Cooking up a storm for flood relief
Eatery joins other restaurants to serve New Zealand’s biggest dinner party
AManakau restaurant and cafe has cooked up a way to help with relief for floodstricken Hawke’s Bay. Quarter Acre Cafe joined 151 participating restaurants, cafes, pubs, and eateries in simultaneously putting on a two-course menu this week — mooted as being New Zealand’s biggest dinner party.
The Cooking Up A Storm fundraiser was the brainchild of celebrity chef Al Brown who, along with the Restaurant Association, invited the hospitality community to help out with the disaster relief effort.
Quarter Acre Cafe co-owner Renee Cohen said it was a great initiative and one the team at Quarter Acre was happy to support.
Cohen said the 65 tickets on offer sold out in little more than a day, at $69 each.
Doors opened at 6.30pm and the delicious dinner was on the table by 7pm. On the menu was chef Neil Cohen’s Chicken Scarpariello, a New York Italian/American dish from his childhood, plus a dessert trio for each guest.
Staff volunteered their time to help out for the night, including local musician Rawiri Wehipeihana who set the mood to music.
Products for the evening have been generously donated by NZ Wine Growers, Service Foods, Elemental Cider, Manakau Market and Otaki ¯ Super Liquor.
Brown’s brief for restaurants behind Cooking Up A Storm was comfort food.
“It’s about comfort food and bringing like-minded folk around a table for the evening. Essentially, we’re emulating what is happening in the
affected regions, where sitting around a table and having a kai is bringing people together to support, listen and be there for each other,” he had said.
Restaurants were encouraged to retain about a third of the cost to cover expenses. Donations from the event would reach its beneficiaries through regional mayoral funds, with a proportion going directly to the hospitality sector.
“I know times are still bloody tough for many in our beloved hospitality industry, but we still need to think about others and the role we play in the community,” Brown had said.
“We’d like to show that as a whole industry, we can help make a difference and give back in a meaningful way.”