NORWICH CHEF CHOSEN TO COOK ALONGSIDE KITCHEN STARS AT CHARITY DINNER
Top Norwich chef Roger Hickman has been chosen to cook alongside six of the UK’s leading stars of the kitchen at a prestigious charity dinner in Manchester – co-ordinated by former Norwich boy and Michelin-starred chef Tom Aikens.
Roger will be cooking alongside stars such as Aiden Byrne and Lee Westcott of London’s Typing Room at the £200-a-head dinner, which features chefs who have been protégés of Aikens, the youngest British chef ever to be awarded two Michelin stars.
Roger Hickman worked alongside Aikens in his eponymous London restaurant before returning to Norwich to set up his own establishment in Upper St Giles – still the city’s only restaurant to hold three AA Rosettes. In November last year, Roger Hickman’s Restaurant was named in the Sunday Times top 100 restaurants, the first in Norwich to be included on the list.
The eight course dinner is raising money for Hospitality Action, which provides a lifeline for current and former hospitality industry workers who find themselves in crisis.
“I am delighted to have been asked to cook alongside such exalted company,” said Roger Hickman. “All the chefs taking part have worked under Tom Aikens, but it’s the first time we will have cooked together as a team.
“The event is already gaining significant national media attention, so I’m going to have to be at the top of my game. It’s a challenge, and I am looking forward to it.”
Tom Aikens trained at the Norwich City College Hotel School before working at a succession of Michelin starred restaurants, including at Pied à Terre in London, where he became the youngest British chef to maintain a two-star rating. In 2003 he launched Tom Aikens Restaurant in Chelsea, which has been followed by three UK branches of Tom’ Kitchen and another in Istanbul.
Aiden Byrne, at whose Manchester House restaurant the dinner is taking place, was head chef at Norwich-based Adlard’s in the mid 1990s, where Roger Hickman was also later head chef.
The charity dinner takes place at Manchester House restaurant in Manchester on 9th March.