Once a year food bloggers all over the world get together to hold a fundraising event. It's called the Menu for Hope, was started by Chez Pim and takes the form of an online raffle.
Last year I was gutted that we missed the boat and our blog didn't take part. This year, we almost missed the boat, but a last dash to the pier and a quick bit of front crawl means that we can now announce our prize.
One of the first and most exciting restaurants we reviewed on this blog was Bacchus, the restaurant who brought us 'fine dining in trainers' and some of the most innovatory cooking you'll find in London. The people who run Bacchus have also been great friends and given us an insight into the restaurant industry. It is with great pleasure that I can announce that Bacchus are providing our Menu for Hope prize.
The first part of the prize is to do a day stage with Nuno Mendes, the chef at Bacchus. Nuno uses a variety of avant-garde techniques and is constantly experimenting to develop dishes. During the day you'll be able to shadow Nuno in the Bacchus kitchen. This will doubtless be an educational and entertaining experience. Don't worry if you're not a whiz in the kitchen, the degree of interaction will be entirely up to you. He's also an exceptionally nice chap.
The second part of the prize is a meal for one at the restaurant. Bacchus' menu has certainly evolved and matured over the year and my last meal there was stunning. Current dishes include seared langoustine with pork shoulder and salted orange, an amazing yuzu crab dish and a pine nut risotto.
Who's benefiting from this?
This year the Menu for Hope is supporting the World Food Programme, in particular a school lunch programme they run in Lesotho. This not only feeds the kids and helps to keep them in school, this also supports local farmers.
Last year the Menu for Hope event raised over $62,000 . . . an impressive sum.
You should also have a look at the other prizes on offer, which include some rather big foodie names(Hesotn Blumenthal and Harold McGee to name but two) the full list can be found here:
Menu for Hope 4 prize list and entry form
I'll certainly be attempting to win some of those . . . fingers-crossed.
If you've got any questions, please leave a comment.
Remember, last entries are on December 21st . . .
Brilliant, Howard! I've been talking to Nuno recently and have booked the whole family in for dinner on Sunday 23rd while Trig's back in London, but it never occurred to me to suggest something like this as a prize.
Lack of initiative must run in the family. We also arranged a visit to Alicia in Barcelona for January, only to discover that Pim has arranged a trip there as a Menu for Hope prize!
Whoever wins this prize is going to learn more in a day than many chefs learn in a lifetime. When it appears on Chez Pim I'll make sure we put in a comment encouraging people to go for it. As you say, Nuno's a great guy and the food there now is brilliant.
Posted by: Mike (Trig's dad) | 14/12/2007 at 06:24 PM