Wherever Pierre Koffman goes, it seems, London's food bloggers will follow. Not content with flocking in great numbers to Selfridges during his three-week stint in a marquee on the roof, we are also set to emulate his new-found taste for running temporary restaurants (if not, perhaps, his skill in the kitchen). For your chance to put a few faces to a few names, to marvel at their barefaced blagging skills and to witness their comeuppance as they attempt to work at what they're so happy to criticise in their spare time, you need to get yourself to Hawksmoor for dinner next Sunday.
Hawksmoor, the Shoreditch steak joint pretty much universally praised among food bloggers (and therefore perhaps the only viable option for such largesse) has agreed to turn over its premises to a brigade of one-hit-wonder restaurateurs made up of those self same bloggers. The inaugural Blaggers' Banquet, organised by Niamh from Eat Like a Girl, will be a five-course dinner, complete with matching drinks, devised, cooked, served and (if we're still standing) tidied away by food and drink bloggers.
As the name of the evening suggests, all the food and drink served will have been sourced through that relatively recent addition to the food bloggers' armoury: blagging. Producers, farmers, importers and wholesalers up and down the country have been cajoled into supporting the venture, the proceeds of which will go to Action Against Hunger. Those items not destined for consumption (look out for some rare signed cookbooks and some highly desirable kitchen equipment) will be put up for auction both on the night and online over the following weeks for the benefit of those who can't make it.
To book your slot at what promises to be an interesting evening, not least for the spectacle of yours truly trying to remember how to drive a Gaggia, go to eBay and get bidding. A limited number of tickets are being sold in pairs (plus one five-top) for £75 a head, after which the final five pairs will go to highest bidder. Good luck, and maybe see you on Sunday.
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