiful village, Talaván in Cáceres, Extremadura, José considers London his home, and is often described as the Godfather of Spanish cooking in the UK.

José believes that tapas is for all, and that home cooks don’t have to be scared off by the idea of cooking lots of dishes – it’s all in the prep & keeping it simple. This mantra of simplicity along with José’s charm, enthusiasm and passion for Spanish food has led to José appearing on many of our favourite foodie TV programmes. A regular on BBC 1’s Saturday Kitchen, José has also appeared on Sunday Brunch, This Morning on ITV, Weekend Kitchen with Waitrose, Rick Stein’s Christmas, Food Network’s The Big Eat and James Martin's Saturday Morning.

Saturday Kitchen host Matt Tebbutt is taking time out of his busy schedule to join us at CarFest this year!

Matt was born in High Wycombe but moved to Wales when he was six months old and classifies himself as 'an honorary Welshman', having grown up in Newport.

A passion for good food and cooking developed early for Matt, partly thanks to family holidays to France and Italy, but the decision to be a chef didn’t come until later in life. Matt's culinary career began with a diploma from Leith's School of Food and Wine. He completed a traineeship with Marco Pierre White, then moved to the kitchens of Chez Bruce, followed by a stint at Clarke's, where he learned the art of bread-making.

He returned to Wales in 2001 after an absence of eight years and, with his wife Lisa, has transformed the former Foxhunter pub at Nantyderry into an acclaimed restaurant, winning AA Restaurant of the Year for Wales in 2004. Matt had previously also worked with pioneering chef Alastair Little at his Lancaster Road and Soho restaurants, and the chef's influence is evident in Matt's menu at the Foxhunter.

Award-winning Celebrity Chef Dipna Anand grew up in London amongst a family of chefs. Feeding the nation ‘real authentic’ Indian food at their famous Brilliant Restaurant in Southall (voted as part of Ramsay’s Best for Channel 4), of which Dipna is now co-owner.

Since the age of 18, cooking is all Dipna knew. She began work at the Brilliant restaurant at a young age, learning all the top tricks, secret recipes as well as creating her own signature dishes. Her passion for cooking and being keen to teach others to cook, stemmed from the way Dipna had been taught from her very own father, who in turn was taught by his father. Dipna's mum is also a master of her kitchen at home and to date Dipna still picks up key secrets and tips from her mum, who Dipna believes is the best chef she knows.

Not only does she teach and co-own Brilliant Restaurant, Dipna released her very first cook-book titled ‘Beyond Brilliant’ in July 2014. Beyond Brilliant consists of over fifty recipes and tells the story of the ‘Brilliant’ family legacy and Dipna’s culinary journey.

Chef Romy Gill MBE is a British/Indian chef, food/travel writer and broadcaster based in the south-west of England. She was the owner and head chef at Romy’s Kitchen.

Romy is one of the regular and much-loved chefs on BBC1's Ready Steady Cook and has appeared on many other TV programmes, including Sunday Brunch, BBC's The One Show, Country Life, Celebrity MasterChef, The Hairy Bikers’ Comfort Food and James Martin’s Saturday Morning. Romy is also a regular on BBC Radio 4's Food Programme. She has also become a regular on Channel 4's Packed Lunch.

She released her debut cookbook in September, 2019. Zaika – Vegan Recipes from India. Her second book, On The Himalayan Trail, was published earlier this year.

Alex Webb, head chef at Square 1 in Great Dunmow, brought pride to the county of Essex when he became only the 14th professional chef to win the much-coveted title of MasterChef the Professionals winner in 2020.

Webb, from Essex, started his cooking career as an apprentice at London's Savoy and went on to train at Michelin-starred Hélène Darroze at the Connaught; Heston Blumenthal's Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental; Roux at Parliament Square and the Frog in Hoxton.

Dave & Steve had been travelling the world and as twin power goes, on opposite sides of the world they switched to a plant-based diet within a week of each other. The Happy Pear seed was sown.

The Happy Pear started out back in 2004 with Steve, Dave, a tiny shop and a dream of helping people to eat more veg!

Fast forward 15 years, The Happy Pear now consists of a cafe and shop in Greystones, Wicklow, 60 products, 7 online courses, 5 cookbooks, a farm, a roastery, and a community of over 1 million people living healthier!

