Chef Robbie Gleave shares his secrets of success

Robbie Gleave, development chef, Heritage Portfolio and winner of this year’s Sandwich Designer of the Year Awards, shares his sandwich success stories, tells us about the innovative sandwich company Beetroot Blue and explains why Bel products work for his business.

Congratulations on your win at this year’s Sandwich Designer of the Year Awards. Is this the first year you’ve entered the competition?

Thank you. Yes, this was my first entry into the competition. I entered all four categories and won the Glasgow heats for three of them, qualifying to travel to London for the final where I made and presented each recipe to a panel of industry experts.

My Leerdammer Lightlife with Tonnato Rockdive in the Leerdammer Light Sandwich Category (sponsored by Bel UK & The Cheese Cellar) was recognised by the judges as a winning sandwich. They were impressed by the tasty combination of Leerdammer, tuna, olives, rocket and endive.

Is your winning recipe an old favourite or one that you specially developed for the competition?

I developed the recipe specifically for the Sandwich Designer of the Year Awards.  We were challenged to create an innovative new sandwich, incorporating the suppliers’ ingredients.

There were some fantastic, creative entries made in the competition.  I wanted mine to be applicable to the Beetroot Blue business and the market in which we cater for. Beetroot Blue offers high quality event food at an achievable cost, prepared with care, flair and passion.

Tell us a bit more about Beetroot Blue, the latest concept from Heritage Portfolio?

Beetroot Blue was created six years ago when Heritage and Portfolio came together as one business, Heritage Portfolio. Portfolio was already big in the lunch market, but we wanted to expand on this and do something really different.

We looked really closely at the lunch market in Edinburgh to see what existed and what gaps there were. Pret and Marks & Spencer’s had the quality and were clearly the operators to be competing against. At Beetroot Blue we share the same concept of strong brand image and consistency, where the customer knows exactly what they are going to get every time.

It all started with a re-vamp of the delivery method, one where our drivers didn’t have to return to collect plates or baskets. We developed bespoke platters and boxes, then the food to fit this concept followed.

We now deliver very high quality, bespoke snacks, platters, sandwiches and finger food throughout Edinburgh and the Lothians via our website.

Will you be entering again next year? Do you have any recipes up your sleeve, using next year’s ingredient, Smoked Port Salut?

Yes, I’m keen to enter again next year. Smoked Port Salut is one of my favourite cheeses from Bel, so I’m sure there’ll be a lot of scope for recipe development!

How long have you been working with Bel products? Why do they work well in your menus? And do you have a particular favourite Bel cheese?

We use around 30 to 40 different cheeses on our menu, and Bel cheeses are included in this selection as a matter of course.

My favourite is definitely the Smoked Port Salut. It warms well, has good stability and tastes great hot or cold. 

I also really like Kiri, which is well balanced and one of the best soft cheeses I’ve seen on the market.

You’ve catered for some pretty impressive events in your time, including the Queen’s Royal Garden Party at Holyrood. What are the challenges?

It’s really important to consistently deliver exactly what’s been promised. Our kitchen disciplines are very strong and the Beetroot Blue production team can transfer their expertise to this fantastic event.

Good communication plays a key role. Everyone involved in an event needs to know what’s happening and when, otherwise it just won’t work. It’s important to know how long each element of preparation will take, and again communicate this to the team.

It’s crucial to have the right equipment for the job and ensure you know exactly how it works too.

Finally, what trends do you predict for the food-to-go and event catering markets for 2011?

There will continue to be a growth in the consumers’ interest about where the food they eat comes from. Consumers are becoming more conscious and increasingly knowledgeable on the subject and operators who haven’t yet responded to this trend will need to do so to avoid losing out.

There is also currently a lot of talk about being seasonally aware, and again, I think this trend will continue to be very important. I would love to see us moving towards how we used to eat a hundred years ago; really cooking with, and eating, produce that’s absolutely in season locally.

Cuisine-wise, interest in Asian and Oriental food will continue to grow as media interest and the supply networks allow us to explore different cultures and bring some of the techniques and ingredients back home.