Internationally acclaimed chefs Jason Atherton and Pierre Koffmann will be among those creating dishes for a night in aid of UK charity DEBRA.
The DEBRA Butterfly Ball will take place on June 14 at Kensington’s Royal Garden Hotel, and the black tie event will see Atherton and Koffmann join world-class pastry chef Claire Clark MBE and the venue’s executive chef Steve Munkley to cook a four course dinner for guests.
The night will also include a Champagne reception, wine with each course, live music from band 29 Fingers, and an address from Falklands war veteran and DEBRA president Simon Weston CBE. Weston famously survived the 1982 bombing of RFA Sir Galahad, though it left him with 46 per cent burns.
Multi Michelin-starred Pollen Street Social chef and international restaurateur Atherton will be cooking a starter of Colchester crab on toast with brown crab butter, lemon gel, pickled cucumber and celery. Legendary French chef Koffmann – one of the few UK-based chefs to have held three Michelin stars – will be in charge of the meat course, cooking up a fillet of beef wellington served with sauce Bordelaise potato gratin and seasonal vegetables.
Munkley will prepare a fish course of pan seared stonebass and pistachio arancini, while Clark with close the meal with a dessert of “tea and toast”, featuring an Earl Grey cheesecake with bergamot gel, lavender crème fraiche parfait and baba toast.
The event follows the fourth edition of the Great Chefs Dinner in February, which saw Michel Roux Jr and Andrew Wong help to create a six-course feast at the Langham hotel, also in aid of DEBRA. The night raised more than £70,000.
Tickets for the Butterfly Ball will cost £195 per person, with all proceeds going towards DEBRA, the only UK charity dedicated to funding research into and supporting people who suffer from Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a life-threatening condition which causes severe blistering. It is said to leave skin as fragile as a butterfly’s wing – hence the evening's name.
DEBRA Butterfly Ball will take place on June 14 at Royal Garden Hotel, 2-24 Kensington High Street, W8 4PT. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit debra.org.uk
