Tag Archives: Birmingham

Review – Aalto Restaurant at Hotel La-Tour

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Whilst many moan about the reluctance of spring and summer to arrive as the last few weeks have been cold and wet, I personally cannot believe how quick 2012 is flying by. Life is full on at the moment with my new sales role at work by day and my Stampin’ Up business by night so when I was recently invited to go out for dinner I couldn’t resist – perfect chance to have a night off to relax and spend some quality time with hubs.

The venue for my night off was to be the newest addition to the Birmingham hotel scene,  Hotel La-Tour, situated right in the heart of the city centre near to the Bullring shopping centre. On arrival it was clear to see the hotel has been designed with the utmost style and sophistication. It was modern but very classic too. After making our way up a very stylish staircase we arrived at the bar where we were greeted warmly by the restaurant manager, Daniel. Whilst we perused the menu for the Aalto Restaurant and the wine list helpfully categorised on an Ipad, we were served with one of their signature cocktails – the 1889, named after the year Birmingham was granted city status.

It was a fruity,light and refreshing drink made with gin, apple, elderflower, ginger and lime and was a perfect start to the evening by not only getting your taste buds going but also leaving your palate cleansed. We also had a pre dinner nibble of lemon and chilli infused popcorn that was strangely addictive.

The menu exemplifies the modern twist on classics that is the ethos of the hotel. It was inspired by michelin star chef Marcus Wareing who has worked closely with the team at Hotel La Tour and head chef Alex Penhaligon to develop the dishes using many local ingredients. There were also a couple of specials to choose from too, so making a decision did take a while as it was all so so tempting.

Once we ordered we were taken through to the restaurant to our table, where we were positioned right behind the chef’s table with views into the open kitchen, allowing us to see our dishes being created by the kitchen.

After choosing our dishes, the lovely Daniel, came over to discuss wine choices. Daniel’s knowledge of the wines was impressive so we asked him to choose one for each of us that would complement the foods we had chosen. I was served with the Bodega Castro Martin Albarino which was a lovely surprise. I love this type of wine which I discovered  on my many work trips to Galicia and it is not one you get in many establishments. Mr CYV was served the Frappato Nerello Mascalese, which was also a great choice as we don’t often choose Italian wines. Daniel explained how he had chosen wines that would work with both of the starters and mains we had chosen and what they would deliver to complement the food.

I opted for the Harrogate Loaf, terrine of veal, bacon, parsely and caper salad which was a beautifully dense meatloaf, studded with pistachio for added crunch and texture. The terrine was wrapped in bacon which gave a great salty edge to the loaf. Some croutons on the side The parsley and caper salad it was served with was a perfect accompaniment with the fresh flavours cutting through the meatiness.

Mr CYV opted for the Mulligatawny, haddock, curry spice, lentils  which was a velvety smooth soup which was packed with beautifully cooked haddock and the lentils gave their usual bite to give some texture to the dish. It was perfectly spiced with such depth of flavour and enough spicy heat to give a warmth to the dish.

For mains I chose the Cornish sea bass, creamed leek, mussels, grain mustard. The fish was cooked to perfection with a crispy skin which I love and the sauce was rich and unctuous. I would never have dared to pair mustard with fish but this worked brilliantly.

Mr CYV opted for one of the specials Lamb Belly, green beans and peas, breaded sweetbread and red wine jus which was also cooked perfectly. the slow cooked belly melted in the mouth whilst the sweetbread was little nugget of delight and the jus brought the whole dish together.

We were amazed not only with the quality of the food but also how the chosen wines matched both courses perfectly.

When it came to dessert I was spoilt for choice but in the end decided on Jaffa cake pudding, warm chocolate, orange cake crumb, cream, which was something devised by Marcus Wareing. Now I expected a chocolate orange pudding but was so suprised to find it actually it tasted like those little biscuits you can buy. It was delicious, the sponge pudding was light whilst the chocolate sauce was rich and smooth.

Mr CYV opted for the savoury choice of British cheese selection, walnut crisps, pickle  and was very happy with the selection of cheeses – a goats cheese from Oxford, stilton blue and an apple smoked cheese.

With our desserts Daniel yet again came to our aid and selected suitable wine to go with them. For my chocolate dessert the Nectar Jerez Pedro Jimenez sherry was perfect and hubs was given the Rivesaltes Ambre dessert wine to complement the cheese selection. Yet again they matched perfectly.

As we retired back to the bar with a coffee we couldn’t help but plan a return visit. I think we will definitely come back to try out the hotel itself too. The food was some of the best I have eaten and certainly deserves a spot in the top restaurants in Birmingham.

