Latest / Event Industry News Podcast / From Michelin Kitchens to Event Feasts - Bubble Food’s Jens Nisson Reveals All
Transcript
- 0:00Hello everybody, welcome to the Event Industry News podcast with me, James Dixon, wishing
- 0:10you all a very good morning, afternoon or evening, whenever or wherever you tune in
- 0:14to today's podcast from. Lots of exciting stuff happening in the world of Event Industry
- 0:18News at the moment. Probably get to that towards the end of today's recording as we wrap up,
- 0:24but yeah, some really interesting things happening. We're going to be out and about doing some
- 0:29live in-person podcast recordings at venues, but more on that a little bit later once we've
- 0:35wrapped today's episode. So on with today's guest and today's subject matter, and a really
- 0:43interesting one for me. I absolutely adore my food. I love cooking at home. It's a big
- 0:48passion of mine. I wouldn't say I'm the greatest, but I derive a huge amount of enjoyment from
- 0:55cooking and eating food and trying new things when I'm out and about traveling. So I'm really
- 0:59excited to talk to today's guest because we are going to be talking very much event catering,
- 1:04event food. My guest today is Jens Nissen. Jens is the director and executive head chef
- 1:09from Bubble Food. We're going to find out more about them, more about Jens as we bring
- 1:14them into today's podcast. So Jens, a very warm welcome to the Event Industry News podcast.
- 1:20I presume you're joining us from the base of operations, are you?
- 1:24Bubble HQ. Yes, we are. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for the welcome.
- 1:29Not a problem at all. Where is Bubble HQ?
- 1:31So we are based between Oval and Camberwell, so just south of the river in London.
- 1:36Fabulous. Great location. Near the cricket?
- 1:39Not far from the cricket, sort of 15 minutes into the center of town, but just far away
- 1:44enough that we've got a bit of space. We've got all our kitchens down here, warehouses,
- 1:48offices, etc. So, yeah, handy for central London events and then for getting out of
- 1:54London as well, for stuff we do outside of town.
- 1:57Absolutely. And, you know, I usually reference websites and things towards the end of the
- 2:02podcast, but anybody that dives onto the Bubble Food website will get a feeling pretty quickly
- 2:09for some of the venues that you're working in and some of the really well-known names
- 2:14in terms of venue spaces in the London area.
- 2:16So anybody who knows London and knows the location that you've just given would instantly
- 2:20be able to sort of make that point of reference just by looking on the website.
- 2:24We'll get into the business side of things shortly, Jens, but let's talk about yourself
- 2:30first of all, a bit of professional background.
- 2:32You are the director and executive head chef at Bubble Food.
- 2:35So, you know, what was your journey that led you ultimately to being in the position that
- 2:40you join us in today?
- 2:41OK, well, so quite a while with Bubble actually.
- 2:43So I've been with Bubble for about 11 years now.
- 2:48Previously, I started off my career working in restaurants, so always as a chef.
- 2:54I spent about 10 years working in Michelin star restaurants in London, a few years working
- 2:59in Australia, Sydney and far north Queensland for a while, which sort of really turned me
- 3:04on to more Asian, international cuisines, different ingredients.
- 3:11Sure, a different way of working.
- 3:13I think after a long spell working in very hard Michelin star restaurants in London in
- 3:19the 1990s, going to Australia and finding a slightly more sort of relaxed work vibe.
- 3:25When I came back to London, I think I was looking for something different.
- 3:27And I got a job working for a high end caterer in London, which was sort of 20 years ago.
- 3:35And aside from a couple of years back working around the restaurant industry, I've pretty
- 3:40much been in events since then and love it, love all of the different ways that we can
- 3:45serve food, all the different venues, the logistics, all of that stuff.
- 3:49So I joined Bubble about 11 years ago because I felt they were the only caterer in London
- 3:56who were doing something really different at that stage and gave me sort of an opportunity
- 4:01to grow and do something quite innovative within event catering.
