Fourteen Ten are working with Bermondsey based restaurant Delfina.
Delfina launched a honey based menu on the 11th October using Bermondsey Bees honey from an apiary in Bermondsey just 150 meters away from the restaurant; an exciting ingredient for head chef Stuart Dring who devises Delfina menus around carefully sourced seasonal and local produce.
The honey is cultivated by local beekeeper Dale Gibson who is exclusively providing Delfina with his spring harvest that produced a delicate and light elderflower scented nectar.
The local honey menu will be complimented by a photography exhibition of the bees including apiary, beekeeper and extraction process for customers to understand more about the process of urban beekeeping from bee to belly.
Diners can purchase raffle tickets with proceeds going to The Keeper’s Lodge project in Kennington: a community beekeeping and environmental project. Prizes include an overnight stay in a superior room for two at Bermondsey Square Hotel and a Honeybee Necklace donated by jewellery designer Alex Monroe whose new Bermondsey store is opening before Christmas. Alex Monroe attended the launch event to present his necklace with a short introduction on how and why he uses the honeybee design.
The Honey Menu
Available from the 11th Oct to the 11th Nov 2011
Bermondsey Honey, Fig and Shallot Tart
served with Hacienda Araucano Sauvignon Blanc, Chile, 2010
Braised Shoulder of Norfolk Pork with
Bermondsey Honey & Bramley Apple Gratin and Cider Jus
served with Les Salices Pinot noir Francois Lurton, France, 2010
Williams Pear and Vanilla Cheesecake with Bermondsey Honey Sorbet
served with Royal Tokaji Late Harvest, Hungary, 2009
Address:
Delfina, 50 Bermondsey Street, SE1 3UD, 0207 564 2400
Tube: London Bridge
@DelfinaLondon Delfina on facebook
Quotes:
Dale Gibson, Beekeeper and producer of Bermondsey Honey
“Delfina is the bedrock of Bermondsey Street’s burgeoning restaurant scene – but its innovation in using locally-sourced honey as an inspiration in its menus keeps it ahead of the pack. Here in SE1 we can genuinely use “food yards” to talk about the provenance of our ingredients, not “food miles”.”
Allison Girling, General Manager, Delfina
“Here at Delfina we think it is fabulous that someone is taking the initiative to keep bees in an urban area and to have the hives based on our very own street is even better! Dale does a wonderful job and runs his hives very responsibly. This years Spring honey is amazing with such a light floral flavour and we can’t wait for the next batch of delicious honey which we look forward to receiving from Dale’s hives in the Autumn.”
Stuart Dring, Head Chef, Delfina
“Cooking with this delicious honey is very inspiring and given the light lime and flower taste of the Spring batch we have to be careful not to overpower the flavour with other ingredients and just let the honey shine through! I hope diners feel we have achieved that with our unique Bermondsey honey menu. Enjoy!“