Concert News

FOOTBALL LEGEND GARY LINEKER BECOMES GUEST CHEF AT NEW LATITUDE FESTIVAL RESTAURANT

• 15th Jun 2022

Gary Lineker, Judi Love, Amanda Owen, Georgina Hayden are amongst the names joining cinch presents Latitude’s huge foodie line up.  For 2022, Latitude will add a brand new restaurant, The Guest Chef, to the heart of the festival; a new venue where each day, a much-loved familiar face will share the food that brings them joy with the festival audience, designing a menu exclusively for Latitude.  The festival takes place at the stunning grounds of Henham Park, Suffolk, from 21st July – 24th July 2022  where music and arts meet foodie feasts and family fun in a joyous weekend of cultural discovery. Tickets are on sale now here.

The Guest Chef is an innovative 300 cover restaurant providing dinner service from Thursday and  lunch and dinner service Friday – Sunday. Reservations are open now. The four Guest Chefs will collaborate with Social Pantry to present a delicious line up of mouth-watering menus in their own imitable and unique style. Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker, comedian and presenter Judi Love, The Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen and award winning food writer Georgina Hayden will each create a meal to be served in the beautiful new restaurant, and then join the festival diners on the day, hosting and sharing a little more of the story behind their food. 

Former England striker, Match of the Day host and not-so-secret foodie Gary Lineker becomes the festival’s first ever Guest Chef on Thursday evening. When he’s not hosting Match of the Day, Gary is well known for hitting  some of London’s hottest restaurants or street food spots. He taught himself to cook from scratch about 6 years ago and perfected his cooking during lockdown. Such is his talent that he has been approached by numerous cookery TV shows and publishers but has so far declined. Lineker’s passion for food and restaurants started when he moved to Barcelona and was inspired by Spanish food. Latitude festival will showcase Gary’s skill for creating the perfect dinner menu as he presents “My Catalan Kitchen”.

Gary Lineker said, “I love cooking, and especially for family and friends. I cook at home a lot and when I was asked if I wanted to cook for 300 people in a tent in a field in Suffolk, my immediate reaction was NO CHANCE! The thought of it terrified me. But then I met the guys from Social Pantry, and it all suddenly seemed possible. For Latitude, I’ve come up with a hearty menu of family style food, inspired by my time in Barcelona, to go with some lovely wines from Catalonia. If you enjoy it, I’ll happily take all the credit. If you don’t like it, I’ll blame the guys at Social Pantry. You will love it, of course.”

Taking over Guest Chef duties on Friday  is cook, food writer and presenter Georgina Hayden who presents a vegan feast.  Georgina grew up in London above her grandparents’ Greek Cypriot taverna in Tufnell Park, where she developed a love of cooking from the recipes passed down to her. She worked in the Jamie Oliver food team for 12 years developing recipes, writing and testing recipes, art directing and styling. A regular on Saturday Kitchen and Sunday Brunch, most recently, Georgina was a judge on Channel 4’s latest cooking show the ‘Great Cookbook Challenge with Jamie Oliver’.  At Latitude Georgina  will showcase some stunning vegetarian recipes from her  Sunday Times bestseller Nistisima which focuses on a traditional vegetarian way of eating from the Mediterranean and beyond.

Georgina said, “As a food writer and lifelong festival goer, I am insanely excited to be able to share my food with you at Latitude this year. What an amazing experience! I’ve drawn on my Cypriot heritage and pulled together a feast of Greek and Middle Eastern dishes – with vegetables and grains as the heroes. I am not vegan, but my latest book Nistisima celebrates all the amazing vegan recipes from this part of the world, because there really is an abundance. And I promise you, you will not miss meat (but I might slip in some halloumi and feta…). It’ll be like the Big Fat Greek wedding you’ve always wanted to go to. Opa!”

Comedian, presenter and star of Loose Women, Judi Love is Saturday’s Guest Chef. Love was a semi-finalist on Celebrity Masterchef and winner of the Christmas special of the show. She is a massive food connoisseur. Love grew up eating good, home-made West Indian food,  and learned to cook at a young age. She loves the nostalgia and joy  that is associated with food.