All that said, their mission is still the same, to help everyone to get healthier and be happier!

Briony Williams

Briony is well known for her appearance on The Great British Bake Off in 2018, and easily became a strong favourite of the audience, with her humour and warmth, along with her resilience and ingenuity as she toughed out nine weeks in the Bake-Off tent, making it to semi-finals. Now, she takes part in presenting Food Unwrapped on Channel 4 as well as making appearances in many other shows such as BBC One’s Would I Lie To You, Celebrity Mastermind, ITV’s Loose Women, Lorraine and many others! Briony is also very active and enjoys running. After completing several 10k runs, she started to run half marathons. She also supported Sport Relief in 2020 by completing a 5km running challenge for them and has also supported Comic Relief by providing recipes for their fundraising packs. Being bilingual in Spanish and French, Briony travelled to various countries before qualifying as a secondary school teacher of Spanish and French, earning her Post Graduate Certificate in Education at the University of Bristol. Briony is an ambassador for Reach, Bristol Mind and Paul’s Place.

Adam Reid

Born in Manchester, Adam started his culinary career at the tender age 16 Adam appeared in BBC2’s Great British Menu 2016 series and won a coveted place at a banquet at Westminster Palace to celebrate Great Britons of HM The Queen’s reign with his spectacular dessert – The Golden Empire. Adam returned to take part in the 14th series of Great British Menu in April 2019, hoping to represent the north west at a banquet celebrating 50 years of British pop music. Adam succeeded in the regional heats to reach the final of the competition. His winning dish, Comfort Food Sounds Good, (a stew of chicken, pearl barley, sweetcorn, turnips and leeks), provided the main course at the banquet held at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London.

This year he joins us at CarFest North to show what you can do with some regular ingredients and a Napoleon BBQ Grill!

Adam Woodyatt

Adam is a popular English film and TV actor. He is most widely known among many nations for his role as Ian Beale in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, which he played between 1985 and 2021. After leaving Albery Square Adam captured the heart of the nation as he went into ‘The Jungle. We’re not sure if he learned to cook… but we wait with baited breath to see what he is going to rustle up!

Adam Woodyatt

Dave & Steve had been travelling the world and as twin power goes, on opposite sides of the world they switched to a plant-based diet within a week of each other. The Happy Pear seed was sown.

The Happy Pear started out back in 2004 with Steve, Dave, a tiny shop and a dream of helping people to eat more veg!

Fast forward 15 years, The Happy Pear now consists of a cafe and shop in Greystones, Wicklow, 60 products, 7 online courses, 5 cookbooks, a farm, a roastery, and a community of over 1 million people living healthier!

All that said, their mission is still the same, to help everyone to get healthier and be happier!

Cyrus Todiwala is an Indian chef proprietor of Café Spice Namasté and a celebrity television chef, as well as an executive chef for eleven restaurants within the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces chain in India. He moved to the UK in 1991 with his family. He also has a range of condiments and sauces called Mr Todiwala's, and a second restaurant called Mr Todiwala's Kitchen, which is located at the Hilton at Heathrow Airport near Terminal 5. He was awarded an MBE in 2000, and an OBE in 2009. He has also been awarded an honorary doctorate and been made an honorary professor. In 2012, he cooked for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. He has appeared on numerous television and radio programmes, such as the BBC radio 1 Saturday Cook show.

Singer-songwriter and all time favourite CarFester, Sophie Ellis- Bextor and husband Rich Jones from The Feeling, join us at The Kitchen Stage to celebrate some of their favourite family meals.

Over lockdown, Sophie, Richard and their five children brought joy and escapism to millions of people by livestreaming their Kitchen Discos. Now, they’re releasing a cookbook, sharing their favourite family recipes and delicious crowd-pleasing feasts, with heart, soul and of course, a dash of disco.

Sophie has achieved great commercial success in a career spanning nearly thirty years. Her 2002 single ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ became Europe’s most played song of that year. She is married to producer and musician Richard Jones, who is the bass guitar player and founding member of indie rock band, The Feeling. With several top 10 UK singles, The Feeling have had several worldwide tours and were the most played band on UK radio in 2006 and are of course the heart and soul of the CarFest Supergroup!