- 4:06And yeah, I've had a happy time since.
- 4:09And I jotted a few things down this morning and I do minimal preparation for these podcasts
- 4:16as regular listeners and viewers will know.
- 4:19I tend to just jot a few sort of things that pop immediately into mind and then see where
- 4:24the conversation flows from there.
- 4:25And one of the things I jotted down, it was an observation, really, and it is I've been
- 4:31fortunate enough to work and run sort of events that involve catering.
- 4:38Awards events usually is, I suppose, the best example.
- 4:42And I've been lucky enough as well to attend a lot of good awards events as well through
- 4:47the industry and through other things.
- 4:48And one observation that I've made is a lot of the experiences that I've had, the meal
- 4:56feels almost like a box ticking exercise, or it can do in some venue spaces.
- 5:02It feels like we're doing an award event, so people want a drink reception, they want
- 5:07a meal, then we get to the awards bit, then they want a party.
- 5:11And it can feel sort of almost glossed over there, I'd say, some of the time.
- 5:17Yet, the event itself, there is a huge amount of thought and effort that goes into programming
- 5:23the continuity of it, the script for the awards, for example, the technical production, the
- 5:27light, the sound, the videos that go into it, the entertainment, how that element of
- 5:31it flows.
- 5:32And I suppose the first thing I wanted to ask is, was one of the challenges of getting
- 5:36into the event catering side, you know, that opportunity to, I guess, tell a story and
- 5:41create a narrative as part of the event within the food element of it?
- 5:46No, we really pride ourselves on, I mean, exactly what you're talking about there, bringing
- 5:53a very sort of 360 view to the food, the way it's presented, the way it's served, we get
- 6:02really into the detail of that.
- 6:04I think what we're aiming always to do is to scale up that almost boutique level, restaurant
- 6:12experience where every detail is thought about and scale that up into an event scenario.
- 6:19So, yeah, so it fits in with what the client's trying to achieve around the rest of the
- 6:25event, the sort of tone and the, you know, from the simplest things to the kind of colour
- 6:31schemes. But then, right, digging a bit deeper into the more sort of personal things, the
- 6:37textures, the maybe elements around the provenance of the food, etc, that all kind of really
- 6:45do mesh the meal into the rest of the event and what the client's trying to achieve or
- 6:52the stories they're trying to tell around the event.
- 6:54So definitely, yeah, we're not looking for a kind of cookie cutter approach to event
- 7:03food or the way, as I say, the way it's served, the plates, the cutlery, the canapé trays, the
- 7:08food stations, etc, are all worked out very bespoken, designed to underline what the event's
- 7:16all about, really. So I definitely hope that coming to a bubble event that you wouldn't
- 7:23have that experience or that feeling walking away from it.
- 7:27You mentioned the word provenance there, and certainly it strikes me that not just in
- 7:33events, but in culture, we are far more attuned as a society to provenance, to
- 7:39sustainability, to, you know, just the sheer amount of media that there is now relating to
- 7:46food, whether that be on social media or TV programmes over the last 15 to 20 years.
- 7:52Does the sort of the provenance and the sustainability aspect and the awareness of
- 7:56sustainability amongst event organisers, has that helped or hindered you in your specific
- 8:02sort of space in the industry that people are more aware of sustainable aspects, sustainable
- 8:07farming, you know, provenance of food, etc?
- 8:10Has it been a help or a hindrance to you?
- 8:12I think initially, as the focus really sort of swung onto sustainability a few years ago, I
- 8:21think it was, we saw it as a bit of a challenge.
- 8:24You know, we've been very, very mindful of the provenance of our ingredients for a long
- 8:30time. We've always used predominantly British ingredients for, you know, the core part of our
- 8:36offer. But I think it was a little bit of a challenge to step up to, you know, to what was
- 8:45being asked to stay at the forefront of the industry.
