This week sees the start of Rumble at the Deli presented by Shuttlecock Inc. in association with Disaronno and hosted at Tom’s Deli. As the description below indicates, it looks set to deliver (lots of) fine food, controversy, and a ‘fun’ night out.
Culinary Jake La Mottas?
Fist fight, food fight, fight, fight, fight… It’s not about the taking part, it’s the winning that counts, and, at Rumble at the Deli, it is you that get’s to choose which of our culinary Jake La Mottas, pound for pound, are worth more than their weight in saffron, and which of them you wouldn’t want to risk your basil on beating their opponents.
The rules are simple. Every Thursday to Saturday for the month of November, two guest chefs will battle it out to see who is King of the Rings.
With the first round of this tasty tournament beginning on Thursday, it is time to begin to place your bets and trade your Top Trump Cards, (each chef has their own Top Trump card…see below) before seeing just who will be down, but not out, and just who will be first to be down for the count!
With the selection hand-picked from an array of Europe’s finest restaurant and heavy weight culinary institutes, such as Heston’s, Claridges and El-bulli, it looks like they could all be in with a puncher’s chance. But, for those of you that like to know the history behind the hands before booking your seats and placing your bets, see below for the chef credentials…
Ollie Templeton: Shuttlecock Inc.’s very own prize fighter, aka The Flavour Shaker. Favourite utensils are a Pestle and Mortar, his best trick is “Flavour Bombing”- (hence the nickname), and favourite food item is Cab Sav Vinegar. His cooking experience includes Moro and Mile High – so will it be flight or fight on the night?
Max Pasetti: aka Sweaty Pasetti is Italian born and has earned his name working at two of London’s leading Italian institutions, Bocca di Lupo and Trullo. His favourite utensil is the balloon whisk and best trick is emulsification…its tastes better than it sounds, especially when mixed in with his favourite food item, brown butter. Mmm – let’s hope he’s doesn’t let the title slip through his butter fingers.
Ellen Parr: is one of our only two lady fighters in the competition. She has harnessed her culinary and creative flair at both sell out London based pop-up, Art of Dining, and the renowned Moro.
Pratap Chahal: Having sharpened his knives at Le Manoir, Chez Bruce, and Ramsay’s Claridges, he has more big names under his belt than Tyson has tattoos and is just as competitive in the kitchen as Tyson in the ring.
Stephanie Boote: The only other lady in the line up, don’t be fooled by the fact that her favourite food item is the humble egg, as she is no mother hen! And, with her favourite utensil as the wooden spoon she will be fending of all other fighters and stirring up a storm. Having worked at Gingerline HQ and Last Days of Pisco lets hope those golden egg’s don’t crack under the pressure.
Freddy Pethick-Money: A musical musketeer in the kitchen his favourite utensil is the mandolin. He is a well greased food fighting machine with his favourite food item being Spanish Olive Oil. His best trick is a back flip, but let’s hope his dishes don’t have your stomach’s doing somersaults. Having trained at the infamous El-bulli and Dorchester, will your ‘Money’ be on Freddy?
Tom Straker: A fine-fingered fighter his best trick is fixing tin foil. A rising star in the chef world, that has previously worked at Heston’s Dinner, Dorchester and The Ledbury, his favourite food item is the onion – but, will he make his opponents eyes water, or will he be left weeping on the rope!
Tom Foster: aka Ballards McGee, is a hard Scotsman that graduated from St John and Boca di Lupo. His favourite food item is Garlic, best trick is probing and favourite utensil is micro tweezers – but will this be enough for him to pluck away the competition one by one!?
Toto: – No, we have not just thrown the small dog from Wizard of Oz into the mix, instead this Toto is a fiery Italian stalion that learnt his stuff by watching his grandmother twirl tagliatelle a casa. Now, they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but can you teach a young one old ones? We shall see. Will Toto lead the way with traditional tricks of the trade, or will he be trumped?
About Shuttlecock Inc
Shuttlecock Inc. are four cousins from the creative Templeton family: Anna, Ollie, Will and Ed who share a wealth of experience from the event, theatre, culinary, cocktail, music and advertising worlds. This year has been their busiest yet, with a string of sell out events including immersive pop-up dining experiences, Mile High, Vieux-Québec and The Great Indian Peninsula Railway. Following their collaboration with Tom Conran, they plan to take their unique travel-themed concepts abroad in early 2014.
£55 tickets for six dishes (a starter, main and pudding from the evening’s two chefs), a DISARONNO Sour on arrival and a digestivo once the dust has settled.
Rumble at the Deli
Tom’s Deli
226 Westbourne Grove
W11 2RH
November (Thurs to Sat: 7th – 9th, 14th – 16th, 21st – 23rd, 28th – 30th)
For more information click here