Week beginning June 23rd - Wimbledon menu

Wimbledon Menu and chef Khan:

Completely forgot Wimbledon was happening this year due to all the hype surrounding the World Cup. That was until Khan my right hand woman came bouncing into the kitchen last Monday making statements like “ This time next week I’ll be in a queue to see Wimbledon!” and “I’m sooooo excited!”.

Not much rouses this much excitement from Khan especially at 6am. Her likes are Korean films with a strong male lead; her and Ben the barista have this in common. The other is Candy Crush, after witnessing her addiction to this game I’ve deliberately avoided downloading it in fear of becoming hooked and spending many idle hours playing fruit tetris. 

Khan gave me the idea to do a Wimbledon based menu this week, a bit tricky at first as the only food fare I could think of was strawberries and cream or Pimm’s. But then I looked into what was in season and what is forage friendly and the following is this week’s interpretation of Britain during Wimbledon.  

First up are our muffins which are strawberries and mascarpone cream that has been infused with foraged melilot, think vanilla and hay. Then there are our savoury scones or as our Aussie floor staff call them ‘scrolls’; technically they're right, I’m just conditioned to call them scones. This week they will be rolled with vegetable pickle and chunks of mature cheddar. 

In our salad range we have Scottish salmon that has been cured in a tonic of Pimm’s No1 for several days until it becomes vibrant orange gravlax and served with all things Pimm’s and lemonade i.e. cucumber, mint, strawberries, lime with some added savoury britishness watercress and foraged sea kale peas.

Next up is something completely raw as that’s a big trend this summer, we’ve seen an increase in demand this year for raw edibles.  Shelled garden peas with spring onions, radish and parsley that have been tossed in a light mayonnaise infused with pineapple weed. As mentioned in last weeks menu pineapple weed has a chamomile appearance with the strong scent of pineapple.  

Our last salad will be made of the humble mid potatoes, which are best eaten this time of year, as they are sweeter and still quite small. Dressed in baby capers and fiery, intense foraged sea rocket, which is how proper rocket should taste. 

To finish off these weeks’ menu highlights we have not a scotched egg but a scotched gooseberry. June is when English gooseberries make a short seasonal comeback. This year we will be complimenting the sharp gooseberries by surrounding them with balls of seasoned ground lamb then crumbing and lightly frying.

There you have it, our summery of a Wimbledon menu, Kaffeine style; hopefully the preparation won’t give us tennis elbow (sorry, tennis pun).  So come into Kaffeine this week and enjoy our grand slam menu (sorry another tennis pun). 

Jared Bryant

Lead Chef

Kaffeine

@redjar50

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60 (V)

Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60 (V)
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passion fruit) 3.70 (GF, V)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with home made preserves 1.90
Pumpkin seed and apricot fruit toast 2.40
Banana bread 2.40

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissant 1.90
Pain au chocolat 2.50
Almond croissant 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet muffin: Strawberries, melilot and cream (V) 2.40
Savoury Scone:  Cheddar and pickle  (V) 2.40
Friand: Apricot and Regents Park Elderflower (V, GF) 2.40
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 2.00
Melting moments biscuits 2.00
Canele 2.40

Lunch

French retro baguettes 5.00
Cured beef, hot English mustard, caramelised red onion, mature cheddar and spinach

Asparagus with crushed minted peas, feta, gin mayonnaise and spinach (V)

Foccacias 5.30

Ham, pickled cherries, soft bath blue cheese and rocket
Crumbed aubergine, spicy tomato dressing, mozzarella and spinach (V)

Salads: 5.50/6.90

Pimm's Salmon gravlax, cucumber, mint, British strawberries, lime, watercress and sea kale peas (F, R)

Raw garden peas, spring onion, radish, parsley with pineapple weed mayonnaise (V, R)

New potatoes, capers and sea rocket (VE)

Tart: 5.50 or 7.90 with salad
Giant scotched gooseberries with ground lamb