Downing Street on the menu for chefs

SWEET success . . . Helen (left) and Lisa Tse

TWIN chefs from Chadderton were due to cook for Prime Minister David Cameron and the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at Downing Street today.

Lisa and Helen Tse, who run Sweet Mandarin in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, will provide lunch for the visiting premier, who is in London to discuss imports of British beef and lamb. Restrictions were imposed by the Chinese after the BSE outbreak of the 1980s. Discussions are expected with a view to lifting the ban.

The twins, who run the Sweet Mandarin restaurant and produce Oriental sauces, were part of a trade delegation that accompanied Mr Cameron to China last December.

Lisa and Helen secured celebrity backing and a £50,000 investment when they appeared on TV’s “Dragons’ Den” in 2012.

Duncan Bannatyne and Hilary Devey offered to stump up the cash in return for a 40 per cent stake in their gluten-free sauce business.

The pair previously won Gordon Ramsay’s Best Local Chinese Restaurant on the “F Word” show and their products are stocked in Sainsbury’s.

The twins use recipes passed down through their mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and ;ast year received MBEs for services to the food and drink sector.