Smiles all round as businesses serve up a night to remember

Pictured are Laura Waller, head chef at 1884 Dock Street Kitchen with (from left) Mike Wilson, Staci Liversedge and Nikki Cusworth of Bridge McFarland and John Copsey and Anjeanette Kemp of IFP.

AWARD-WINNING restaurant 1884 Dock Street Kitchen made its Devil’s Kitchen debut with a pledge to serve up even greater support for event organisers the HEY Smile Foundation.

The restaurant, which has harvested local, regional and national awards since opening its doors less than five years ago, has adopted Smile as its official charity following the latest contest which pitted solicitors against independent financial advisers.

James Birch, general manager at 1884 Dock Street Kitchen, said: “This was our first Devil’s Kitchen event and it will be the first of many activities that we take up to support Smile.

“We have adopted them as our official charity because we want to help them with the fantastic work that they carry out, and particularly with the support that they provide to charities across the region in terms of raising funds and awareness.

“We are working with the team at Smile on a programme of things that we can do, from helping to raise money to providing our time and expertise and also using our contacts and reputation.”

The latest event brought together Bridge McFarland, neighbours of Dock Street Kitchen at the side of Hull Marina, and Hessle-based Informed Financial Planning (IFP), who threw down the oven glove for the challenge.

Between them the businesses and their guests raised more than £4,000 for Smile, with teams of eight from each business preparing, cooking and serving a top quality meal for 80 diners who paid what they felt was an appropriate amount for the food and experience.

In the kitchen, legal and financial experts toiled over starters of Yorkshire venison and North Sea halibut followed by mains which featured North Sea cod and East Yorkshire pheasant and desserts of sticky toffee pudding and orange cheesecake.

In the restaurant, both firms were expected to display supreme service skills to match the excellence of the food. Diners voted with their donations, and IFP edged home by the width of a wafer thin mint!

Kevin Ferriby, managing director at IFP, said: “We were delighted to take part in Devil’s Kitchen. Supporting the local community is something we take pride in, and to do something which our staff and guests can also be a part of really is incredible.

“There was some fun competition between IFP and Bridge McFarland, but ultimately our top priority was to raise as much money as possible for the HEY Smile Foundation. 1884 Dock Street Kitchen is an amazing venue and we were delighted to be able to impress our guests.”

Rob Ripley, partner, added: “Devil’s Kitchen is a great way for the business community to get involved in raising money for local charities with the HEY Smile Foundation.

“1884 has high standards, so it was incredibly hard work but we were pleased to have a keen opponent in IFP, who after attending and supporting us at our first Devil’s Kitchen two years ago decided to challenge us to a battle as it was so much fun, for the staff and the guests.”

James admitted to having been nervous about letting novices loose in a restaurant which has won local, regional and national dining awards to go with its Michelin and Good Food Guide listings, but he confirmed both teams were up to the task.

He said: “I was very nervous about what we would get but they took it very seriously, knuckled down and performed better than I imagined was possible. The 16 people who really had no experience whatsoever served our food at our level and did incredibly well. I was impressed with that and with the amount of money that they raised.”

Helen Binnie-Wise of Smile said: “Both teams worked tirelessly throughout the day to produce an outstanding three-course meal and wonderful atmosphere for their guests.

“We can’t thank 1884 enough for their support, for the first Devil’s Kitchen of 2017 we couldn’t have asked for anything better. The whole Smile team is looking forward to working with 1884 in the coming months.”