- 8:48But actually, I think it's been a help.
- 8:51I mean, I think it's meant we are more focused on that than we ever were before.
- 8:58It's also, it's pushed when there was a lot of focus on veganism and plant based ingredients a few
- 9:05years ago. And actually, we found ourselves doing a number of quite large events where it was
- 9:12entirely plant based menu, which was quite something really, it was a massive leap from kind
- 9:19of pre-2020 to post.
- 9:23But actually, as much as that hasn't really held, I think there's been a swing away from that a
- 9:29little bit now to, we haven't for the last year or so, we haven't had anyone asking for a fully
- 9:35vegan event.
- 9:37But I think it's left us with a much stronger arsenal, if you like, of very good plant based
- 9:47dishes. So I think it's sort of raised our game, I think it's probably the same across the
- 9:51industry. But that focus really pushed things along a long way.
- 9:56And I think that's now seen as a sort of baseline for high end luxury events that there is a
- 10:03lot more consciousness around minimising waste, around planning events so that they
- 10:10minimise waste, around utilising excess ingredients, around making sure that
- 10:20leftover food, if at all possible, gets to gets to be used or consumed.
- 10:25We work with various sort of charities, etc.
- 10:29So I think, yeah, it pushed us along in a really good way.
- 10:33And I think it also, for various reasons, has increased the awareness of the value of food,
- 10:43not just with us, but also with our clients.
- 10:45So they're much more willing to engage in conversations around, you know, around not
- 10:50having a wasteful approach to the event, rather than going for a buffet, which has got a
- 10:57whole load of waste built into it, that, you know, that we can agree that we're going to do
- 11:02bowl food, where it's much more kind of portion controlled, and it's going to cut down on that
- 11:06stuff. So I think we see it as being a massive help, actually, to what we're doing.
- 11:10And it's created a much more interesting environment for luxury events, really, where it's
- 11:21not just about sort of pure ostentation, and that kind of consciousness is it that runs
- 11:28through it, as I say.
- 11:30Yeah, I wanted to, one of the things I also scribbled down today that you've kind of
- 11:36touched on, from a logistics and maybe an operations point of view is, I'll give you an
- 11:42example, you know, my kitchen at home, or anybody's kitchen at home, you lay it out as
- 11:46you want it to be laid out, you know, what works for you, you know, from an ergonomic
- 11:51sense. And again, when I watch TV programmes, you know, with chefs, and you look at their
- 11:57restaurant kitchens, they cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, you know, pro and
- 12:03restaurant kitchens, and you've worked in them at the Michelin star level. That being
- 12:07said, what's it like, then to try and adapt to every single event, working in a
- 12:12different space? You know, as a chef, you must have the way that you like to have your
- 12:17kitchen laid out. And then you're now having to translate your operations in your, you
- 12:22know, the logistics of service into different venues. How does that work for you?
- 12:27I think the, yeah, I mean, it is, it is one of the challenges. It's one of the things that
- 12:32makes life interesting in event catering. I think we slightly adjust the way that we
- 12:39cook. So that far more of the skilled stuff, the things that need specialist equipment,
- 12:49are done at an earlier part of the process. So you know, in our kitchen, so you know,
- 12:53we've got great kitchens here at Bubble, probably 80% of the actual preparation and
- 12:59cooking is done here. And you know, here we've got everything that we need. So it is
- 13:05laid out how we like. But when we get to, when we get to a venue, so at the weekend,
- 13:12we've just just done a meal in one of the top galleries in London. As you say, it's a
- 13:18gallery, there isn't really a kitchen there. We're very limited in what we can do, we're
- 13:23not allowed to, you know, start steaming dim sum or any of the things that would affect
- 13:28the building and the artwork in there. So we do, we do have to make some adjustments. But I
- 13:34think with sort of careful planning, we we do aim to have the same end product as, as you
- 13:40would get in a restaurant. So it's, it's, it's around sort of planning and adjustments.
