Chef Chet Sharma will host the third collaboration of the BiBi & Friends series, welcoming chefs Cal Byerley and Ian Waller from Pine on Monday 29th September.
The chefs recently reconnected at 2nd Bite for Cancer Research, hosted by Cal and his wife Siân at Wylam Brewery.
The menu will celebrate the beginning of Autumn and the season’s produce, with Cal and Ian highlighting the best of the Northumberland larder, and Chet drawing on his close relationships with farmers and fishermen across the UK. The dishes will include some classics from each restaurant, including Scallop Nimbu Pani from BiBi and Tomato, Fennel Pollen & Strawberry from Pine, as well as dishes created using ingredients from each other’s pantry.
Chet Sharma said: “I can’t wait to have Cal and Ian join us at BiBi. I’m a great admirer of the work they do at Pine, and I am really looking forward to exploring the unexpected synergies between our two cuisines, such as the extensive presence of preservation and pickling.”
Cal Byerley added: “Catching back up with Chet at 2nd Bite this year felt very fortuitous. I have long thought that we could create a really exciting menu together, and when he told me about his BiBi & Friends series, it seemed the perfect opportunity. Ian and I are very excited to join the kitchen at BiBi for a night.”
Sponsored by Veuve Clicquot, the dinner will be priced at £195 per person including a welcome drink, with an optional wine or non-alcoholic pairing also available.
Raised in Berkshire, Chef Chet Sharma was immersed in a world of two cultures. His maternal grandmother was from India and his paternal grandmother from London. Chet excelled academically at school and with a natural curiosity for science, he secured a place at UCL (University College London) to read Chemistry. His academic progress took him to a Master’s in Neurology at UCL followed by 2nd Master’s in Physics, and a DPhil in Condensed Matter Physics from The University of Oxford. At the same time, he threw DJ events to help fund his studies with a late-night residency at the Ministry of Sound in London. He also explored his love for cooking and embarked on a total of 16 stagiaires that lasted from 2005-2013, while continuing with his degrees. After a long period working as a research and development chef within some of the UK’s most iconic restaurants; L’Enclume, Roganic, The French, Rogan & Co, his focus turned to developing his own culinary style. In September 2021, BiBi opened its doors to huge critical acclaim. Named after an affectionate term for grandmother in Urdu, Chet’s restaurant is an ode to the two women who helped inspire his career and elements of whose influence is now interlaced throughout his menus and the restaurant’s interiors.
Cal and Siân Byerley’s debut restaurant Pine in East Wallhouses, Northumberland, gained a Michelin star and a Michelin Green star within eight months of opening. Together, they work with ingredients grown in their onsite kitchen garden as well as foraging in the Northumberland landscape. Pine’s menus are based around their shared common principles of using the best seasonal local ingredients sourced from independent suppliers, nose-to-tail butchery, and the extensive use of preservation techniques, to both minimise waste and to cook as sustainably as possible.
BiBi, 42 North Audley Street, W1K 6ZP
Author: George Shaw
Former BBC journalist and founder and CEO of an award-winning London advertising and PR company for 20 years, providing restaurant consultancy services. Spent a decade as the director of communications of the Asian Catering Federation in the UK and lead judge for its various restaurant and chef awards programmes. Now returned to journalism, specialising in food and travel and currently the Editor-in-Chief for Taste London, Taste Asia, the Good Curry Guide and CEO of International Culinary Guides.