British Local Food

Summer afternoon tea at Hotel La Tour Birmingham

Aug 16th, 2013 by Alvaro @ British Local Food

I have previously been at Hotel La Tour to enjoy Future Foodies festival in June and I was amazed at the high quality of this independent hotel in Birmingham. Two months later, I was delighted after being invited to try the new Summer afternoon tea in their Alvar Bar.

The hotel is a very striking, exclusive and trendy place with a nice modern-classic style décor and high class furniture ideal for business meetings, professionals and special occasions. It is conveniently located right in the middle of town, close to the Bullring shopping centre and well communicated by plenty of buses and two train stations.

Walking across the large lobby and going up through a beautiful spiral staircase, you end up in the first floor where Alvar Bar is located, next to the Marcus Wareing inspired Aalto restaurant. The bar area itself is a very comfortable and pleasant space with an array of sofas, oversized lamps and luxury furniture.

Top chart songs turned into piano versions were played as background music, being either very exciting or a real nightmare depending on the person’s opinion but certainly representing the hotel’s modern-classic image.

We were greeted by the maître and lead to our table next to the impressive piano. The new summer menu includes cooler ice tea, a selection of homemade sandwiches, scones and assorted desserts. Special cocktails are offered as a complement.

Cooler teas include ice and fresh summery flavours, like cranberry & orange or raspberry & elderflower among others. I opted for the second, being very nice and perfect to match the food, meanwhile my partner chose an English breakfast cooler tea, quite a bit citrusy to her taste. Classic flavours and coffee were also available.

The individual serving plates were added to the three tier frame one by one meanwhile the waiter described the content in the afternoon tea.

The first layer contained a selection of sans-crust finger sandwiches and a surprising Welsh rarebit with a modern twist served in a pot with crunchy bread sticks that proved to be scrumptious for the palate.

The homemade sandwiches included coronation chicken, ham & tomato, cucumber & mint and smoked salmon with cream cheese. I only tried the tasty salmon sandwich and the refreshing cucumber one, as I don’t like mayonnaise and alternatives offered didn’t show up but my partner said the other ones were nice.

The second layer contained both crumbly plain and fruit scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream, which is always the centre of the ceremony.

On the bottom there were impressive assorted little desserts. The selection included a blackberry jammie dodger, lemon sponge with lime butter icing, strawberry macaroon and panacotta, berries & cucumber jelly. I personally loved the macaroon and I think it had a perfect texture, it tasted more like a brownie though, meanwhile the panacotta was a surprisingly good combination using sweet for cucumber. The sponge was superb, far better than I expected, with a very pleasant citrusy flavour.

We also tried their new Royal summer cocktail ‘The Little Prince’, honouring the new Prince George. It is made with gin, passion fruit vodka and syrup and a pasteurised egg white to thicken, all mixed together in a cocktail shaker. The result is an interesting tropical blend very refreshing for the summer.

We spent a lovely afternoon and we ended up stuffed by the end of our tea. I would definitely recommend a visit to Hotel La Tour as an experience to enjoy their magnificent interiors and of course, their superb food. I’m looking forward to going back there again.

* Special offer for British Local Food readers: Try afternoon tea at Hotel La Tour this August 2013, mention this blog and get yourself a free glass of fizz. *

Disclosure: We have been invited by Hotel La Tour to review their new summer afternoon tea.

Posted in Midlands-England | 2 Comments »

Glossop, the gateway to the Peak District National Park

Aug 4th, 2013 by Alvaro @ British Local Food

In my last trip to Manchester, I escaped to the Peak District one day in order to breathe some fresh air in the valley. I chose my destiny almost pointing out the map randomly to get the chance to go to a very unspoiled place and believe it or not, it turned out to be one of the most beautiful towns I have been in England.

Glossop is a market town in Derbyshire, 15 miles from Manchester and just on the edge of the Peak District, surrounded by hills and high moors. The town is featured by its sandstone architecture constructed of the local material and the majesty of its buildings, making the place really authentic.

The town emerged as a centre of wool processing when the abundant supply of fast flowing water ensured the place in the late 18^th century; then Glossop rapidly expanded and became an important centre of the cotton industry, increasing substantially the size and population.

The decline of cotton spinning in the 20^th century resulted in the closure of many of the town’s mills and nowadays it’s an important focus in tourism as being located in the Peak District.

Glossop is still a thriving and beautiful town since it retains many of its historical features and thanks to the great sights that offers the amazing landscape and strategic location in the National Park. The place includes picturesque stone cottages, an old medieval market and beautiful award-winning parks: Manor Park and Howard Park.

Probably one of the most surprising things in the town was the exceptional number of independent shops in the high street with not too many franchises. It means you can spot easily the artisan local butchers, fishmongers, booksellers and craft shops. Therefore, is home to a number of award winning local producers offering quality meat, seafood or beer, not to mention the places to eat in their cosy pubs and restaurants. They all still resemble the old local shops and pubs opened in Victorian times.

Glossop is a much recommended place to visit, especially if you live in Manchester, taking some days off to relax and do the shopping with their magnificent local produce.

Tags: Derbyshire, Glossop, High Peak, Manchester, Peak District

Posted in North-England | 2 Comments »

Afternoon Tea at Aria Restaurant, Hyatt Regency Birmingham

Jul 22nd, 2013 by Alvaro @ British Local Food

I know I usually talk about independent shops and restaurants but this occasion was special for me. We had a birthday to celebrate, so decided to do something special for that day. There is no better way than drinking tea and eating lovely and tasty bites in a very relaxing atmosphere.

There was an excitement stepping into the Hyatt, as this is a very emblematic modern building in the city of Birmingham. The hotel was beautiful inside, the meal and tea were delicious and beautifully presented and the staff impressively attentive.