- 13:44And yeah, it's just a different approach and a different way of thinking about food that
- 13:51the key stuff happens earlier in the process. So it's not, it's not just about the way
- 13:55something's finished, it's the, it's the level of detail and effort you put into making,
- 14:00making the base, the base really, really good. So it just takes a little bit of a touch at
- 14:04the end to, to make it spectacular.
- 14:07And has that, as what you've just said there, actually developed and improved the level
- 14:14of creativity you have as a chef over the years that you've been dealing in event specific,
- 14:19because you have to maybe come up with techniques that will allow you to translate things from
- 14:23the kitchen there at HQ to the space that you may be working in.
- 14:27No, definitely. I think it really has affected the, the way that I cook and the way that
- 14:33the team cooks. It does mean you have to be more thoughtful, you have to, you have to
- 14:37put more thought into the process and into creating, yeah, like new, as you say, new
- 14:45techniques, new ways of approaching cooking, new ways of sort of applying heat to stuff.
- 14:51So, yeah, definitely, it's definitely been a big inspiration for us.
- 14:55And have you, again, as a chef, have you had to learn elements that actually working in
- 15:01a more traditional, you know, fixed restaurant location, you wouldn't have otherwise maybe
- 15:07been aware of, just even down to things like sort of wider event operations.
- 15:12Is that something now that you're very, very familiar with?
- 15:15Whereas working in that sort of traditional restaurant environment, you maybe not, weren't
- 15:20aware of some of the event operation side of things.
- 15:22Has it been a two way learning process in the 11 years that you've been with Bubble?
- 15:26Yeah, no, definitely.
- 15:29I think the probably 50% of my energies as a chef actually now do go into the things
- 15:35outside of just the standard cooking process in the kitchen.
- 15:39So it is around, yeah, as you said, the event operations, the logistics of getting stuff
- 15:44in the right place, the understanding, electrical power loads and things that you don't
- 15:49really need to put too much into in a static kitchen.
- 15:53So, yeah, it definitely broadens the skill base a little bit.
- 15:58I've seen many an electrical circuit been taken down by a hot counter, a badly wired
- 16:04hot counter that fails just at the moment you need it the absolute most.
- 16:10Exactly, in the wrong environment and takes down the whole event.
- 16:13So, yeah, we yeah, the staffing was something I was I was hoping to say, and it might
- 16:20sound a bit boring, but again, you know, when people are listening to this and they're
- 16:24maybe planning a large scale event that's going to involve a meal and we often take
- 16:30for granted that suddenly this army of people just appear carrying plates ready for
- 16:35service and everything runs smoothly.
- 16:38But, you know, as anybody who has run events that involve meals in, you know, big event
- 16:43spaces, you know, having temporary staff and good temporary staff is key, you know, I
- 16:49would guess that the bubble are no different in that sense that you probably got
- 16:53agencies and staffing agencies that supply the waiting staff and the hospitality staff
- 16:58that you need. And how how critical is it and what level of communication do you have
- 17:03from the kitchen to them to ensure that all the effort that you've put in as the chef
- 17:08and as the kitchen team is then translated to that plate actually being presented in
- 17:12front of the guest?
- 17:14I mean, yeah, it's so crucial.
- 17:16We're really lucky in that we do have quite a big pool of staff that work for us
- 17:20directly, albeit on a on a sort of temporary or more occasional level.
- 17:25But we do enough events through the year to keep, you know, sort of 50 to 60 front of
- 17:31house staff, you know, fairly busy or moderately busy, busy enough to be able to us
- 17:36throughout the year. Yeah, and that is crucial, having people that understand what we're
- 17:41doing. You know, you said before, we don't have a sort of cookie cutter approach to
- 17:46food. Our food is quite intricate and the way it's served a lot of the time, there's an
- 17:53element of sort of theatre or creativity around the service as well.
