Blog. Inaugural Great Coast-to-Coast Dinner raises £16,000!
March 6, 2025 | Author: Giuliana Vittiglio

We are thrilled to announce that The Great Coast-to-Coast Charity Dinner, which took place at the Cornwall Hotel Collection’s The Alverton in the heart of Truro raised a spectacular £16,000!
The inaugural event, on Thursday 27 February, saw more than a dozen leading chefs from all corners of Cornwall come together to cook a gastronomic, five-course dinner celebrating some of the county’s finest ingredients and products for 120 guests, all to raise vital funds for our work.
In a true celebration of everything Cornwall’s coastline has to offer, some of the county’s most high-profile chefs took over The Alverton’s kitchen for the evening. Visiting chefs included many stars of BBC Two’s Great British Menu – Kota and Kota Kai’s Jude Kereama, who created the concept for the night, The Sardine Factory’s Ben Palmer, Chris Eden, who recently took up the reins in the kitchen at the Watergate Bay, 2018’s South West Chef of the Year Tim Kendall, and Cornwall Hotel Collection’s very own Executive Chef Nick Hodges.
The chefs served their magnificent dinner in the hotel’s historic Great Hall, a room that dates back to 1830. The meal highlighted the very best seafood, grass-fed meats, and harvest available across the Duchy in a culinary experience that delighted all its guests. The menu was accompanied by an alcoholic pairing carefully tailored to each dish.
Ben Young, managing director of the Cornwall Hotel Collection which owns The Alverton, and a HA Ambassador commented: “What an incredible evening raising much-needed funds for Hospitality Action, a charity close to all our hearts, and it was such a unique opportunity to host so many of the Duchy’s finest chefs in our kitchen here at The Alverton. We are so grateful for to everyone who supported – in the dining room and back of house – as well as all the fantastic suppliers and industry colleagues who donated ingredients, products, and prizes to help us reach our target.”
Jude Kereama, chef-proprietor of Kota and Kota Kai in Porthleven, who is also a HA Ambassador and the architect of the dinner, added: “We all loved working together to support Hospitality Action, a charity that means so much to all of us. The atmosphere in the kitchen was electric and we’re absolutely thrilled that our guests had such a sensational time raising £16,000 for the charity. It will make a huge difference, and I hope this dinner will be the first of many to be staged the south-west.”
The chefs:
Representing West Cornwall
Team captain: Jude Kereama, Kota and Kota Kai
Mick Smith, Porthminster Group
Representing North Cornwall
Team captain: Chris Eden, Watergate Bay Hotel
Andrew Tuck, The Tartan Fox
Stephane Delourme, independent private chef
Representing South Cornwall
Team captain: Tim Kendall, Owner & chef, The Rising Sun Inn at Altarnun
Joe Fallowfield, Fallowfields
Nigel Brown, Edie’s Kitchen
Representing East Cornwall
Team captain: Ben Palmer, chef-owner, The Sardine Factory
Nikos Oikonomopolous, Yamas
Fred Alsop, The Fishmarket
The home team
Team captain: Nick Hodges, Cornwall Hotel Collection
Ollie Wyatt, head chef, The Alverton
Howard Sellers, Bango Kitchen
Heartfelt thanks to everyone who made the evening possible including the generous sponsors: EW Wines, Sharp’s Brewery, Hildon Water, Celtic Fish & Game, Dole, Matthew Stevens, Rodda’s, True Foods and West Country Fruit Sales.
If your workplace would like make a difference and host a fundraising event on our behalf, we’d love to hear from you, please get in touch.