Pinner Couple Charity Pop up Restaurant
On 2nd July, my wife Sarah and I will be taking over the running of the Steak Restaurant in Hatch End and will create the best restaurant pop up Harrow has ever seen with the aim is to raise funds for Harrow food bank.
To tell you a little bit about both of us. We both live in Pinner and have had long and successful careers in the London restaurant scene. 
I am a MCA (master of culinary arts, for further explanation see; https://www.royalacademyofculinaryarts.org.uk/what-we-do/master-of-culinary-arts/ ) and formerly was head chef of the Ritz Hotel, head chef of a 1 Michelin star restaurant in Lancashire and before that sous chef for Gordon Ramsay after having trained under 2 Michelin starred Phillip Howard at the Square and 3* Marco Pierre White.
Sarah was formerly the winner of young chef young waiter in 2009 and went on to be restaurant manager of 2* the Ledbury and Hibiscus.
We are absolutely going to push ourselves to deliver the highest standards we can on the night, we won’t be taking our foot off the gas that’s for sure. The Steak Restaurant in Hatch End that has so kindly donated their space to us to host the event on the night has been newly refurbished so we know the dining room and kitchens meet our exacting standards. However, the event itself will be uniquely challenging as the menu will be devised on the day completely made from food items that have been donated, so we literally won’t know, ‘what’s for dinner?’ until the day. Sarah will face the challenge of whipping a team of volunteers without much experience into a crack team of front of house staff within hours of opening the doors. So very challenging, but hugely exciting for all of us.
The inspiration for the event came when I attended a fund raising event for the food bank a few months ago where I met Judy and Miriam. I had heard about food banks and thought I knew what they do and how they operate, but realised after meeting them I actually didn’t have a clue about the service they provide, the work that goes into it and the people that depend upon them. 70% of the people that rely on the food bank are in low paid work and have hit a temporary crisis. The food bank helps them get through patches in life where they have hit rock bottom.
Thirteen million people live below the poverty line in the UK, with individuals going hungry every day for a range of reasons, from benefit delays to receiving an unexpected bill on a low income. They recognise that stopping hunger is about More Than Food, which is why food banks provide a range of new services like money advice and Fuel Banks, helping people to break the cycle of poverty. Since 2016 Judy, Miriam and the team have helped nearly 2000 Harrow families in crisis, with emergency food parcels. The costs of the warehouse and other charges mean that the food bank survives on a month to month basis, providing this last line of help to desperate families who have fallen into poverty.
For more info, please check our FaceBook Page
https://www.facebook.com/harrowfoodbankfundraiser/