- 17:58So we are really lucky that we've got some really loyal staff who can make up the core
- 18:03of our front of house, even on a big event.
- 18:05Yeah. So but beyond that.
- 18:10As with every other caterer, we do work with agencies, we really care who we pick and
- 18:16vet so that we do get the right people that are motivated, interested, excited about what
- 18:22they're doing. Yeah.
- 18:24And then, yeah, communication you mentioned as well.
- 18:27So we do really good briefings.
- 18:29We have great visual aids, photos.
- 18:32We have, you know, those core, those more core people who will explain, rehearse, take
- 18:39them through so that actually when the when the guest is being delivered their plate or
- 18:44their canapé or whatever, the people who are serving them actually do come across as
- 18:50being knowledgeable as understanding it, to be excited about what they're serving, you
- 18:55know, serving it with a smile so that it hits because, you know, there's no point in us
- 19:01doing all of that work in the kitchen and then it's served in a sloppy way or without
- 19:06explanation or without any any of that sort of coming through.
- 19:09So, yeah. And I chuckle because we've all been there, haven't we, when we've said, oh,
- 19:13this is lovely. What's this?
- 19:15And you kind of get a blank expression from the person who's actually served the plate
- 19:20and oh, well, I don't know.
- 19:22It's a source of some kind, you know, and it sounds simple.
- 19:28But every little element of that, when you put effort into every little element and every
- 19:33ingredient into the actual meal itself, then every small element actually on the event
- 19:39floor is critical as well.
- 19:42Right down to those small five second interactions between a guest and the front of house
- 19:47staff and then being able to give them either a knowledgeable answer or a completely blank
- 19:51expression. You know, the food could be fantastic, but they will still take away that one
- 19:57tiny little minor interaction.
- 19:59Yeah, no, absolutely.
- 20:01Yeah, it is. I mean, looking after your staff, making sure they get a break, they're not
- 20:07too tired, they haven't been shouting out in the kitchen, you know, they've been fed.
- 20:13So, you know, they're already at that sort of level of being happy and receptive to being
- 20:19managed and and having stuff explained to them.
- 20:23And, you know, they're actually somewhat excited about what they're doing, even if it may
- 20:27not be, you know, this event industry, it may not be the focus of their lives or their
- 20:32ambitions is to do it.
- 20:34But they're actually having a reasonably good time and they're and they're going to engage
- 20:37with you and what they're doing.
- 20:38So I think that's also important.
- 20:42I've absolutely no doubt, again, looking at the website, looking at the venues that you're
- 20:47working in and out and what you just said there about staff and how busy you are, that you
- 20:52will be on a constant cycle of events, no doubt that there will always be events in the
- 20:57pipeline, short, medium and long term.
- 20:59How important is it that you juggle the day to day requirements of delivering the events
- 21:05that are in the diary whilst also researching, finding out about new ingredients, new
- 21:11styles, techniques, new food trends?
- 21:14Because it strikes me that food is one of those things that literally there is such a vast
- 21:19spectrum, perhaps beyond anything else that we deal with in events.
- 21:23You know, there are hundreds of thousands of millions of options that we could have for
- 21:27presenting food to people and cooking food.
- 21:31How do you sort of stay up to date with that whilst balancing the requirements of the events
- 21:34that are in the diary?
- 21:36I mean, yeah, it is.
- 21:38It's something that is constantly on our minds, really, at Buhl.
- 21:43I think we establish ourselves as being, I like to think, one of the most innovative
- 21:48caterers, but there's always new people coming through, so we do need to stay ahead of
- 21:53the game on that. There's the obvious stuff around keeping an eye on social media, going
- 21:59out, eating in restaurants, seeing great interior design and cultural stuff, all the
- 22:10sort of things that feed into what we're trying to do.
- 22:13But we also really like to use our full team, so we have regular, creative meetings with
- 22:20the team, and that's everyone from the logistics team to the office team, so a real
- 22:26broad range of people of probably ages, demographic, and then they're all feeding
- 22:34creatively into what we do as well.
