Who’s Cooking Dinner’s 20th anniversary celebration

A constellation of Michelin-starred chefs, from Alain Ducasse to Clare Smyth, head to The Dorchester for a celebratory dinner raising funds for leukaemia research

Having already raised nearly £7m for research into leukaemia, some of the world’s top chefs will gather on March 4 in the kitchens of The Dorchester for the 20th edition of Who’s Cooking Dinner?

Diners only discover which chef is cooking their meal on the night through a random draw

The 25 maestros participating in the fundraising dinner have a constellation of Michelin-stars between them, and include Alain Ducasse, Clare Smyth, Mark Hix, Skye Gyngell, Tom Kerridge, Angela Hartnett and Claude Bosi. The chefs will conjure a four-course feast served with wine pairings for 10 guests on each table (priced £7,500). The twist? Diners will only discover who is cooking their meal on the night (as it will be decided in a random draw). After dinner, those in attendance will be invited to bid on exclusive experiences, such as “take home a chef”, where gourmets have agreed to cook for the winners in their home.

The event was established two decades ago by chef Peter Gordon – who around that time had donated bone marrow to his sister, a leukaemia survivor – and the legendary restaurateur Chris Corbin of The Wolseley, The Delaunay and Zedel, who also beat leukaemia. “It came about through a serendipitous route,” Corbin says. “I was being treated by Professor John Goldman at the Hammersmith Hospital and his secretary emailed Peter Gordon after reading one of his cookery books.” That conversation eventually brought the duo together, and the idea of Who’s Cooking Dinner? was cooked up between them.

“Due to fundraising, research has made huge leaps and bounds,” Corbin says, who describes the event as the highlight of his culinary career.