Led by Henry Osborn, who acts as head chef for D&D’s events and outdoor catering company Alexander & Björck, the group says it is utilising its UK restaurants with help from many of its furloughed staff.
D&D chefs, restaurant brigades, management and head office employees are all volunteering to prepare and deliver fresh meals daily to hospitals and NHS staff.
The group’s Butlers Wharf Chophouse and Radici restaurants in London are both being used as bases to prepare the meals, as is 20 Stories in Manchester.
With support from The Hildon Foundation, the meals are being delivered to frontline workers at West Middlesex Hospital; St Barts Hospital; St Johns Ambulance service; and Manchester Royal Infirmary.
In addition, the operation at Radici, led by chef patron Francesco Mazzei, is working with the #HelpThemHelpUs charity; a network founded and staffed by frontline NHS workers, Dr Dominic Pimenta and cx-Chelsea footballer Joe Cole.
The kitchen of D&D London’s Le Pont de la Tour is also being used by Michelin-starred chef Larry Jayasekara and his team, who are preparing and delivering hot meals daily to the frontline teams of University College Hospitals.
D&D London says it will be expanding its volunteering efforts across the UK, and to its US restaurant Queensyard, in New York, next week.
Another group that has this week pledged to support key workers with free meals is Martin Williams' M Restaurants and Gaucho.
Similarly to D&D, the group has partnered with The Hildon Foundation to deliver 1,000 meals per week to the London-based Guy's & St Thomas’, and Nightingale hospitals.
The M restaurant on Threadneedle Street in London is also set to host a complimentary ‘Appreciation Dinner’ for 200 NHS front line doctors and nurses and their partners in September. The partners of NHS staff who have lost their lives fighting the disease will also be invited.