- 22:35So not just about food, but I find that our social media person has got a whole
- 22:45different set of inspirations that she's got from TikTok.
- 22:49She's 25 years younger than I am and has got a really different take on food than
- 22:56myself or probably the chefs do as well.
- 22:58But it's really valid.
- 23:00In fact, we ended up doing a big event for TikTok last year, and I really leaned on her
- 23:06takes on what was trending, etc.
- 23:10So I think being able to use all of your resources like that helps.
- 23:15It means we haven't got a really narrow, very chef-like focus on food, which means
- 23:22we're probably much more responsive to what our clients, what our guests are actually
- 23:27into than, you know, not everyone spends their whole time obsessing about Michelin
- 23:33star food. So there's taking in all the influences, really being open to stuff from
- 23:39all sorts of different areas.
- 23:40But you're right, it's something that we put an awful lot of effort, time, thought, and
- 23:47I suppose money as well as a case, you know, into research, into taking the time to or
- 23:53giving everyone on the team time to stay abreast of all that stuff.
- 23:58Well, you just mentioned there that, you know, not everybody is necessarily looking at
- 24:02Michelin sort of stuff.
- 24:04And, you know, I hope that sort of the nature of the conversation today, yes, I
- 24:09understand that you deal with a very high end as well.
- 24:11You can do superb multi-course meals.
- 24:14But I guess as well, we should acknowledge that there has definitely been a trend in the
- 24:18last decade or so for I'm going to loosely call it street food.
- 24:23But what I may call it there is, you know, more more simple food that maybe isn't as
- 24:27complicated, but is really, really tasty, you know, really sort of simple, you know,
- 24:32two, three ingredients, but done very, very, very well.
- 24:35You know, how is that kind of sort of trend towards, you know, the sort of the street
- 24:39food, particularly in London, that I can think of three or four really great kind of
- 24:42street food markets that pop up at the weekend with cuisines from all over the world.
- 24:46And you could get a bowl of something really, really simple that absolutely blows blows
- 24:50your mind because it's so good.
- 24:51Is that is that also something that is very much within the portfolio, you know, where
- 24:56clients will come to you and say, look, we don't want the formal meal.
- 24:58We want stuff that's a bit more relaxed, but retains a huge element of taste.
- 25:03No, definitely. It's had such a big effect on what we do.
- 25:05We do a lot of standing events and we put a lot of effort into our food stations, food
- 25:12stalls, whatever you want to call them.
- 25:14And and yeah, that's always been the case.
- 25:18But the influence of the whole street food culture in the last few years has has
- 25:23definitely changed the way we view that.
- 25:26So our food stores now, we pretty much always have a level of kind of activity of
- 25:31finishing going on within them, which gives that really sort of nice, fresh, just
- 25:36finished feel to it in terms of the content of it.
- 25:41It's so inspiring looking around all of the different street foods, all of the
- 25:44different styles of cooking.
- 25:47So that really feeds into what we do.
- 25:53Yeah, and I was I was in I was fortunate enough to be in Doha last just over a week
- 25:58ago working out an event there.
- 26:00And whilst I saw the inside of a convention center for the first seven days, I was
- 26:04fortunate enough to to do a bit of wandering around the old part of the city and
- 26:09experience some just exactly that really, really simple food, but done really, really
- 26:14well in the old in the Suquakeef in the old part of Doha and some spectacular sort
- 26:20of shawarma and grilled food and just the quality of the breads that were being made,
- 26:25you know, really, really simple stuff, but done brilliantly.
- 26:28And I guess certainly in the event space, a lot of people will be used to traveling
- 26:32and therefore perhaps used to tasting things and find themselves in parts of the
- 26:35world where that they might taste one thing and they come back to an event in the UK and
- 26:39say, wow, I had this when I was visiting or working so and so place.
