The most stylish afternoon tea around returns to The Berkeley Hotel, London. Their famous Prêt-à-Portea Afternoon Tea is hitting the culinary catwalk this Spring/Summer 2021. What better treat for the easing of lockdown?!
May 17th is the date to put in your diary for the re-opening of this beautiful luxury Knightsbridge hotel and their renowned Prêt-à-Portea Afternoon Tea – an afternoon tea inspired by the fashion catwalk season, with each cake and sweet treat inspired by a particular designer’s creation. Fashion and cake – it’s a marriage made in heaven and the perfect day out for any London fashionista.
Donatella Versace’s SS21 ocean-inspired cocktail dress is reimagined as a coconut darquoise and mango confit encased with exotic fruit mousse, topped with a beautiful, shimmering sugar starfish. Moschino’s SS21 show had an Anna Wintour puppet sitting on the front row, due to the absence of show guests this year. The Berkeley pastry team pays homage to this witty element of their show with a vanilla biscuit intricately iced, complete with Anna’s iconic signature sunglasses and sharp bob.
Tod’s SS21 neon tote bag appears as a citrus Victoria sponge, glazed with acid-lime icing, sandwiched between fluorescent green Valrhona chocolate Ivoire. Valentino’s stunning vivid green printed gown is depicted as a pistachio bavarois with Amerena cherry, set on a pistachio croquant and finished with a delicate sugar lily.
Three designers appear in Prêt-à-Portea this season for the very first time – Paris-based label Isabel Marant, with her shiny, disco-inspired purple look created as an almond sponge with a beriolette jelly centre, glazed in purple glitter and topped with a matching chocolate bow. Then, US label LoveShackFancy’s fun striped two-piece embellished with strawberry motifs appears in the afternoon tea as a Joconde sponge in a trio of colours, topped with a glossy strawberry made of sweet strawberry and rhubarb cheesecake.
Finally, the SS21 catwalk season’s most impressive piece is Halpern’s showstopper feather couture mini gown. In cake form, designed to share (but who wants to do that), is a light financier cake with raspberry compote complete with a Amatika chocolate praline crunch dome and topped with grue de cacao. Black wafer legs adorn the top.
Commenting on the Spring/Summer 21 Prêt-à-Portea afternoon tea, Executive Pastry Chef Mourad Khiat, said, ‘Every season we study each and every fashion show looking for the stand out looks that we can then magic into cakes for our fashion-obsessed guests. The September Spring Summer shows – of course – looked a little different due to the global pandemic, but the designers still managed to inspire and dazzle in new and imaginative ways. We can’t wait to welcome guests back to The Berkeley and hope that the sheer fantasy of catwalk fashion will delight those returning for Prêt-à-Portea.’
The Spring Summer season of Prêt-à-Portea runs from Monday 17th May 2021 and is served from 1pm – 5.30pm every day, priced from £60 per person. To make a reservation for Prêt-à-Portea call +44 (0)20 7107 8866 or visit The Berkeley Hotel website.
