Supplier Profile - Chapel Down, Tenterden, Kent

Alex, our Group Head Chef and Bruce our Procurement Manager have been off on their travels again.  This time to meet a number of suppliers in Kent.  

First stop in the Garden of England was the Chapel Down vineyard and winery at Tenterden.  
The south of England shares almost identical geology and soils to the Champagne region, with a chalk seam typified by the North and South Downs of Kent and Sussex and excellent well drained soils in Essex and The Weald. 

Chapel Down is rapidly establishing itself as a world class premium wine brand and is gaining national and international recognition.

The white, red and sparkling English Chapel Down wines can be enjoyed in the café at Dulwich Picture Gallery - the perfect choice in England's oldest purpose built art gallery!

'In the Picture' at Dulwich Picture Gallery

A beautiful, dry evening set the tone for a fantastic night at Dulwich Picture Gallery last week where Creative Taste celebrated the success of our new partnership with the Gallery.  The Café, which was relaunched in June after its makeover (see previous blog!) has already seen a 60% increase in sales against the two previous years.  

Guests at 'In the Picture' enjoyed plenty of our Chapel Down English Sparking wine and seasonal cocktails, wonderful canapés served on picture frames, music from the Wandering Hands Trio and speeches from both Ian Dejardin, Gallery Director and our own John Uphill, Operations Director.

After an exclusive tour of the current exhibition 'A Crisis of Brilliance', guests even had a chance to create some of their own art whilst enjoying a delicious selection of savoury bowls from our autumn menu.  A raffle which raised money for Dulwich Helpline provided the opportunity to win some fantastic raffles prizes including a much-coveted Mulberry handbag.  

The event was wrapped up with a stunning artists palette dessert - with edible paintbrush to dip into colourful tasty paints and goody bags to take home with samples from some of our local suppliers.

Thanks to all who came and made it such a success - enjoy the photos and some of the great press below!!


http://foodandeverythingdaily.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/dulwich-picture-gallery-and.html?spref=tw

http://www.catererandhotelkeeper.co.uk/articles/13/9/2013/349890/creative-taste-sees-public-catering-revenue-up-60-after-picture-gallery-caf-re-launch.htm

Supplier Profile - High Weald Dairy, West Sussex

Alex, our Group Head Chef and Bruce our Procurement Manager took a trip out of the office last week to catch up with one of our cheese suppliers, the High Weald Dairy, on their farm in West Sussex.  The family run cheese dairy craft a delicious range of award winning British cheeses from organic cows' milk, organic sheeps' milk and more recently organic goats' milk. The cheese is made in a modern dairy just 20 metres from where the cows are milked. They are certified by the Soil Assocation and are members of the Specialist Cheese Association and A Taste of Sussex.  Have a look at their website http://www.highwealddairy.co.uk/.

Tea training in the sunshine at Dulwich Picture Gallery

It's only three days till the big opening of the new Dulwich Picture Gallery Café.  The café has been undergoing a refurbishment over the last three weeks while the staff have been extremely busy with training.  

This morning the team were learning about the new tea menu from Birchall, who are based less than two miles from the Gallery.  Their award winning tea's are sourced exclusively from estates across East Africa and the leaves only ever hand plucked.  Their every day black teas are 100% pure, main grade black tea leaf and their infusions, from classics such as Camomile and Peppermint through to Lemongrass and Ginger are packed with the best ingredients sourced from around the world to ensure intense aromas and revitalize the taste buds.

Look out for these beautiful teas on the new Breakfast, Lunch and Afternoon Tea menus at the Gallery, which reopens to the public on Tuesday 11th June.