Rebecca Mascarenhas the owner of Putney's The Phoenix, Barnes' Sonny's and Kitchen W8 in Kensington has had the brain wave of creating one day pop up restaurants in the Phoenix which is currently closed for refurbishment.

Rebecca already has nine individual dates planned for March. To date she has signed up Chez Bruce and the River Cafe to appear as part of a drive to raise money for Action Against Hunger's work in Haiti.

Tv Chef Rick Stein has today agreed to get involved with his ex manager Sam Harrison who has restaurant in Chiswick & Balham. Other chefs to sign up include Helena Puolakka from Skylon, Michelin-starred chef Philip Howard, and Rowley Leigh of Le Cafe Anglais.

Rebecca told PutneySW15.com that," Action Against Hunger does great charity work and is closely involved with the restaurant business.  I have been amazed by the fabulous response from my contacts !" 
She continued:
"....we wanted to work with Action Against Hunger ... they are very committed not just to the immediate crisis in Haiti but the aftermath in supporting the country. I didn't realize, for instance, that all the food aid that goes there now and is free, is actually destroying the farming economy there because the farmers can't sell their crops. The charity offers support for long term sustainability as opposed to just aid".

The plan is for a maximum of 15 dates throughout the month, with each chef and their staff working for free doing one service each. The pop-up restaurant will charge a flat price of £60 a head, and Mascarenhas is also planning to negotiate a deal to buy good wines at cost, and add a £10 mark-up.  For further details of dates and chefs logon to www.putneypopup.co.uk which will be live on Friday 12th February and register your details - they will get back to you with more details.

The plan is for the events to cost nothing to run with everyone donating their time and or raw materials - with some of the restaurants located out of London, local restaurants are donating their staff for free! For example the staff from Balham's 'Harrisons Restaurant & Bar' will be supporting Rick Stein on his date.

 

February 19, 2010