A table of handmade desserts ready to serve at Quarter Acre Cafe. Photo / Vikki Timpson
A table of handmade desserts ready to serve at Quarter Acre Cafe. Photo / Vikki Timpson
A Manakau restaurant and cafe cooked up a way to help with disaster relief for flood-stricken Hawke’s Bay.
Quarter Acre Cafe joined 151 other 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 CookingUp 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.
The volunteer team at Quarter Acre Cafe in Manakau (back from left) Rawiri Wehipeihana, Zach Lee, chef/owner Neil Cohen, (front from left) Raewyn Phillips, owner Renee Cohen, and Alyssa Te Wiata. Photo / Vikki Timpson
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 Ōtaki 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.
Michelle Atkins and Lynaire Cottle supported the fundraising dinner at Quarter Acre Cafe.
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.”
Quarter Acre Cafe co-owner Renee Cohen said it was a great initiative that the eatery was happy to support.
