Jay Rayner teams up with Ravinder Bhogal for one-off Indian-inspired feast

The pan is mightier than the pen. On October 8, esteemed food critic Jay Rayner will swap his customary seat at the city’s top tables for a spot in the kitchen at a one-off evening at Jikoni in Marylebone, The Cook & the Critic.

It’s all for a good cause: he’ll be working with Gordon Ramsay protégée and Jikoni supremo Ravinder Bhogal to cook a feast in aid of Action Against Hunger’s Healthy Mums Healthy Kids appeal, which aims to help malnourished children survive and grow up healthily.

“As someone who works in an industry where food is about pleasure and enjoyment I feel hunger is a most compelling issue, and we as food professionals have a duty to respond to it in any way we can,” says Bhogal, whose restaurant will also be celebrating its first birthday. A six-course menu will feature dishes that reflect Bhogal’s distinctive cooking style, drawing on her heritage and travels with flavours from Britain, East Africa, the Middle East and Asia, crafted with the help of Rayner’s expert palette. Think duck and pistachio dumplings and tahini parfait, honeyed quince and pistachio crisp.

As for Rayner, he’s looking forward to the challenge — although he admits it’s out of his comfort zone. “In the years that I have been friends with Ravinder I have watched her grow from a fabulous amateur cook to a brilliant professional, with an utterly unique and delicious style,” he says.

“It’s both an honour and slightly terrifying to be working alongside her in aide of such a brilliant cause.”

£88.40 for six courses and a glass of champagne, tickets from eventbrite.co.uk, jikonilondon.com