When Chris Brown lost his family's distinguished Distillery restaurant, Perigee, to the recession, he was devastated. "It was like losing a love," he said of the restaurant which, famous for its saucy takes on French classics, closed in April.

But Mr. Brown, 31, had another kinship to fall back on: an atypical foodie fraternity he's been cultivating through the charity dinner series Cross Town Kitchens. Five times a year, a gang of young chefs forgo ego to cook local feasts in each other's kitchens. The chefs sell seats to the special dinners, held at a different restaurant each time, and proceeds go to The Stop Community Food Centre.

Some two years since the first cross-pollinated meal (held at Perigee), Mr. Brown brings it full circle this week. Tonight he hosts the biggest Cross Town dinner yet in his new role as chef fundraiser for The Stop, which provides food and educational resources to the community. The culmination of this year's pro bono banquets (which have raised $12,000 to date), the meal marks the first at The Stop's own learning site, the Green Barn, and the growth of a whole new movement in foodie philanthropy.

Toronto is no stranger to gastronomic goodwill. The city is stacked with chefs who get behind a cause at hundreds of food fundraisers every year, says Maggie Leithead, the president of national non-profit network Charity Village.

But long-time charity champion Jamie Kennedy sees new conviction amidst the city's up-and-comers. "The next generation, this new vanguard of restaurant operators and chefs, is united in their commitment to local food," he says, and they're taking the movement to its logical conclusion.

The Drake's Anthony Rose teaches cooking classes at schools such as Winchester, in Cabbagetown. Mr. Brown also takes up the "teach a man to fish" adage with The Stop's hands-on dinner series debuting July 16, at which volunteer cooks pick up tips from the chef's Perigee days.

For the new wave, it's as much about reaction as social action. They cut their teeth - and fingers - in the culture of "every epicure for himself." "Growing up in this industry, the cooks would compete. It was all about the restaurant where you were cooking," Mr. Brown says. Starved for camaraderie, young bloods from five restaurants - Amuse-Bouche, C5, Marben, Perigee and Torito - forged cross-kitchen partnerships to make a statement about the scene. "It's like a reaction to the old guard. We wanted to get away from the old stereotypes - big egos who yell and it's all about them," says Ted Corrado, 35, who trained under Guy Rubino (Rain) and Lorenzo Loseto (George) before taking the helm at C5.
It's the mentality of a generation that cooked in the trenches together as sous-chefs, explains Sarah Lyons, who worked with partners Bertrand Alépée and Jason Inniss under Marc Thuet at The Fifth before striking out on their own with Amuse-Bouche in 2005.
Like Mr. Corrado, the trio tackles three outreach events a week during the peak spring season.

For Mr. Brown, The Stop now feels like home. And it doesn't end there: "There are a lot of young chefs who want a community. Now we just have to get the whole city involved."