Knowing the incredibly close links between the senses of taste and smell, we’re loving the way that clever chefs and mixologists are blurring the lines.
Perhaps the next logical step from gourmand scents was to always to flip that on its head and devise dishes and cocktails inspired by fragrances – but rarely has that been done more sense-tantalisingly than by the food and drink creatives at Grosvenor Square grill restaurant, 34 Mayfair.
Inspired by CREED’s celebrated Millésime Impérial – a quintessential Cologne, conjuring up the citrus groves and rugged coastal landscape of Sicily, with its notes of bergamot, mandarin and seasalt – are two innovations which can be enjoyed on the menu at 34 Mayfair until 31st August 2018. (Just around the corner from CREED’s flagship boutique at 99 Mount Street.
The first is a dessert (main photo), called Sicilian Garden (£12.50) – like sunshine on a plate, designed to transport you to the shores of the Med via a refreshing mandarin mousse with a light lemon jelly, placed on a sweet Italian meringue and finished with crushed biscotti and gold leaf.
The second is a Millésime cocktail (. Think: dry Manzanilla sherry blended with Sipsmith Summer cup, bergamot-infused Italicus liqueuer, lemon and mandarin in a light but refreshing, perfect summer tipple that’s poured over crushed ice and garnished with a dehydrated lemon dusted with gold and a sprit of rosemary.
Not a drinker? There’s a non-alcohcolic cocktail (£9) called ‘A Memoir of Cefalù’, combining Seedlip Spice, apple juice, mandarin, thyme, lemon and soda water.
Most gorgeously of all, perhaps, the frontage of the restaurant – at 34 South Audley Street (below) – has been florabundantly decorated to conjure up the fragrance, with guests entering via a Sicilian garden of citrus trees and lush foliage as they climb the steps to the restaurant.
And if you choose the drink or the cocktails, you’ll also receive a sample of Millésime Impérial – all the better to conjure up a memorable lunch or dinner, when you’re home again.
Not jetting off this summer? We can’t think of a better way to make up for it than to experience this delicious collaboration…
34 Mayfair 34 Grosvenor Square (entrance on South Audley Street), London W1K 2HD/020-3350 3434
34-restaurant.co.uk
creedfragrances.co.uk
