Twenty-two leading chefs have raised £320,000 for Leukaemia UK at the 27th annual Who’s Cooking Dinner? at The Dorchester in London.
Held on Monday 14 September, the event brought together chefs with 17 Michelin stars between them for an evening of dining and fundraising in support of leukaemia research.
The latest total takes the amount raised by Who’s Cooking Dinner? since it was established in 1999 to more than £8.5 million.
The event was co-founded by restaurateur Chris Corbin OBE and chef Peter Gordon ONZM and sees participating chefs donate their ingredients, materials and time, allowing funds raised to support Leukaemia UK.
This year’s event was hosted by chef and Sunday Brunch co-presenter Simon Rimmer alongside television presenter and fresh produce consultant Chris Bavin.
Guests did not discover which chef would be cooking for their table until the traditional chef draw took place on the night.
The 2026 line-up included Mark Birchall of Moor Hall, Jean-Philippe Blondet of Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Deepak Mallya of The Ritz, Matt Abé of Bonheur, John Chantarasak of AngloThai, Roberta Hall-McCarron of The Little Chartroom, Sameer Taneja of Benares and Ben Tonks of The Seahorse.
Dishes served across the event included gold-dusted Chilean seabass from Sexy Fish, a centrepiece pie from The Little Chartroom, fish-shaped dum fish biryani from Benares and Pithivier of Pigeon from The Ritz.
CUT at 45 Park Lane also collaborated with Juliet Sear on a dessert entitled The Garden.
Sameer Taneja, Executive Chef at Benares, said: “There is something special about being part of an event that brings people together to enjoy delicious food in support of an incredible cause. We’re all there to cook great food and raise as much as possible for Leukaemia UK. I loved every second in the ‘Who’s Cooking Dinner?’ kitchen.”
Simon Rimmer said: “It was an honour to host ‘Who’s Cooking Dinner?’. The idea that guests don’t know who is cooking their dinner until the night itself is a brilliant concept, made even better knowing that every mouthful raises money for a brilliant cause. It really is a special evening.”
Chris Bavin added: “It was a pleasure to host this year’s Who’s Cooking Dinner?’. It’s such a unique event with incredible food by lots of talented chefs. Seeing so many people come together, to raise lots of money and make a real impact for people diagnosed with leukaemia, was wonderful.”
Fiona Hazell, Chief Executive at Leukaemia UK, said: “We are so grateful to everyone who supported ‘Who’s Cooking Dinner?’ this year. Every day, 28 people in the UK receive the devastating news that they have leukaemia and just half will survive for longer than five years. At Leukaemia UK we believe that through the power of research, we can change this.
“The money raised at ‘Who’s Cooking Dinner?’ allows us to continue funding groundbreaking research into kinder, more effective treatments to stop leukaemia devastating lives.”
San Pellegrino and Mozart Concierge supported this year’s event.
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