Blog. Winter Chefs’ Dinner in association with Icelandic Glacial Water raises £90,000!
October 30, 2024 | Author: Sophie Stevens
Earlier this week on Monday 28 October, some of London’s finest award-winning chefs cooked up a gastronomical feast for our magical fundraising dinner at Raffles London at The Old War Office and raised an incredible £90,000! Huge thanks to headline event sponsor Icelandic Glacial Water, gold sponsor American Express and silver sponsor Mentzendorff for making the evening possible. The drinks and canapé reception was kindly sponsored by Unity Wines, Forgotten Spirits and Berry Bros & Rudd.
Hosted by the award-winning chef Sabrina Ghayour, we were delighted to serve two exceptional menus, cooked by our talented guest chefs to whom we are profoundly grateful.
Menu One
Scallop chawanmushi, wasabi shiso oil and kefir by Endo Kazutoshi, of Endo at the Rotunda
Cornish monkfish, Dieppoise sauce by Claude Bosi, of Claude Bosi at Bibendum, kindly sponsored by Flying Fish
Beef cheek and Guinness suet pudding, mashed potato, by Ashley Palmer-Watts, of The Devonshire kindly sponsored by The Devonshire
Mont Blanc: chestnut cream, pine nut praline, tonka bean chantilly, by Bomee Ki, of Sollip, kindly sponsored by Classic Fine Foods
Menu Two
Cured sea bass with chilled garlic almond soup & pears by Tomos Parry of Brat, kindly sponsored by Fin and Flounder
Saffron kool broth with hake, clams, pumpkin & greens by Cynthia Shanmugalingam, of Rambutan
Grilled Lake District Farmers heritage breed ribeye, watercress, Tokyo turnips and sauce Bourguignotte, by Jonny Lake, of Trivet, kindly sponsored by Lake District Farmers & Smith and Brock
Achill salted caramel, Original Beans cacao truffles & Guinness ice, by Robin Gill, of Darby’s kindly sponsored by Woods Foodservice
Alongside the guest chefs, we are grateful to La Bottega for providing every guest with a MALIN+GOETZ gift, and to Agilysys for sponsoring our lottery; allowing 5 lucky winners, and their plus ones, to attend. Not to mention Apex Hotels for providing a paired overnight stay. Apex Hotels employees also very kindly gave up their time to volunteer at the event for which we can’t thank them enough.
The evening also saw the introduction of three annual award categories. Our 2024 Supporter of the Year Award recognises an individual - or individuals - who have demonstrated a commitment to Hospitality Action that is beyond the call of duty. Our inaugural award winners were Chris Mitchell and Robbie Laidlaw, of Genuine Dining, for their epic Spirit of Hospitality Atlantic row.
Our Corporate Supporter of the Year Award goes to a partner that supports HA in a variety of ways, from investing in our employee assistance programme, supporting Walk for Wellbeing, offering up auction prizes and volunteers to much more. We were thrilled to announce the winners as Imperial London Hotels.
Our final award recognises extraordinary fundraising success and passionate commitment to HA, sustained over an extended period. The William Baxter Outstanding Contribution Award was awarded to a restaurant that has built support of HA into its DNA and has raised a staggering £200,000 to date. The winners were: sketch.
Big thanks to the Raffles Hotel team including the chefs and the Events, Conference, and Banqueting teams for creating a spectacular dining experience.
And many thanks to all of our guests who participated in the evening’s fundraising. Every penny raised will help transform thousands of hospitality households facing extreme food and fuel poverty and poor mental health, associated with the cost-of-living crisis.
If your business is interested in learning more about our events programme and ways to get involved, please get in touch.
Photography by Sophia Waterhouse