Obsession

Obsession is a event that is held at Northcote Manor every year during the end of Janaury and the beginning of February. It is when chefs of different standards come from around the world and cook their own menu in Nigels Haworth's Michelin star kitchen. They have had very well-known chef in the past such as Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsay, Raymond Blanc and even Heston! Originally it only lasted a few days but due to its popularity its duration has grown every year. this time is was 15 night which is the longest it has ever been held. It all started  in 2001, in this year there was only four nights! It was originally created to get more business into the manor during the quiet months but now it has turned into the busiest time of the year for Northcote.    

Each evening I would arrive and help set the pass for plating up the food, this meant making sure that the chefs had the correct type of plates for each dish, some menu's had seven courses, some had more, some had less. The staff had to make sure that the plates were spotless and polished. Cutlery needed to be prepared to be put down for each course, bread would be served using silver service(on some nights there was no bread), take out food, place correctly on the table. Obsession works very differently to normal service, plates are taken out individually and have to be place down on the table all at the same time. A person must be in between each waiter if it is a big table, if it is a small table ladies should always be served first and at Northcote they serve everything on the right and facing the customer.