Or do you have an existing business – one that needs help, or one that you’re looking to push forward to even greater success with a fresh injection of new ideas? Perhaps your work atmosphere feels a little flat, your team need inspiration, your menu needs shaking up or your kitchen could be more efficient and cost-effective?
Acclaimed London-based chef Ben Spalding runs PuzzleProjects, offering a fresh take on hospitality consultancy for all sectors, the curation and delivery of food and music events (from intimate gatherings to festivals), catering and food production for corporate, public and individual clients globally and at all levels, film, design and more.
Fiercely passionate about the hospitality industry and about sharing his knowledge, skills and experience to benefit others, Ben deals with every consultancy project personally, utilising his extensive contacts and network alongside his PuzzleProjects team to provide a one-stop shop, delivering practical solutions and – more importantly – measurable results.
Ben brings over fifteen years’ experience and hard-earned expertise in the hospitality industry to his role. Having trained at some of the world’s finest Michelin-starred restaurants including 28+ in Gothenburg, Per Se, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, The Ledbury, Bagatelle, The Fat Duck, Le Manoir, Vue de Monde and L’Enclume, he returned to London in 2011 and delivered his unique style of cooking with great success at restaurants including Roganic, John Salt and Aqua in the Shard, winning both personal and professional acclaim along the way. His awards include 3 AA Rosettes at Roganic, the Zagat 30 under 30 award, the ShortList Brit List, the Times 100 Most Influential People.
Wanting to break away for the stiff formality often associated with fine dining and Michelin-starred establishments, Ben created his own successful business, PuzzleProjects, and simultaneously launched several innovative dining concepts including NoRules, WorldDinners and StrippedBack, an exciting, accessible dining experience which played an integral part in the development of London’s high-end street food movement. Huge global interest saw Ben take this concept across Europe and on to the legendary music festival Coachella in Los Angeles.
In addition to delivering several hundred creative events, weddings and private dinners, 2016 saw Ben further develop his creative and operational work with hospitality businesses and brands globally, including The Common in London and Landvetter Airport Hotel in Sweden, Stones Events, Harbour & Jones, Meat Lust, Nisbets, Farmino and Mibrasa. This year he is partnering with Bang & Olufsen to refine his public dining events, exploring ways in which music, another major passion of his, can be introduced into his cooking; he is also opening a summer restaurant in The Last Days of Shoreditch from May and working on a range of international projects across Europe and Asia.
No job is too big, too small, too difficult or too weird. The team pride themselves on being accessible, affordable and easy to work with, and completely unfazed by unusual or challenging work environments or requests.
Ask Ben about:
Harbour & Jones continue to work with Ben and PuzzleProjects on a number of different food events; over the last nine months he has hosted inspirational training days for our chefs (who have commented, ‘eye opening’, ‘best training session they have done’), wowed with his #SmallPlates concept within our staff restaurants, and provided some genuine food for thought with some spectacular dishes at our inaugural Trend Talk.
The half hot tom yum and parsnip soup is still being talked about and in fact I think if I close my eyes I could still taste it. Everything he does is carried out with extreme precision (the mise en place is a lesson in itself!).
Ben thinks about food in a parallel universe! The way he is able to garner such intense flavours is truly mind-blowing and he is very happy (dare I say, prefers) to push boundaries.
In this day and age, Ben also has a strong understanding of the power of his (very on-trend) branding and social media presence. We look forward to embarking on more adventures with PuzzleProjects!
“I asked Ben to spend a week with us after seeing him demo and following his early career; I admire Ben’s creativity and flair and was very interested to hear his opinions on my food, the workings of our kitchen and the dining experience at Titchwell Manor as a whole.
The short time Ben spent with us was very successful. A lot of the feedback and advice we put into practice immediately and I believe it made an instant improvement as well as long term benefit; we still have techniques on the menu that Ben showed us.
He had a nice manner, which helped all the staff to be receptive to his suggestions, and was very professional throughout his time with us.”
