International Chefs Arrive Lagos for GTBank Food and Drink Fair

By Nathan Ekpo

The renowned chefs headlining the 2018 edition of the GTBank-sponsored Food and Drink Fair have arrived Lagos for the event starting tomorrow.

The GTBank Food and Drink Fair will hold from Sunday, April 29 to Tuesday, May 1, 2018 at the Landmark Centre on Plot 1-3, Water Corporation Drive, Oniru, Lagos.

On Friday, April 27, 2018, the invited international chefs were unveiled to the media at a press conference held at GTBank head office in Lagos.

During the event, the chefs promised to make this year’s fair a memorable one for participants.

Specifically, host of ‘The Kitchen Show’ on the Food Network Channel, Ms Sunny Anderson, said she cannot wait to have a feel Nigeria’s jollof rice.

“I am really interested in the [Nigerian] ‘jollof rice’ and I want the chilin pepper experience. But I promise this year’s event will be fantastic. I will be taking a masterclass on Sunday and I can’t wait for the day to come,” Ms Anderson said during the press briefing yesterday.

Also speaking, Chef Patron, La Petite, Mr Raphael Duntoye, thanked GTBank for the opportunity to be part of the 2018 edition after being invited for the event since its inception.

Head of Communications and External Affairs at GTBank, Ms Oyinade Adegite, explained that the pan-African lender came up with the programme as a way of giving small business owners in the food and drink industry a platform to grow, which will in turn boost the economy of Nigeria.

According to her, “The fair is free for all to attend and it provides small businesses with a free and vibrant platform to connect with a wider segment of their target markets as well as experts in their business fields.”

She said GTBank will continue to support the industry and add more vibes to the Food and Drink Fair.

At the press conference on Friday, two of the participants engaged in a smoothie game, which ended in a stalemate, while the 50-minute event, which started at 11am, was rounded up with a photo session.

Business Post reports that there would be masterclasses in each of the three days of the fair with the Sunday’s at 12:30pm – 7:30pm, on Monday from 3pm to 6pm and 1pm to 7pm on Tuesday.

In each of the days, exhibitions will commence at 10am to 8pm, with Farmer’s Market from 10am to 6pm each day and SKS Kids Centre from 10am to 7pm each day.

Chefs expected at the fair include Elizabeth Solaru, Sunny Anderson, Lorraine Pascale, Scott Winston, Chef Imoteda, Siba Mtongana, Raphael Duntoye, Tony Conigliaro, Chef Benedict, Chef Muse and Edd Kimber.