- 26:43I'd love to incorporate that in.
- 26:44And I guess, you know, the sort of creative element of the events industry in some
- 26:50respects very much dovetails with the sort of creative elements of the of the of the
- 26:53food industry.
- 26:56We find ourselves almost being sort of driven by our clients sometimes.
- 27:00Exactly. As you say, you know, people have traveled.
- 27:03They've had such and such a dish, you know, in the Middle East or in Asia or wherever.
- 27:09If we're doing we do a number of kind of high end weddings and a lot of the time we'll
- 27:13bring that in that element in in the in the evening food, you know, the sort of after
- 27:17party food where we've got some pop up stalls and that will be that will take in the
- 27:24you know, the favorite cuisines or dishes that people have had from around the world.
- 27:28But but and people are they're quite demanding.
- 27:33They've had, you know, these fantastic freshly baked breads.
- 27:37So you talked about the kind of compromises we have to make around around cooking in
- 27:43different venues. So, you know, that pushes us along a bit, finding ways to get bread
- 27:48ovens into historic buildings, you know, so sometimes with more success than others.
- 27:54But but yeah, it's had a huge effect and I think it has.
- 27:58It's raised the bar in terms of people's expectation around around getting those sort
- 28:05of those small details that you can't compromise on when there are only two or three
- 28:10elements in a dish. The bread does tend to be lovely and soft and fresh feeling.
- 28:15You know, you need that lovely charry taste from the grilled meat or whatever you're
- 28:19serving. So it's definitely raised the bar.
- 28:22It really has, which is interesting because I think many years ago it was thought street
- 28:27food was thought of as being a slightly lonely thing, certainly in the restaurant industry.
- 28:33So it's interesting that it's actually pushed standards across the industry in that
- 28:40way. It has, you know, and I've certainly seen things rise significantly at all levels
- 28:46as well. You know, you guys are based in London.
- 28:49You will deal undoubtedly with a lot of high end clients and clients perhaps with, you
- 28:54know, maybe not significant budgets, but with budgets nonetheless.
- 28:58And, you know, the events industry and the catering side of things spans right sort of
- 29:02down to your local, you know, hotels, provincial hotels that are, you know, dealing
- 29:08with local awards and events and conferences week to week.
- 29:10And I see a lot of those that tend to be where I do a lot of my sort of event work tends
- 29:15to be at what I call the small to medium end of the conference industry and the events
- 29:20industry. And, you know, I've certainly seen standards improve, but inevitably you will
- 29:26still get that one awards every year where the meal and the menu is chicken with sauce
- 29:31and seasonal veg.
- 29:32And you think, come on, people, it's 2026.
- 29:36We can do better.
- 29:38There are people out there that can help you.
- 29:39So let's try and do a bit better than that.
- 29:42I'm going to I'm going to start bringing things to a close on today's episode, as I say,
- 29:48thank you to my guest today, Jens Nissen, who's the director and executive head chef over
- 29:53at Bubble Food. And really important that I give a shout out to their website so that you
- 29:57can find out a bit more about them.
- 29:58Bubblefood.com is the website, it's the place to go, as I said, hop on there, really, you
- 30:05know, as you would expect from a company that delivers, you know, catering food to a
- 30:11very, very high level, great website.
- 30:14Photography on there is superb, which I guess it has to be because it has to showcase what
- 30:18you guys are doing with the food.
- 30:20Really interesting to have a look around it.
- 30:21And you're going to feel for some of the venues that they're working with and for and
- 30:26in. So if you want to find out a little bit more about those guys and Jens and the team
- 30:30there, go go across to bubblefood.com.
- 30:33And it's been great chatting to you today.
- 30:36Thanks very much for sort of, you know, taking half an hour out of what is inevitably a
- 30:40busy day to have a chat with us.
- 30:42Thank you very much, Jens, I've really enjoyed it.
