On Tuesday 8 September, Love Tilly Group is putting rivalry aside for a night and getting its best chefs into one kitchen, cooking together for something bigger than any single menu. The occasion is the group’s annual charity dinner in support of RU OK?, the national suicide prevention charity, held this year at neighbourhood pasta bar Fabbrica Darlinghurst.
It’s a genuinely rare lineup. Chefs from across the group’s venues, Love, Tilly Devine, Letra House, Palazzo Salato, Ragazzi, Dear Sainte Eloise and Fabbrica itself, are putting aside their individual kitchens for one night to cook side by side, under the direction of Culinary Director Scott McComas-Williams. The result is a single, sprawling set menu that plays like a greatest hits tour of the group’s most-loved dishes, moving guests through Fabbrica’s three distinct dining spaces as the night unfolds.
The Menu, and the Night It’s Built Around
The evening starts upstairs, in Fabbrica’s private dining room and sunroom, with a standing-and-mingling first act designed to get strangers talking before the plates even arrive. Guests will start with a trio of bites from Love, Tilly Devine and Letra House: gildas, duck liver parfait brandy snaps and croquetas, the kind of food built for holding in one hand while shaking another.
From there, it’s downstairs to the ground floor’s long communal table, where the savoury courses lean into their name. Palazzo Salato brings ham, colatura hot sauce and focaccia, alongside stracciatella with Cantabrian anchovies and pangrattato, while Fabbrica contributes its famed filled zucchini flowers. Next comes a pasta course from Ragazzi, lumache with spanner crab, fermented chilli butter and sea blight, followed by the return of a dish more than a few Sydney diners have been quietly mourning: Dear Sainte Eloise’s steak frites, back for one night only. If you know, you know.
To close, guests move to the main dining room, gathering around the benchtop island for scoops of Fabbrica’s tiramisu, given a special twist just for the occasion.
Tickets are $100, held across two sittings, with all proceeds going directly to RU OK?. Additional drinks from Fabbrica’s list will be available to purchase on the night.
More Than What’s on the Menu
Behind the multi-course indulgence is a cause the hospitality industry knows intimately. Co-founder Matthew Swieboda is candid about why the group keeps returning to this event each year: “We recognise that depression, stress, anxiety and addiction are still far too common in our industry. Events like this give us the opportunity to increase the awareness of these issues, while celebrating the way that good hospitality brings people together.”
McComas-Williams echoes the sentiment, pointing to how widely mental health touches the people behind the pass. “I think it’s fair to say everyone in our industry has been affected in some way by mental health, so I couldn’t be more supportive of this great cause,” he says. “It’s so important to take the stigma away from asking how your friend, colleague, or even a stranger, is really going, and I’m stoked to do our bit to raise awareness for RU OK?’s great work. This is an event I look forward to every year, and I am proud of the Love Tilly Group team for donating their time and skills once again in 2026.”
RU OK? exists to remind people that a simple question, asked and meant sincerely, can be the start of a life-changing conversation. This dinner is one very good excuse to ask it, over the best dishes seven of Sydney’s most-loved kitchens have to offer.
Love Tilly Group’s charity dinner for RU OK? takes place Tuesday 8 September at Fabbrica Darlinghurst, tickets $100, held across two sittings. Booking can be made here.
This piece touches on suicide prevention and mental health. If you or someone you know needs support, Lifeline is available on 13 11 14, and more information and conversation tips can be found at www.ruok.org.au.
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