The Great British Chefs Dinner, in support of Childline

Here at Marshall Murray we love giving support to great causes.  If these causes also come with world-class food from the best of British cuisine then this is just an added bonus...

At the end of last year I was invited to the Great British Chef's Dinner, in support of Childline, the UK’s free, confidential 24-hour helpline and online service for children and young people, provided by the NSPCC

You can learn more about their valuable work in the link below:

Find out more about ChildLine

The format of the evening was an auction running concurrently with a four course meal by some truly remarkable British chefs.  Paul Foster, Matthew Tomkinson, Michael Smith and Josh Eggleton, each award-winners in their own right, took on a course that used exclusively British ingredients to create one of the finest meals this humble writer can recall.

We were asked earlier in 2013 whether we might show our support of their work with a donation of an auction lot, which we were very happy to offer. 

Paul Foster's poached duck, brussels sprouts, apple & buckwheat

Guests were (both sensibly and gratefully) plied with champagne and perfectly-matched wines throughout the evening, while tablet devices were placed conveniently close by on each table via which one could place bids on the various lots.  The highest bidder's were update in real time which introduced a really fun element of competition to proceedings.  These two factors conspired to compel me into purchasing a gym membership

that is statistically unlikely to see me blossom into the lean, tanned and rippling man I imagine such memberships inevitably lead to.  However, it is a great charity to support and, who knows, maybe this time I'll be more diligent?

The evening raised over £120,000 for Childline, which I think is an incredible effort by all those involved and something we shall certainly continue to support.

Matthew Tomkinson's Spiced diver-caught scallops

If you would like to do likewise then you can learn more about their great projects, make charitable donations or put forward charity lots from your own company for future events via their website at:

http://www.nspcc.org.uk

Yours,

Oliver - Director.

Michael Smith's Highland Red Deer Saddle & Haunch, Crowdie, Mulled Blackberries & Gingerbread

Josh Eggleton's Hazelnut cake, with caramel sesame mousse and malt ice cream