THE BERKELEY: PRÊT À PORTEA FASHIONISTA AFTERNOON TEA

What better way to round off a birthday in the big smoke, than with a Fashionista inspired afternoon tea at The Berkeley?! As it happens, 2016 marked the 10 year anniversary of the fashionista tea and a special anniversary collection of treats were awaiting my taste buds.

Now, I’m not a connoisseur of afternoon teas but have always wanted to try one, however I’m not a fan of the traditional sandwiches, tea and scones. So when I saw the Prêt à Portea Afternoon Tea at The Berkeley, I was quite excited. I’ve always had an interest for the art of fashion and well when it comes to Manolo Blahnik’s, I’m only ever going to afford the ones you can eat in biscuit form!! It was going to be such a treat trying pastry chef, Mourad Khirat’s exquisitely designed confectionery.

Following our visit to The Shard and a spot of shopping, we arrived at The Berkeley in Knightsbridge to sample this quirky high end afternoon tea.  On a cold crisp December afternoon with hoards of pre-Christmas shoppers everywhere, it was calm all around as we entered the lobby of the hotel and right in front of us stood the roaring fire.

We were led to The Collins Room where the afternoon tea is served, however a party had over run their time-slot and we were guided through to the hotel’s Blue Bar, where we were served complimentary cocktails to compensate our wait.

The Blue bar opened back in 2000 and was refurbished last year to give it a contemporary chic vibe having been designed by David Collins studio. The low lighting provided the perfect environment for a couple of cocktails prepared by the skilful mixologists. Cocktails gain inspiration from the striking blue colour of the bar room and are segregated by a range of colours and strength: yellow, green, red and blue of course.  If you’re not into cocktails, fear not, there are over 50 whiskies, a large selection of champers and also some rare spirits which you can knock back with stylish canapés

Faced with the joy that we would soon be tucking into more cocktails and champagne and a n array of sweet and savoury delights, Dr C and I went for the warming Americoni, containing Woodford reserve Bourbon, white port, ginger and subtle festive spice.

With that warm chilled feel  of the Blue Bar and those cocktails, we made our way to our table in The Collins room for the much awaited Prêt à Portea afternoon Tea. The Collin’s room is a beautiful light and  airy contemporary styled dining room, being named after designer David Collins. The space along with the Blue bar was given a haul last year by David Collins’s Protégé, Robert Angell who partnered with British architects. There is a striking glass extension to the room which gives it that modern-day touch.

Dr C had booked us in for the Couture Champagne Prêt à Portea, which included a glass of one of the following, Laurent-Perrier Rosé, Bollinger Rosé or Ruinart blanc de blancs. Hmmm wonder what we went for…

We actually had another cocktail too, but we’ll just skip that and move onto the delights which just kept on coming.

My tea of choice was lemongrass and ginger and Dr C tried the blackcurrant and hibiscus. Just to mention the china was specially commissioned for The Berkeley’s Prêt à Portea afternoon tea and is available to buy if you want to take home a souvenir.

The perfectly sliced sandwich selection included egg and cress, roasted vegetable, chicken liver paté and smoked salmon.

Then it was time for the long-awaited cake-stand to come out with the cakes and sweet treats which have been inspired by the fashion world over the past 10 years.

Burberry’s classic trench coat chocolate biscuit with royal icing

Moschino’s blood orange Victoria sponge covered in red chocolate

Manolo Blahnik’s Hangisi pointed toe stiletto in a classic ginger biscuit and Charlotte Olympia’s cinnamon flavoured boot with red and black icing

Shoe inspiration

Simone Rocha’s embroidered tulle dress vanilla éclair filled with indulgent salted caramel crème patissière, Lanvin’s almond sponge with honeycomb and chocolate mousse topped with a delicate meringue ruffle and last but not least, Nicholas Kirkwood’s pearl pump sachertorte layered with raspberry. Th etorte is smothered in chocolate ganache and topped with pretty pearls.

Beautifully simple and classic, chocolate and sponge sponges

Jason Wu’s cherry bavarois and coconut cream topped with a pink skirt and biscuit heel (which fell off!).

The Jason Wu dress that inspired the dessert

Dolce & Gabbana’s blackcurrant bavarois and star anise pannacotta with a cute chocolate own

The inspiration behind ‘that’ blue dessert

 The Prêt à Portea afternoon tea was definitely a special experience filled with delicious delicately made sweets beautifully inspired by great fashion icons. I absolutely loved the whole experience. If I were to have a tiny gripe, it would  be that The Berkeley were aware of my birthday and a  ‘happy Birthday’ treat would have given the experience a little bit more of a personal touch. However, given the opportunity I would go back n a flash! 

 

Have you tried the Prêt à Portea Afternoon tea? Let me know what you thought of the experience below in the comments.

 

Our afternoon tea was the Couture Champagne Prêt à Portea, which included a glass of champagne, was priced at £70 per person and also included a cocktail with the sweet and savoury delights. An additional glass of champagne is £24. The afternoon tea also changes it’s menu every 6 months and evolves with the seasons, just as fashion does!

A reservation is necessary and gluten free/nut allergies/dietary requirements can be catered for if mentioned at the time of booking.

There are a number of sittings starting from 13:00 up to 17:30 daily and a smart casual dress code should be observed.

 

The Berkeley 

 Wilton Place

Knightsbridge 

London 

SW1X 7RL 

Tel: 020  7107 8866

More information regarding this seasonally changing tea at The Berkeley’s website

 

À Bientôt..

 

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