You can sign up to the newsletter here for all the latest offers and find Hotel La Tour on twitter and facebook.

I received the food and drink courtesy of the Hotel la Tour  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 

Review – Urban Coffee Connoisseurs

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A wee while back I was asked to review the latest addition to Urban Coffee Company‘s offering – Urban Coffee Connoisseurs – a monthly coffee tasting club. I couldn’t resist as I do love my coffee and can’t function in the morning till I’ve had my first cuppa and also Urban Coffee Company is my favourite place to grab a hot beverage whenever I’m in Birmingham.

Urban Coffee Company is a locally based company with an ethos to admire – improve the quality of high street coffee available outside of London and offer an alternative to the uniquitous Starbucks and Costa. As an independent coffee place it aims to offer a unique experience for it’s customers and from my handful of visits at both of it’s current stores it certainly does. It offers not only great coffee but a community meeting place for all sorts, including knitters and bookreaders.

For those of us not able to pop into store on the way to and from work or for a Saturday afternoon shopping trip pit stop, there is now the Urban Coffee Connoisseurs. Each month members receive 2 different bags of 125g of freshly ground coffee or beans if you prefer to grind your own, tasting notes, instructions on how best to prepare your coffee and access to the online Connoisseur Academy.

The two coffees I received were Laurocaf Reserva Terruno Nayarita from Mexico and SHG – La Luz from Nicaragua. The notes included detailed descriptions of the origin of these coffees – did you know coffee is one of Mexico’s most lucrative exports with over a half a million small farmers relying on the crop for their survival?  You also get Rich’s (the head barista’s) tasting notes to assist you in developing your connoisseurship!

The Mexican coffee was the first one I tried and as Rich helped to point out, it did have vanilla tones, though my palate struggled to identify the “sweet with sour Apple acidity”. My favourite was the Nicaraguan coffee with it’s chocolate and cinnamon spice flavours.

I prepared them in my coffee machine but would definitely recommend using a cafetiere to get the best out of the coffee.

I think a subscription to the Urban Coffee Connoisseurs is a great gift for coffee loving friends or to enable you to develop your and you can choose a sign up period from 3 months to 1 year. The cost works out to around £4.25 to £5.00 a bag, which is slightly expensive, but with the added delight of waiting for your package to turn up each month and the chance to try lots of different styles of coffee and knowing exactly where they come from, I think it is a great idea. Sadly not one my budget will stretch to at the moment, but I live in hope I might manage to join at some point.

Coffee and Cake

I think the ability to interact with other members would be a great addition and bring the tasting club idea to life.

I received the coffee free from Urban Coffee Company. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 

Bite ‘N’ Write

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An event for food bloggers right on my doorstop, a chance to learn to some information and get tips to improve my blog, and an opportunity to meet some of my fellow bloggers with whom I have tweeted with for a long time … well I couldn’t resist. Bite 'N' Write badge

I booked the ticket for Bite ‘n’ Write so long ago, that by the time November 19th arrived I was too excited for words, if a little nervous at leaving Baby G with Daddy for the longest time yet …. 14 hours!!

So bright and breezy I jumped on a train to Birmingham and once in the lobby of New Street searched out a few of my fellow attendee’s. How to spot a blogger in a busy public place is perhaps a discussion for another day but I wouldn’t recommend walking up to a stranger and asking them if they are a blogger …. you will most certainly get a strange look!

Once the troops had gathered, including the my fellow MFB members Jules of Butcher, Baker, Julia of Wannabefoodie and Kath the Ordinary Cook, together with the very lovely Choclette of Chocolate Log Blog and Charlotte of Go Free foods, we set off for the venue. The event was held in the Old Library room at the Custard Factory.

I won’t go into detail regarding all the workshops that were held during the day as many other blogs have put it far better than I could including Louise at the Vegetarian Experience. I haven’t any decent photo’s to share with you either as was too busy taking in all the information, but here’s my highlights:

* The photography workshop by Craig Fraser of Frasershot was the best start to the day. An interesting look into how professional food photography is carried out and some simple tips to create stunning pictures at home. Who knew silver card and a tampon could be such useful tools?

* Judith Lewis of Mostly about Chocolate and SEO specialist gave an insight into optimising your blog which I found interesting but which was a tad too technical or not of interest for some of my fellow attendee’s.

* The tasting by Artisan du Chocolat was a particular high, a chocolate high that is! We got to learn all about chocolate and taste a wide range of their products. I particularly liked the mint one and the Masala Chai. I loved the look of the O’s too.

* Jeanne of Cook Sister gave a really interesting talk about writing and how to make your blog attractive to readers with tips on the design and content of the blog.