- 30:44Thank you. Fabulous.
- 30:46And before we wrap up today, I mentioned at the start that there's a couple of really
- 30:49sort of exciting things happening with event issues at the moment.
- 30:53And one of them is that we're going to be taking the podcast back on the road.
- 30:58I've, you know, for the last few years, mostly recorded them from where you see now, if
- 31:02you're watching on the video, you know, from from my living room at home via video links.
- 31:06And it works brilliantly.
- 31:08It means we can bring guests in, as we have done from right across the UK and right
- 31:11across the world.
- 31:12In fact, we've had a lot of international guests over the years.
- 31:15But 2026 is very much a year where you're going to see the podcast back out on the road
- 31:20and in venues and at events, recording episodes with guests from, you know, actual
- 31:25live locations.
- 31:27The first of those is going to be international confects in a couple of weeks time.
- 31:31We're going to be down at Excel with the event issue news team.
- 31:34I'm going to be set up in one of Evolution Dome's inflatable
- 31:40structures on their exhibition stand at confects.
- 31:43We're going to be recording four episodes of the event in the news podcast down there.
- 31:48And over the course of this year, more of that is going to take place.
- 31:51Other venues are already lined up, which we'll reveal and announce in due course.
- 31:55But if you're a venue, if you're a business with a great space that you think actually
- 32:01we could turn that into a podcast studio, we'd love to hear from you.
- 32:04Get in touch with the team at Event Industry News if you run a venue or you work in the
- 32:08industry and you've got a great space that you think this would be perfect.
- 32:11We'd love to get back out onto the road and love to hear from you as to whether or not
- 32:15we could set up some recordings of the podcast from your location.
- 32:19So please do get in touch.
- 32:20The other exciting development at Event Industry News is it is the new home for, you
- 32:26know, what we call the B2B wedding business.
- 32:28There is now a dedicated section of Event Industry News for wedding news.
- 32:32This is specifically for people who are working in the wedding trade.
- 32:37And there is a huge synergy between the events industry and weddings.
- 32:43Weddings are very much, you know, operated and run in the same respect as events are.
- 32:48I'm sure Jens, you and your team will testify to, you know, dealing with a wedding is just
- 32:54as tricky as dealing with an awards event or a major conference or business event.
- 32:58Significantly more, actually, dealing with brides and grooms is pretty intense a lot of
- 33:06the time, isn't it? I'm a great fun, but emotionally a bit of a roller coaster sometimes
- 33:11for the caterer as well.
- 33:12Absolutely. Complex, creative, commercially significant, all of those similarities.
- 33:18So we're delighted to say that as of this month, February 2026, there is a dedicated
- 33:23section of Event Industry News specifically for the wedding industry, wedding planners,
- 33:28organisers, in-house planners, sales teams at wedding venues, venues hosting weddings
- 33:33alongside corporate and private events, suppliers working across weddings, events and
- 33:38hospitality. If you tick any of those boxes, then the wedding element of Event Industry
- 33:44News is going to be the place to go for the latest industry news.
- 33:47And of course, if you're a supplier and you're looking to advertise and push yourself in
- 33:51that particular trade space, then please do get in touch with the team here.
- 33:56Alongside all the regular good stuff that's on Event Industry News, the A to Z supplier
- 33:59directory, if you work in the industry and you're looking for a product or a service,
- 34:03the chances are you'll find it on the directory element of Event Industry News.
- 34:06Just click on there, search for the particular area that you're looking for a service for
- 34:11and up will come all of those suppliers.
- 34:14Which brings me neatly and nicely to the end of today's episode.
- 34:17My thanks once again to my guest Jens Nissen from Bubble Food for joining me today.
- 34:21I will let him go about the rest of his no doubt busy Monday and wish you all very well
- 34:26before we see you on the next edition of the Event Industry News podcast.
- 34:29Thanks very much for joining everybody. We'll see you soon.