All stars: the night includes some of the biggest names in food
(Picture: Chris Floyd)Harrods, the upmarket department store in Knightsbridge, has long held the motto “all things for all people, everywhere” — and now that’s set to include a £2,500 charity banquet cooked and served by six of the world’s top chefs.
On September 22, Jason Atherton and Tom Kerridge will be among those plating up at an evening dubbed “Harrods Table”, which is raising money in aid of Refettorio Felix at St Cuthbert's. Refettorio is part of Massimo Bottura’s Food for Soul project, which works to support some of the most vulnerable people in society.
The six-course meal, which will only be available for 25 diners, will start with arguably the biggest name of the evening. A tuna and red deer tartare will be prepared by Björn Frantzén, whose eponymous restaurant Frantzén became the first in his native Sweden to ever win three Michelin stars. Its sister in Singapore, Zén, also holds three stars.
Following Frantzen will be Jason Atherton — best known in London for Pollen Street Social and City Social, both of which also have a star — who is in charge of the first fish course. Atherton will cook turbot with a roe butter sauce and asparagus. Afterwards will come Tom Kerridge, who made his name with Marlow pub The Hand and Flowers, who will deep-fry lobster, plating it with chips and Caviar.
The main course comes from Aussie chef Dave Pynt, of Singapore’s acclaimed barbecue restaurant Burnt Ends, who will cook Blackmore wagyu beef with a Bourginon sauce. Harrods’ own head patisserie chef Phil Khoury will take care of a palette-cleanser of sorts, an “aromatic wine and grape sorbet” — which will be served with Chateau d’Yquem from 1986, typically held to be among d’Yquem’s best years — followed by a pudding of vanilla and lemon soufflé with a lemon and almond sorbet and lemon marmalade. Taking care of this will be Angelo Musa, the executive pastry chef at Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris, who is a one-time world pastry champion.
Among the other wines served will be at 2010 Chateau Haut Brion Blanc, a number of vintage Champagnes and Louis XIII Cognac, which typically retails for around £3,000 a bottle.
Each of the chefs — who between them hold 12 Michelin stars — also operate restaurant concepts in Harrods, having launched them with the help of the store’s director of restaurants, Ashley Saxton. Saxton said of the evening: “Gathering these six visionaries — who are at the absolute top of the culinary world — together for one night, was no easy feat. However, they were happy to come and celebrate their style of cooking and to prepare a meal together in London’s most iconic setting, and in aid of a fantastic cause.
“I am excited not only to see the once-in-a-lifetime banquet that they prepare, but also to raise as much as we can for charity. To see these chefs together in one place, to see how they inspire and challenge each other to create the world’s most exclusive meal, will a dream come true for the lucky gourmands who join us on the night.”
The 25 diners who make the evening will meet the chefs on the evening, too.
