The London Restaurants Raising Funds For Turkey And Syria

In light of the recent news of devastating earthquakes across Syria and Turkey, London's restaurants and hospitality community have rallied to provide support. Here’s what restaurants are doing to help, and where you can support the initiatives. We’ll continue to update this guide as more initiatives are announced.

If you know about any more restaurant initiatives, please get in touch by emailing london@theinfatuation.com.

• Mangal II is bottling its warming chilli sauce and donating the profits to the Turkish Red Crescent charity. Head down to Stoke Newington and grab one (or several) to take away from the Turkish spot.  

• Combine a lunchtime trip to Zahter for a spread of mezze and smoked yogurt with a donation drop-off. The Anatolian restaurant is collecting supplies at their Soho restaurant. Bring warm blankets, winter clothes, and shoes to be delivered directly to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency. 

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

• A group of writers, activists, and cooks are coming together to hold a fundraiser bake sale on 26th February at Holloway Model Bakery. There’ll be raffles that include prizes like coffee subscriptions, hampers, cakes, vouchers, and dinners. Follow Melek Erdal, Melissa Thompson, Ixta Belfrage, and Ravneet Gill for more details.

• Mali Vegan Thai, a Thai restaurant in Earl's Court, is donating profits from its house special soft drinks, including mango iced tea and rosella iced tea, to the Red Cross up to 10th March.  

• Action Against Hunger UK will host a charity dinner and auction with London chefs and restaurants on 27th February. It’ll be held at Darby’s in Vauxhall and all proceeds raised from the evening will go towards reestablishing clean water, setting up mother-baby friendly spaces, and providing mental health support to those affected by the earthquakes. Find more details here.

• #Bake For Syria, the cookbook filled with Syrian-inspired bakes and desserts was published in 2018, and is still on sale, with proceeds donated to UNICEF UK's Syria appeal. It was curated by Hackney baker Lily Vanilli, Clerkenwell Boy, and Serena Guen. Host a bake sale of your own and donate the profits to the earthquake relief effort to keep the support coming.

• Top east London chefs are coming together on 27th February for a fundraising feast. The event will be held at Berber & Q in Haggerston and includes dinner and a prize draw. Chefs from Manteca, Bubala, Supa Ya Ramen, and Scully will be cooking dishes like tofu whip with smoked chicken butter and BBQ kebabs with pumpkin seed miso. Tickets are £100 and all proceeds will go to Choose Love.