On a warm night earlier this summer, a tightly curated group of people gathered in a townhouse in New York’s Flatiron District. We were there to celebrate chef Mattia Agazzi of Gucci Osteria Beverly Hills and chef Stefano Secchi, who were undertaking a two-night collaborative dinner at the charming Italian restaurant Rezdôra, where Secchi is the regular chef. From vivid tricolored risotto to stuffed guinea hen with porcini, pancetta, and leeks, the dinner felt like an exclusive party that mixed the art of performance and joy with gastronomy, rather than just a typical sit-down meal.
“We usually do half of the menu over taste memories that we have and for the other half, we literally just go to the farmer s market and then just talk through things,” says Secchi about the process of his collaborative dinners that he recently started doing with other chefs from different regions of Italy. In fact, Rezdôra has done many collaborative dinners (both stateside and in Italy) all with the theme of highlighting different regions across Italy, including Piemonte, Campania, Emilia Romagna–with tickets available to purchase by the public. Prior to Secchi and Agazzi joining forces in New York, Secchi came to L.A. to collaborate with Agazzi at Gucci Osteria Beverly Hills, where he is head chef.
And yet, Secchi and Agazzi are not the only ones delving into the collaborative dinner as party space. Earlier this spring, the accessories brand Susan Alexandra joined forces with the Jewish Food Society for a beautifully inclusive seder dinner that brought chefs Sasha Shor, Rinat Tzadok, and Fany Gerson together. With pickle martinis and jewelry matzah charms for all guests, it was not your typical dinner—it was very much centered on collaboration from the chefs and an exploration of culture. “So much good can come from sitting down and talking to people and being in the same space as people, and I think that s just what this is,” Susan Alexandra founder Susan Korn said at the time.
Likewise, this spring, the model and cook Pierce Abernathy announced his second annual Pierce Spring Tour, a series of pop-ups around Brooklyn supporting local farms and community initiatives such as Gaza Mutual Aid Society. Abernathy collaborated with Palestinian-American chef Nadia Irshaid Gilbert for two nights at Winona’s in Brooklyn, with a Palestinian and Armenian-inspired menu. These kinds of dinners mix different chefs together and typically are accessible to the public if they buy a ticket. They sell out fast and take place at one table, encouraging strangers to chat.
Chef-led dinner parties have always been popular, of course—especially in a city like New York. But these newer collaborative dinners are taking things beyond the typical kitchen into a conversation that transcends food. As with Agazzi and Secchi’s recent collaboration, beyond all the fragrant dishes and inspired conversation, the main goal is to encourage creativity and to bring something totally unexpected to the table. Think: that time one of the guest chefs brought a saffron from Italy and Secchi decided to mix it with beets from the Union Square farmer’s market. Or when a different chef used rhubarb instead of beef for a reduction. “The surprise dishes come out of nowhere all the time,” Secchi says.
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Likewise, for Agazzi, “it’s impossible to grow beyond the confines of your own personal bubble, without the help of others; me and my team are constantly evolving and optimizing, but it’s imperative for us to step outside of our own four walls in order to truly learn. Many believe that there’s an innate sense of competition among chefs; whether or not that notion is true, I encourage all chefs to challenge it, and to collaborate whenever possible as a path to growth and evolution.” Up next, Secchi is collaborating with Chef Antonio Acquaviva for a Puglia-inspired menu, in mid-August 2024.
Likewise, the pastry chef Eunji Lee has been experimenting with collaborative-style dinners—albeit in the form of tasting menus composed entirely of luscious desserts. Her most recent collaboration took place with chef Thibault Hauchard, from Claridge’s in London, themed all around “Teatime from London to New York.” The result? Six courses of dessert from two chefs with very different takes. Last year, Lee did a handful of collaborative dessert dinners too.
“I m very enthusiastic and passionate to get to know new things or have some experiences that I’ve never had,” she says. “I love the creation and I love to receive and host the chefs and their team from different countries and different cities and also share the discussion, the experiences, the ideas, and thoughts. It always makes me very excited.” For a place like Lysée that fans may primarily experience through take-out pastry, a collaboration like this creates a new dynamic way to taste the creations–and even more than that, it’s an experience that can be shared with friends or new people.
Maybe the collaborative dinners of today are about more than meets the eye (or, indeed, the mouth). At a time when the world has never been more divided, there’s something incredibly soothing and stimulating about bringing very different people—and cultures, tastes, and references—together to consume in a deeply personal way. We can all raise a glass to that.