By Marie-Antoinette Issa.
There’s something profoundly powerful about a shared meal. It nourishes, connects, comforts - and, sometimes, it can even change lives.
This July, award-winning Chef Alanna Sapwell-Stone will bring that spirit to the table at LOAM at Ace Hotel Sydney, leading the next instalment of the Two Good Co x Chef Dinner Series.
Blending culinary craft with heartfelt care, her one-night-only menu isn’t just about feeding guests - it’s about fuelling a movement that supports women rebuilding their lives after trauma.
Slated for Wednesday, July 30, the evening marks the fourth iteration of the social enterprise’s popular dinner series with LOAM. Tickets ($110 pp) for the initiative will include a multi-course menu by Alanna, wine pairings from natural wine label Balmy Nights and a direct donation to help Two Good Co continue its work supporting women rebuilding their lives after domestic violence, homelessness or trauma.
Since launching in 2023 alongside Two Good’s third cookbook ‘Change The Course’, the series has celebrated a single, powerful idea: to "do more with less.” Each dinner invites a leading Australian Chef to interpret that theme in their own way.
For Alanna - known for her refined-yet-honest style across kitchens like Saint Peter, ARC Dining and the Eltham Hotel - the concept came naturally.
"Food has always been my way of connecting with people,” she says. "At The Eltham, we started doing weekly members’ nights - simple, affordable meals that brought the community together. This menu is an elevated take on that idea: nostalgic, comforting food that shows how much you can do with so little.”
The three-course menu will spotlight dishes designed to soothe and surprise: cauliflower soup with curried Welsh rarebit; an elevated German-style meatloaf with peas and potatoes; and a warming apple and rhubarb strudel with bay leaf custard for dessert.
Throughout August, LOAM will continue to feature the strudel as a monthly special, with $2 from each dish sold donated directly to Two Good.
It’s this beautiful intersection - where good food meets good intentions - that’s made the series such a standout in Sydney’s culinary calendar.
"Alanna is a champion of honest, thoughtful cooking,” says Two Good founder Rob Caslick. "Her food is nostalgic, comforting and full of heart. That spirit of care and connection is exactly what this series is all about.”
Founded in Sydney in 2016, Two Good Co has grown from a humble soup kitchen to a national social enterprise, delivering more than 290,000 meals to women’s shelters and employing women with lived experience through their kitchens, cafes and Work Work program.
More than $2.4 million in wages has been paid through its employment pathways - a statistic that speaks to the ripple effect of food made with purpose.
Then there’s the setting. LOAM, the ground-floor restaurant at Ace Hotel Sydney, is the perfect canvas for these intimate evenings. Known for its produce-forward, regionally sourced menus, LOAM’s warmth and sense of community mirror Two Good’s ethos. There’s nothing overly precious here - just good food made with care, served with meaning.
Previous dinners have seen beloved names like Julia Busuttil Nishimura, Christine Manfield and Danielle Alvarez grace the LOAM kitchen, Alanna’s upcoming dinner promises to be just as memorable and perhaps more poignant - a reminder that comfort food can be powerful, and that small acts, like sitting down to a shared meal, can be quietly revolutionary.
Tickets to the latest Two Good Co x Chef Dinner Series, featuring Alanna Sapwell-Stone at LOAM at Ace Hotel Sydney, are on sale now.