Judi said, “I’m looking forward to sharing my idea of good food. I’m going to bring food that’s packed with flavour that will get you ready for the amazing Latitude festival. You can’t beat a good laugh, good music and good food. This is what festivals are about. So being able to be a Guest Chef is beyond exciting. 

“Food tells a story, doesn’t it? It’s about love, it’s about sharing. It’s about identity as well. That’s what’s great about it. I cook from my heart! My parents were Jamaican born and they loved to show love with food. And that’s what I will bring to Latitude.”

Sunday’s Guest Chef is Amanda Owen, The Yorkshire Shepherdess, mother of nine children, bestselling author and star of Our Yorkshire Farm. Channel 5’s highest-rated factual programme, with nearly four million viewers. Running Ravenseat, the family’s remote farm, Amanda lives in tune with nature,and her attitude to food is the same. She believes in buying good, seasonal ingredients when it comes to feeding her family and recently authored ‘Celebrating the Seasons’ which included some amazing recipes.

Amanda Owen said, “I am excited to have been asked to design one of the first ever Guest Chef menus at Latitude Festival this year. When I’m cooking for the family at home I like to make the most of the wonderful seasonal ingredients that are readily available in the shops and won’t break the bank. Where our food comes from is equally important to me, so I’m excited that the meat element of my menu will be lamb, born and reared at Ravenseat. I hope to create the perfect summer menu to go with what will be a great weekend of music and culture.”

Latitude believes that what you eat should be as good as what you see and hear at the festival. Each food offering is booked with the same care and attention as a music or comedy headliner. Across the food bill,  festival goers can expect inspired menus, cult restaurateurs, visionary food writers and trailblazing new talent.

Theatre of Food, a fully immersive essential for any foodie  returns with wild cooking sessions, inspiring food demos and, of course, the chance to sample the goods yourself.  Across the weekend, festival goers can witness renowned cook, and bestselling author, Ixta Belfrage, a demonstration from award-winning food writer, and Friday’s Guest Chef,  Georgina Hayden, and human rights campaigner and inspiring cookbook author Yasmin Khan.

Cook for Ukraine ambassadors Alissa Timoshkina and Yuri Kovryzhenko will bring the wonderful flavours of the East to the Theatre of Food stage, and cult restaurateur and Persepolis owner Sally Butcher will return along with supper club superstar Uyen Luu.  Across the weekend, brilliant bakers Rebecca Bishop, Sonja Hundal, and Ian Waterland, and new bestselling authors Kitty an Al Tait, chat with Chris Young and the Real Bread Campaign, and from Niki Segnit, Emma Crowhurst, Jennifer Irvine serve up enlightening and delicious flavour shows. There will also be illuminating discussions around flavour and ingredients, healthy eating, cooking through conflict and forgotten foods.

There’s so much happening at cinch presents Latitude in 2022, some serious refuelling will be in order, and the festival is upping the food offering across the board. This summer, Latitude attendees can expect 80 of the greatest street food traders at Latitude.  Latitude has a  mission to create the freshest ever festival food line-up and the festival’s trader game is strong. Attendees can eat delicious and well-sourced food from dozens of different countries and cuisines – from pillowy soft Chinese bao buns to fiery Caribbean jerk chicken, and fresh Middle Eastern mezze boxes to mighty Mexican jackfruit tacos.

The Hothouse also returns to cinch presents Latitude for its fourth year bigger and better than ever before. This spectacular restaurant is housed inside a spacious polytunnel which spills out onto the lawn and down to the lake. It is decorated in the style of a French brocante, lush with foliage, and provides table-service to those needing to sit for an hour or so and let the festival go by. 

This year’s The Hothouse menu features  five independent food producers who care about every plate that goes out.  The producers are  Julia’s Lobster Truck, a Burren-based seafood and shellfish aficionado whose specialty is barbequed lobster; Alpine Pizza whose freshly made Passata and Fior di latte Mozzarella adorn each of their lovingly created pies; Ceylon And Beyond who are renowned for their  exceptionally produced Sri Lankan favourites; Lilith’s who offer up classic plant-based diner food that is tastier than their meaty originals; and That Mexican Stall who bring stunning burritos and nachos laced with hot salsas. A pop-up Brunch it also planned with oysters and Bloody Marys.