Creative New Food Concepts

We’ve spent the past few months creating a whole host of exciting new food concepts to enhance eating and drinking for visitors to the exhibitions and outdoor events at which we cater. Inspired by the popularity of street food (we ate our way across every London street food market in the name of research!) we devised a small number of dishes for each concept using the very best ingredients from small producers across the south of England. We let our imaginations run wild with the naming, the dressing and presentation of our vans. Our staff love their new uniforms and their new working environments and the feedback we’ve had from our customers has been fantastic – they love the flavours, the freshness and the theatre.

Sticky Fingers with a menu of braised Hereford short rib and brisket, braised onions and blue cheese served in a toasted brioche bun. Or buttermilk-marinated chicken, deep fried in smoked paprika flour and servedwith a freshly made waffle and maple syrup.

Delicious Vietnamese Banh Mi, Udon Noodle Soup with marinated tofu or Vietnamese Cod, spiced with chilli, lemongrass and corainder, steamed in a banana leaf and served with tam tom salad and vegetable crackers.



Perfect pairings of wine and food. Pork, smoked ham and parsely rillettes, hot roastedand smoked salmon rillettes with dill and chestnut mushroom, garlic and parsley duxelle. All served with cornichons, baby onions, pickles and ficelle.



Meet Team Creative - Luke Barlow

Luke Barlow - affectionately known as 'tt' and therefore the 't' in our creative shoot last year is Creative's Group Beverage Procurement Manager.  He is renowned for his perplexing spreadsheets and of course very popular when the wine tastings come around!

Name...  Luke Barlow

Job Title... Group Beverage Procurement Manager

Venue... Central

Favourite Drink... Good red wine

Favourite Meal... Argentinian asado

I started working for Creative... 
Well my first ever shift was as a bartender in November 2000 at the Newbury Gold Cup.  I worked on a casual basis all through university. Then in 2005, after a year out following my degree, I joined the company full time just as we were beginning our contracts at Earls Court and Olympia Exhibition Centres. 

In a nutshell my role is... 
Deciding what drinks we stock across the business, where we buy them from, how much we pay for them and what we sell them for.  During the summer months a large amount of my time is spent planning the stock logistics of our outdoor festivals and events and managing the relationships between drinks sponsors, Creativevents and the event organisers. 

On an average day...  
It depends what time of year it is.  In the summer it could involve sourcing an ale supplier local to the boutique festival we are working at, or booking eight tankers full of lager for a heavy metal concert.  In the winter it could involve meeting a potential new drink sponsor, reconciling monthly accounts or developing the company wine list.

My most rewarding moment...  
Successfully managing the liquor planning and operation of the Big Chill festival.  The event had 17 different bars most of which were offering completely bespoke drinks menus which meant it was far more challenging than any other festival we had worked at.

My most challenging moment...  
The summer of 2012.  Making sure my areas of responsibility for our regular business continued to run smoothly whilst basing myself at the Olympics to control the drink stock levels of two London venues.

I can't be doing with... 
People who moan and complain without doing anything to change what they have a problem with.

I couldn’t cope without... 
My ipod when I am concentrating on figures.

Best piece of advice...  
It is not the mistakes you make but what you do to put them right.  Always have a contingency plan.