Food for thought

The second edition of the Food with Benefits dinner was held on November 11, 2013 at Café Zoe of which Viraf Patel is one of the owners as well as executive chef. A joint effort of five of Bombay’s master chefs who have teamed up with the NGO (nongovernmental organization) Manav Foundation, the special sit-down dinner will raise funds for the mentally challenged, reveals Mid Day (MD) in its edition of November 3, 2013.

Viraf Patel: memorable menu

Each one of the 55 patrons will pay Rs 3,000 for the privilege, of which Rs 2,000 will go to Manav Foundation. "We will just be covering our basic cost,” Patel informed MD. The other participating chefs were Kshama Prabhu of White Owl, Irfan Pabaney of Sassy Spoon, Pooja Dhingra of Le 15 Patisserie and Jaideep Mukherjee of Indigo Deli. They planned to rustle up a memorable meal using "a lot of nuts and berries as well as pumpkin seeds and olive oil…so that diners learn about food items that help our mental faculties as well,” Patel said to MD. The menu included a salad, two appetizers, a sorbet, a main course and a dessert, each made by a different chef.
When contacted over the telephone Patel informed Parsiana that this will be a continuing effort, with each of the five (and possibly more, in the future) chefs hosting a fundraising dinner in turn, with the proceeds going to a charity of his/her choice. The events, to be held at regular intervals, will be a joint effort by all the chefs.