Meet the Head Chef......Dominic Teague

Hello there,

A couple of weeks ago Lorna and I had the pleasure of meeting Head Chef Dominic Teague at One Aldwych hotel at a wonderful afternoon tea masterclass at the hotel. Chef Dominic begun his career in food as an apprentice at the Lanesborough Hotel, moving to several different restaurants around the world before starting at Marco Pierre White's L'Escargot in 2000. Here is held several different positions, including Executive Chef. Dominic has also been Head Chef at Andaz Hotels by Hyatt and has led the kitchen at the Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados.

Chef Dominic joined One Aldwych in June 2012. It was brilliant to spend a morning with Dominic, who was friendly and very reassuring as he led the group through several classic afternoon tea recipes.

Chef Dominic Teague
Photo from One Aldwych Website

During the times when we weren't concentrating in the kitchen, Dominic chatted happily with the group, telling us about his career and the popularity of the afternoon tea at One Aldwych.

Dominic is responsible for the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory inspired afternoon tea that was launched at One Aldwych last year. The tea has been incredibly popular and each week the Lobby Bar is full of people sampling golden eggs and scrummy candy floss. Tea With Me and Friends enjoyed this fab tea last summer, take a peek here to see what we enjoyed!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Afternoon Tea
One Aldwych

Dominic admitted to sampling a couple of different afternoon teas in London before launching the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory inspired tea, he went been back to The Lanesborough for their afternoon tea and also  indulged in a Pret a Portea at The Berkeley. He is a strong believer that an afternoon tea must look good, but also taste good too - no style over substance here!

Chef Dominic carefully sources the foods that appear on all the menus at One Aldwych, and this includes items that are foraged especially for the hotel. His food philosophy is simple - he just wants to include the best ingredients when cooking. This was very evident when he was talking us through the afternoon tea recipes, stressing the importance of using fresh, good quality ingredients to get the best results.

Chef Dominic at work in his kitchen!

We also discovered that he has a bit of a sweet tooth - in fact his favourite part of afternoon tea is the sweets at the end! He is also rather partial to a bit of frangipane and always likes to try and incorporate it on his pudding menus.

Chef Dominic doesn't cook at home that often...and also finds that not many of his friends will cook for him either!

Scones, brioche and clotted cream!

It was a real pleasure to watch Chef Dominic at work in his kitchen, and his friendly approach made the afternoon tea masterclass great fun while we learnt lots too. For more information about the Masterclass, or the restaurants at One Aldwych, visit their website.

Thanks for popping by today,
Rachel

New Years Resolutions?

Hello there,

Welcome to 2014! I hope you've had a tea-riffic start to your year!

We thought we'd start the year by thinking of some new year resolutions....not that I particularly believe in resolutions after all they are so easy to break!

I think the obvious resolution is to enjoy more afternoon tea....but that goes without saying really. If you popped by our little blog last year, you'll have seen some of the scrummy teas that we indulged in during 2013. In fact we found it very difficult to pick which was our favourite! But there are so many more afternoon teas out there....including lots of new ones which we will endeavour to sample and share with you.

Tea With Me and Friends afternoon tea blog
promises to bring you loads more photos in 2014!

A personal afternoon tea resolution for me is to learn a little more about tea itself....I enjoy a good cup of tea, but I want to spend 2014 developing my palate a little more so I don't always drink the same old tea. There are so many teas out there to be sampled and I'm hoping to share my education with you.

Tea with Me and Friends' Rachel trying out some tea!

I would also like to find out a little more about afternoon teas that are served around the world - on Instagram and blog's like the fab Kate and Chelsie blog I see lots of scrummy photos of international teas and I want to learn more!

The Collection Fashion Afternoon Tea, Raffles Dubai
 - photo from Kate and Chelsie's blog

One final resolution that we've made is to improve on our own afternoon tea making skills. You may have seen one or two of our posts in 2013 where we created our own afternoon teas at home....well we'd really like to add a little more finesse to our feasts. We are hoping to do this by attending the One Aldwych Afternoon Tea Masterclass in February....we can't wait to spend some time learning from Chef Dominic. We'll let you know how we get on in a future blog post!

Chef Dominic - One Aldwych

As well as these resolutions we also have the UK Blog Awards that are currently running - we have entered our little afternoon tea blog in the Food & Drink category and we'd really appreciate your vote!

I also have lots of afternoon tea articles planned for the online magazine PVB Daily - read a new article every Thursday!

We have lots of tea adventures already planned for this year and we hope that you will join us on them!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea.....One Aldwych

Hello there - it's lovely to see you!

So, this week my friend Sheree and I decided to embrace our inner child and enjoy a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory afternoon in London!

We started our afternoon at One Aldwych in the West End, here we sampled their new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory inspired afternoon tea. Now I have to say I am always a little sceptical about "themed" afternoon teas - there is nothing more disappointing than an over styled tea that doesn't taste very good! However I am pleased to report that One Aldwych does not fall into that category!

The staff were extremely knowledgeable about the tea and happy to answer any questions you might have....they are also very proud that everything is made from scratch at the hotel. Despite this being a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tea, the savoury aspect of tea is not ignored - in fact a very good selection of sandwiches and other savoury items is presented....

 

We had smoked salmon on rye, cucumber sandwiches, beef sandwiches (controversially not cut into fingers!), a tomato tart and a stilton and leek quiche - all were perfectly sized and very tasty.

 

However, it really was the sweet treats that captured our imagination!

 

 

Displayed on wooden blocks, this really was an exciting looking tea! To start there was a warm buttermilk scone, blueberry brioche and chocolate financier all served with clotted cream, summer berry jam and apple and meadowsweet compote.

 

Among the other goodies were flavoured candy floss (I won't ruin the surprise by telling you the flavours!), a yummy chocolate caramel milkshake, a mini Eton mess and the most amazing golden egg which tasted so good and was definitely my favourite bit of tea!

 

 

Again, everything was the perfect size and very tasty - I wasn't disappointed by anything that was served!

 

This tea costs £29.50 per person and is served with a good selection of teas. Although it sounds a little pricey I think its worth it as a treat. If you fancy a glass of champagne or trying the special Cocktail Charlie with your tea the price is £38.00 per person.

 

After tea we headed just a couple of minutes around the corner to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on the stage!

 

Thanks for popping by today, its lovely to see you!

 

Rachel & Lorna