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London is going Frida Kahlo crazy. The summer exhibition of her work at the Victoria & Albert Museum has spurred creativity in chefs all over London, not least at The Lanesborough where Head Pastry Chef Gabriel Le Quang has created a new afternoon tea inspired by the colours, shapes and textures of the life of the Mexican artist.
Quang, who joined the Lanesborough last year from Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, has along with his team come up with quite a beautiful take on the traditional afternoon tea. Everything from the ingredients, to the shape of his pastry is influenced by Kahlo's work and her origins, from the Mexican chocolate in the tartelette to its Frida inspired hand-painted flower and the tequila-filled pipette for the Margarita baba.
We popped down to try the tea for this piece and were frankly blown away by the artistry at work. The three tiered tea features classic fruit and plain scones at its base, and the baba, carrot cake with speculoos biscuit and an orange jelly and corn sablé with dulce de leche in the middle. The top tier is the piece de resistance with that chocolate tartelette (we tried our own hand at painting the flower on top and it's a seriously delicate job - as you can see above, Gabriel does it MUCH better) and a passionfruit and raspberry eclair adorned with Kahlo's image.
Obviously it wouldn't be a proper afternoon tea without a range of finger sandwiches too, and here you'll find classic egg and watercress alongside guacamole sarnies in the selection. Add to that a selection of 25 loose leaf teas to choose from - our Snow Bud white tea was particularly fine - and you have the makings of a cracking tea to while away the afternoon.
You can take afternoon tea in the Withdrawing Room or the main dining room at the hotel but our tip would be the main room where there's a pianist playing during teatime. Tea here is a lovely treat for any Londoner who hasn't already been here, but it's also a great spot to take a relative or visitor to town.
The Lanesborough is at Hyde Park Corner, London SW1X 7TA. Keep up with their news on Twitter @thelanesborough
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