Six chefs cook to raise £10,000 for local hospice

Five chefs from Bury St Edmunds joined Chris Lee in his kitchen at The Bildeston Crown to cook a five-course dinner with canapes and petits fours, and raise an incredible £10,000 for St
Nicholas Hospice Care.

The six chefs were: Chris Lee – The Bildeston Crown, Greig Young – The Northgate, James Carn – currently working at All Saints, Fornham as well as various pop-ups across Suffolk, Justin Sharp – Pea Porridge, Pascal Canevet – Maison Bleue and Zack Deakins – 1921 Angel Hill.

Over 50 diners paid £90 per head for the dinner and matched wines selected and described by Ed Keith at Hallgarten Wines.

As they ate, diners purchased raffle tickets donated by each chef.  A surprise addition to the evening was a number of other treats offered by those who had heard about the event which led to chef Chris Lee turning auctioneer to whip up bids on seven prize lots.

There were stay packages from Tuddenham Mill and Fawsley Hall; a golf match for four of the chefs at Hintlesham Hall; a clay pigeon shoot at The Lindsey Rose; a dinner party home cooked by Chris Lee; two tickets for high speed ride in a Porsche at a Grand Prix race circuit and an unbelievable opportunity to fly in a spitfire from Duxford donated by TMJ interiors.

It was Chris’s idea to hold the event, primarily to highlight in one great dinner the best chefs, restaurants and food producers of West Suffolk but also as he explains: “I count all these chefs as good friends and thought it would be a great opportunity to get together; we don’t do it enough.  The fact that in having fun cooking together we can also raise some much-needed funds for the local hospice – well that is even better.”

Emma Clements , major events fund-raiser for the hospice, who visited Bildeston to formally receive the cheque, also stressed the need for community support: “A big thank you to all six chefs and their teams for giving up their Monday night off to raise such a phenomenal amount.  We are
so proud that West Suffolk has such talented chefs and are immensely grateful for their continued support.”