So those were my highlights, but for a fair review I must mention my disappointment with some aspects of the day. The main issue for me was the the lack of time and setting to mingle with the other food bloggers. Whilst I got to know the people on my table it was difficult to find time to meet everyone else. Also the venue was not the greatest with a serious heating problem leaving me drinking cups of coffee just to stop from turning blue, and the meaty non-indian lunch was a bit of a let-down.

I applaud Annie Ko for having the intrepidity to get up and organise something like this event, especially after such a short time blogging, and considering it was her first event it was good. However, there are many things to be improved upon and I would hope that these are put into place to make sure this can become an annual event.

I finished off the day with a get together with some of my tweeties for some delicious food and wine at Jamie’s Italian.

Two Towers Brewery

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Now seen as I don’t really like to drink beer in any form (well maybe just the one!), Owen thought he would contribute with a few posts on local breweries and their beers. Think he finally realises us food bloggers aren’t an alien species after coming along to our recent meet up and decided to get in on the action!

On the most recent visit to 24 Carrots Farmers market in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham we discovered a local producer that we hadn’t heard of before. It is Two Towers Brewery.

The Two Towers refer to the iconic towers in Edgbaston, Birmingham that allegedly inspired the writings of JRR Tolkien and are just one of the Birmingham features that are used by the Brewery. The names of the beers are all routed in the history of the city.

Owen sampled 3 of the beers from their range and here are his thoughts:

Chamberlain Pale Ale – I liked this beer with it’s fresh citrusy aroma; it has a crisp and refreshing flavour. It is as light as you would expect from a Pale Ale and has some floral notes. It leaves a lasting tang on the palate with a yeasty sediment. I’d say it’s perfect for a summer’s evening of drinking.

Baskerville Bitter – I loved the full-on hoppy flavour of this bitter complemented by the classic aroma of a traditional bitter. It is a well rounded beer and could easily become a session beer. Full of body and with a tangy finish.




Jewellers Porter  – I enjoyed the deep classic flavour of the stout with it’s dark molasses taste. It surprised me with it’s complex fruity finish but overall very enjoyable.

The Two Towers Brewery also have 2 Mild’s and another bitter in their range. Currently I think you can get Two Towers Beers on draught in local pubs around Birmingham and also bottles at Farmer’s Markets like 24 carrots. Check them out if you’re ever in Birmingham.

Blue Door Bakery Cupcake Class

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Last year was the year of my wedding, it was a year of planning, preparation and crafting! You see I decided to make my own invites, place settings, decorations to name but a few things. With my chief bridesmaid in tow, aka my little sister, we spent at least one night a week together preparing all this.

Table Plan

Place Name

Since the wedding we have both been separately doing crafty things, but had wanted something we could do together. So I had my thinking cap on for a while, and then by the magic that is twitter I found Blue Door Bakery and that was it – 2 places booked for me and my sis on a Cupcake Decorating Class.

Sarah hosts the classes from her beautiful home and made us all feel very welcome. We began by learning a bit the cupcakes themselves, with top tips on how perfect them and to avoid making them too dry. Sarah then went on to show us how to use Sugarpaste Icing, how to colour it and how to create different shapes. Then it was our turn to have a go, and we all got to have a play with the huge arrangement of cutters, colours, glitters, glazes and edible dust to make a few toppers for our own cupcakes.

So one sunny May evening we went off to Blue Door HQ in Hagley and met Sarah, the person behind Blue Door Bakery, along with 5 other ladies, including Laura, a bride-to-be who has a fab blog about all the trials and tribulations of planning her wedding day.

Whilst waiting for our sugarpaste shapes to dry out Sarah gave us a quick demo on fondant icing and then it was time to make the Buttercream Icing. Apparently you just have to “embrace the mess” as there is no clean way to make it, with icing sugar clouds filling the kitchen.

Cupcake Class, Making Buttercream

Sarah showed us how to pipe swirls and roses, she made it look so easy but I guess that just comes with practice. Then it was time to decorate our very own cupcakes.

We each had a box of 12 and could use any of the Sugarpaste toppers or the huge of array of sprinkles that Sarah has in stock. I did find my swirls got better and by cupcake number 10 they were almost decent! The roses are a different story and fear there may be a lot more practicing required.

Cupcake

It was such a fun way to spend an evening, learning new skills, getting creative, some good laughs and then leaving with a box of cupcakes! I would highly recommend attending one of the classes. By the time I got home, I was on a icing sugar high, and thought a cupcake and coffee would be the perfect way to finish off the evening.

And to top it off the cupcakes tasted awesome. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted such a light and fluffy cake. Heavenly indeed!! Needless to say the box of 12 didn’t last long so now it’s my time to have a go …. so watch this space.