At modern bistro Caia in Notting Hill, the relatively new executive chef, formerly of Noma and surreal dining concept The Tent At The End of the World, is putting on a monthly event named Chefmaxxing, which will see him collaborate with peers from London and further afield for an evening of creative cooking.
Sure, the name’s questionable, but the chefs who’ll be decamping to Caia are anything but. First up is French Masterchef star Valentin Raffali of Paris’ much-lauded, newly reopened hotel/restaurant/club, Bus Palladium, on November 16. He’ll be serving six dishes à la carte, including a fairly medieval looking one named Drunken Pigeon which is a French take on the Chinese classic Shanghainese drunken chicken.
Javier explains: 'Having worked in kitchens around the world, I've built relationships with some incredibly talented chefs, and this is an opportunity to bring those people together. We’ll also be featuring a bunch of my close friends who don’t get the chance to cook in west London all that often.”
The menu will also be served on November 23 and 30. Raffali will then be followed by Rochelle Canteen’s Hector Henderson on December 7 and Halaigh Whelan-McManus of Rikkes Hage (formerly of three-Michelin-starred Maaemo) in Oslo in January. Further into 2027, there will be collaborations with former Kiln head chef Karla Knowles, Jesse Jenkins aka @adip_food, Ed McIlroy of Four Legs, Josh Dallaway of Tasca, Nick Bramham of Quality Wines, Sertaç Dirik of Kid, Seb Myers of Planque, Magnus Reid, who founded Hackney restaurant Legs, and the trio behind Nudo, Edoardo Fiaschi, José Conde and Jessica Natali.
“I want Caia to be a place where chefs can come and express themselves, share their food and introduce our guests to different cultures, flavours and perspectives,” says Javier. “It's about exchanging ideas, learning from each other and having fun in the kitchen. Most importantly, I want to create something that feels spontaneous, exciting and different every time.”
So far, the only room for improvement we can see is the introduction of a few more female chefs.
Bookings are open now.
