We’re partial to a cup of tea and an oversized piece of cake here at BOTI, so when we heard something new was brewing in the city, we wanted you to be the first to know about it, naturally. The team at the award-winning plant-based restaurant Food for Friends have teamed up with tea experts Pure Leaf to launch a new tea-pairing menu and we can’t wait to try it.
Available for the next six months, head chef Maria Hellin Rico and tea expert Joyce Muendo have created a bespoke menu that features all sorts of savoury flavour fusions to tickle your taste buds. Move over Victoria sponge, it’s time to pair tea with something different instead.
Dishes include such delicious combinations as raw beetroot ravioli and nut cheese (vegan, of course) paired with Pure Leaf black tea with berries. They told us that “the sunset red hues of the tea and the ‘berriness’ in the taste and aroma are perfect with the beetroot base of this dish” and quite frankly, we believe them. You can also expect to find harissa-roasted baby carrots and baba ganoush paired with Pure Leaf chai tea – the spicy ginger in the tea marries with the carrots to create a match made in heaven.
It’s not the first time a top chef in the city has used tea to infuse flavour into dishes, as it’s something Minesh Agnihotri, founder of The Kari Club, does a lot of in his traditional Indian cooking. Founder of Brighton restaurant Indian Summer, Minesh launched his new Indian recipe box earlier this year, giving people the opportunity to explore authentic Indian cooking in their own homes. And boy, is it good. Each month, he creates a new recipe as part of his subscription box catalogue, which includes everything to make a delicious meal for one, two or four people – even measured-out spices that you won’t find on high street and ingredients from producers that also supply to some of London’s best Indian restaurants. We love it – restaurant-quality produce we can cook, at home, in our pyjamas (if you’re that way inclined).
In June’s box, Minesh used The Tea Leaf Company‘s mint and black tea in the marinade for the chicken, combining it with roasted spices to give it a unique flavour and finish. The locally made tea is a single-estate tea from Nagaland and made just along the coast in Shoreham. Minesh will be teaming up with The Tea Leaf Company for a pop-up in August, so we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear about it.
In the meantime, get yourself down to Food for Friends and enjoy a tea-total dining experience in the city, discovering some of the latest vegetarian food trends and their tea taste notes to match.
Available until Tuesday 4th December; £60 for 2 people
Food for Friends, 17-18 Prince Albert St, Brighton, BN1 1HF
foodforfriends.com
Photo credit: Restaurants Brighton (The Kari Club)
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