Too many cooks may have once spoiled the broth but according to the world’s leading chefs, that’s old news.
Hence the four-hands dinner, a dining experience that involves two chefs working together to create a special menu for a limited period. This summer has seen a bumper load, a highlight of which was Anne-Sophie Pic joining Marcel Ravin at Blue Bay in Monaco. And although this is by no means a new concept — back in 2008, Thomas Keller and Grant Achatz collaborated on what may well have been the culinary event of the decade — this fall it’s in danger of jumping the shark.
Until it does, however, the four-hands dinner remains a boon for diners, providing (at a considerable mark-up) a culinary experience and bragging rights in one. But according to Howard Chang, owner of NYC’s L’Abeille, which hosts these gastronomic pile-ons, “The dinners also offer huge benefits for our service team. They allow chefs to learn easily from each other, in a familiar environment. It’s an exchange of skills for all involved.”
Dates for the diary
Écriture meets La Bastide, Bonnieux, France
On August 28, old friends Noël Bérard and Maxime Gilbert will reunite in the picturesque South of France at La Bastide de Capelongue’s Michelin-starred restaurant. The pair worked together at the much-lauded Écriture as well as Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong; now, Gilbert assumes the kitchens at Mandarin Oriental Paris, while Bérard runs La Bastide’s culinary program. Their shared seven-course memory will pay tribute to their shared and separate careers.
Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester x Moor Hall, London
In a culinary collision of two UK heavyweights, on September 9, Mark Birchall — of the recently three-Michelin-starred Moor Hall — will head to London to join chef patron at the also-three-Michelin-starred Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Jean-Philippe Blondet, for a one-off collab. The menu will celebrate the best of Britain — and Mr Ducasse himself has promised to be in the kitchen to oversee proceedings.
Tomfoolery, Muse, London
Four-hands dinners needn’t be too chin-stroking. Tom Aiken’s ongoing Tomfoolery series sees him simply inviting his namesakes into his kitchen. Since last spring, Aikens has had Toms Booton, Phillips and Kerridge in residence at his Michelin-starred Muse. More Toms (Banks, Shepherd and Kitchin) are due this fall.
Osip Collaborates: Japan, Bruton, UK
Following the success of the first two joint ventures in this series (Tetsuro Maeda in April; Endo Kazutoshi in June), chef Merlin Labron-Johnson is once again inviting two Japanese heavyweights into the kitchens of his Somerset restaurant, Osip. Atsushi Tanaka, of AT in Paris, is in residence on September 15, 2025; Kanji Kobayashi, of Villa Aida in Wakayama, Japan, will be visiting on December 8.
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L’abeille x Le Gabriel, New York
No stranger to four-hands dinners (Michel Roux Jr is visiting in mid-September and Chet Sharma was over during the summer), L’Abeille’s executive chef Mitsunobu Nagae will also welcome Jérôme Banctel of Paris’s three-Michelin-starred Le Gabriel in late October. Expect an impressive mix of French-inspired dishes from both sides of the pond.