I have written a review about the afternoon tea at Hyatt Regency Birmingham for Dine Birmingham, a guide to the best restaurants and bars in Birmingham.

Hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Read full review here

Tags: Aria Restaurant, Birmingham, Hyatt Regency, luxury hotel

Posted in Midlands-England | 4 Comments »

British Carrot, a favourite in our kitchen

Jul 7th, 2013 by Alvaro @ British Local Food

Carrots are one of the most popular vegetables in the UK, with 75% of Brits eating carrots regularly. Our supermarkets sell most of the produce home grown all year round and they are high in fibre. No wonder carrots are the nation’s favourite vegetable.

It is thought that the carrot wild ancestors first came from the Middle East about 1100 years ago and were originally yellow, red, white and purple, with a slightly bitter taste. They were introduced by the Moors to Europe in the Middle Ages and originated the nowadays orange carrot in 16^th century Holland from hybridised varietals, to reduce bitterness, increase sweetness and minimise the woody core.

Carrots were predominantly a summer vegetable but now they are harvested for nearly 12 months of the year. They are in season between June and August and you can find carrots are sweeter, tenderer and full of flavour. In the autumn, carrot farmers put their crop “to bed” for the winter months by covering them to protect them from the frost.

The most traditional regions in Britain were carrots are grown are the East of the country on the Norfolk Sands and the Fens region and up on the Lancaster peats, although each region takes advantage of their climate and features to produce their carrots, being Nottinghamshire and Scotland nowadays also important harvesting areas.

The carrot was one of the most available vegetables at the time of rationing during the Second World War, when the children enjoyed carrot sweets instead of lollies. Plenty of recipes were tried to make the carrot more palatable as “mock” recipes replacing other scarce ingredients.

Nowadays, mostly boiled, steamed and roast, is seen as a side dish. But carrots are a vegetable extremely versatile, delicious either raw or cooked. Their delicate flavour can be complimented with a little butter, orange zest, cumin, tarragon or thyme.

They are delicious simply eaten in salads or prepared in soups, mash and curries. You can even use them sweet in desserts, like the traditional carrot cake and other Asian sweets.

I really encourage you to explore all the possibilities it offers in the kitchen and want to emphasize there are plenty of different varieties and colours to try, far from the traditional orange friend!

Tags: carrot, rationing, vegetable

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

#Future Foodies at Hotel La Tour in Birmingham

Jun 29th, 2013 by Alvaro @ British Local Food

The event, organised by Dine Birmingham with Yelp, Visit Birmingham, MFB and The Gastro Card, was set up to be one of the highlights of the foodie year in the Second City. Named “Birmingham’s First Social Media Food Fair”, the event aimed to bring together both local producers and social media users.

Birmingham’s foodie scene has emerged over the last few years, featuring the cultural variety of cuisines available, now being promoted as a fine food destination. The organisers managed to join the best in Brum together thanks to their reliance on social media opinions.

The venue for the fair was the modern Hotel La Tour, in Birmingham’s developing Eastside district. It was extremely busy and queues were formed to enter the site. Hundreds of hungry visitors expected to sample the best food and drink in Birmingham.

The starters for the evening were a citrusy cocktail from LeTruc and a piece of Ubuntu handmade bread, with several tasty varieties on offer. Lewis’s of Moseley offered a wide range of high quality products from Europe and the Manchego cheese was superb. He also offered lemon meringue, gazpacho, chili and harissa houmous and pork pies. The owner proved to be a great foodie and a very knowledgeable person, interested in the best European delicacies.

Once my taste buds warmed up from the pleasant starters, I moved into mains to explore the festival. Again Le Truc French bistro offered several superb canapes: steak tartare, goat cheese with walnut & radish and salmon & goat cheese. Heart of England showcased many of their products on offer, meanwhile Punjabi Rasoi and Wrapchic offered their exotic and spicy food with long queues to taste their food.

The street food representation was the biggest surprise, as I am not usually very keen in this modality. The Jabberwocky let me taste the best sandwich I have ever tasted in my life, with locally sourced meat, pickle, and a scrumptious mix of stilton and piccalilli sauce. On the other hand, Platinum Pancakes gave us to sample their really soft and delicate pancakes, with peanut sauce, everything made with local ingredients again.

There were several drink options in the festival. Aston based Beer Geek Brewery, Aston Manor Cider, BYWine and The Birmingham Whisky Club, which offered some nice whiskies to the palate.

Last but not least, desserts were the most elaborated part of the event in my opinion. Cupkakery and Devenish Girl offered very unusual and delicious cupcakes. Think gin, candied bacon or pineapple-chilli flavours. La Tour’s own Aalto restaurant also offered a wide range of sweets, featuring their white chocolate fudge and rose Turkish Delight, heaven!

Miss Macaroon gave us the chance to taste her beautiful sweets and Miss Apple introduced us to the Brazilian brigadeiros, truffle-like traditional sweets that are an explosion of flavour. Pistachio was the winner, not to mention the chocolate or coconut ones. This time she also brought delicious brigadeiro cream, with caipirinha and Irish cream flavour among others.

I thoroughly enjoyed the event and hope for more editions to enjoy the best food in Birmingham, which proved to deliver a high standard, adding to my list a few more places to try out and blog over the next months.

Click here for more pics: Facebook page

Tags: Birmingham, FutureFoodies, La Tour

Posted in Midlands-England | 3 Comments »

Older Posts »

Summer afternoon tea at Hotel La Tour Birmingham

Glossop, the gateway to the Peak District National Park

Afternoon Tea at Aria Restaurant, Hyatt Regency Birmingham

British Carrot, a favourite in our kitchen

#Future Foodies at Hotel La Tour in Birmingham

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