Design Restaurants Loves…

1. Afternoon Meadow Tea at Coworth Park, Ascot

It would appear that summer may have slunk away… but not it seems at the fabulous Coworth Park in Ascot who are still serving their delectable ‘Afternoon Meadow Tea’! We can also vouch that the exquisite flower meadow in front of Coworth is still in full bloom. So for a last taste of summer book in for afternoon tea. Take your mum (like we did)  –  she’ll love it and you’ll be in her good books for the rest of the month! Design Restaurants members receive 10% reduction from the afternoon tea menu Mon-Fri.

2. Organic September

Organic September is the UK’s biggest celebration of all things organic. The Soil association is encouraging consumers to make just one purchase replacement during September to an organic product. It could be food, wine, clothing, beauty or health products – once you start looking you’ll be amazed at the range of organic goods now being sold in supermarkets. By making a small and achievable change to our shopping habits in September, and beyond, we can make a huge difference to our planet. We’re in! At DR we decided to make a significant change to a product we buy A LOT of – wine! We can highly recommend Waitrose Marques de Calatrava Tempranillo (Organic) on offer currently at £5.99.

3. Rococo Chocolate’s ‘Sootchi’

Warming to our organic theme we have to share one of our most  recent loves with you. It uses authentic, healthy ingredients and tastes, well, out of this world! ‘Once bitten, truly smitten’ is the motto of the enchanting Chantal Coady. This heavenly lady transformed the stuffy, conservative, commercial norm of chocolate retailing and has spread the beauty and joy of Rococo Chocolate far and wide for the last 30 years. With a flagship store in in Belgravia’s Motcomb Street full of hidden treasures, including the MaRococo secret garden, the chocolate is also available online. We are particularly in love with‘Sootchi’, this little Burmese kitty who looks a little like Design Restaurants’ Burmese cat, Burberry!

4. Staff at Marcus Waring at The Berkeley, Knightsbridge 

We have had some of the loveliest comments recently from our esteemed membership about the service and staff at Marcus Waring’s exceptional restaurant at The Berkeley Hotel. Marcus Waring has been serving up his modern light cuisine since he took the restaurant on as a solo venture in 2010 and it sports two Michelin stars. We’ve been told Design Restaurants customers are treated like ‘true VIPs’ and staff have been ‘attentive but not over fussy’ (so often the case in a hushed fine dining environment).  Customers are made to feel ‘relaxed and at ease’ and have experienced ‘the best level of service I’ve ever received in a restaurant in my life’. All that and some of the best dishes you’ll ever taste to boot! Design Restaurants Members receive a complimentary glass of chilled champagne on arrival and kitchen tour to meet the team when dining from the A La Carte or Tasting menu for lunch from Monday to Thursday. 

5. GB1 at The Grand Hotel in Brighton

For such an eclectic vibrant popular town, Brighton is not especially well known for decent restaurants but that changed earlier this year with the arrival of GB1 at the Grand Hotel. With the iconic setting of this Grand Old Dame of a hotel, perched in the centre of one of the most famous seafronts in the world, oozing old world opulence and splendour, GB1 picks up on this glamour and gives it a modern twist. Serving up everything from quick bites from the stunning champagne and oyster bar to sumptuous lobster fruits de mers feasts, GB1 is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner, offering an a la carte menu, specials from the blackboard and affordable set menus. Now it’s had a chance to settle into its own, and the seaside crowds are subsiding, we think it will become a destination seafood restaurant for discerning Londonites keen to sample some crustaceous delights after a bracing salty sea-sprayed walk! Design Restaurants members receive a complimentary glass of Prosecco.

Design Restaurants is the online fine dining guide and members club recommending the best places to eat in the UK and offering fantastic benefits in many of them. Download our free app at www.designrestaurants.com.