Okura’s benefit evening for Japan yields € 202,062

The culinary benefit evening organized by Hotel Okura on Friday has yielded €202,062, far exceeding the expected amount of € 100,000.

Showpiece of the auction

Especially for the occasion, Okura’s chefs worked together to prepare a four-course dinner for more than 480 attendants. In the course of the evening, a raffle and an auction were also held. The highlight of the auction was a culinary trip for two people to Franschhoek, South Africa, which was sold for more than €16,000.

Red cross 

The proceeds of the evening will go in full to the Holland Helps Japan Foundation of the Red Cross, and will be used for building temporary shelter as well as supplying medical and psycho-social aid, water, food and blankets to the hundreds of thousands of evacuees that are still staying at reception centres.

Chefs working together

The four-course dinner was partially prepared by Okura’s chefs in the Grand Ballroom itself, right before the eyes of hundreds of guests. The starter, by Japanese star chef Masanori Tomikawa, was followed by an intermediate course by Onno Kokmeijer, chef of star restaurant Ciel Bleu. Ronald Oud, chef of the Main Kitchen, was responsible for the main course, after which dessert was presented by chef Marc van der Tang of the new Serre Restaurant and pastry chef Iiro Heinila. All the ingredients used, including the sake and the wines, were donated free of charge by Okura’s suppliers.

Staff's initiative

The originally Japanese Hotel Okura Amsterdam, which has some 120 Japanese employees, managed to organize this week within two and a half weeks. Acting General Manager Emmy Stoel points out: “Organising this evening was an initiative of both our Japanese and our Dutch employees. They wanted to show their sympathy through this event and assist where possible