Harborne Kitchen, the Michelin Guide-recommended restaurant, has launched a new bar menu, featuring a selection of artisan meats and cheeses alongside six new cocktails for guests seeking a casual bite or tipple.
Guests at the contemporary neighbourhood restaurant can now choose from a selection of nine cheeses, all served with the in-house made Harborne Kitchen, pickle, lavash, sourdough and crackers, as well as two new types of artisan meat.
The new types of cheese available are:
- Aged Lincoln Poacher, which is matured for eighteen to twenty-two months, to give more depth and complexity to its nutty sweetness and long clean finish.
- Rutland Red, the only pasteurised Red Leicester made in the county of Leicestershire. The preparation process creates its unique flaky, open texture, slightly sweet, caramelised flavour and rich golden orange colour.
- Truffle Goat’s Cheese, which is made with a thin stripe of truffle paste to add a new dimension to the flavour.
- Colston Basset Blue, which is one of the last remaining hand-ladled Stiltons. The process produces intensely rich, creamy cheese.
- Worcester Blue, a soft blue, pasteurised, cow’s milk cheese, carefully crafted by local artisan cheesemaker Haydn at Heath Grange Farm.
- Baron Bigod, the finest traditional Brie-de-Meaux style cheese produced in the UK. The Fen Farm Dairy team begins the expert process very early in the morning so that the freshest milk can be used, to create the highest quality cheese possible.
- Finn, a soft, unctuous double-cream cheese, which is named after the creator’s dog at the time and is based on the classic double-cream cheeses of France.
- Golden Cenarth, which has a nutty flavour and a unique savouriness; the taste is mild when young but develops a stronger pungency with maturity.
- Tunsworth, known as the British Camembert is a soft, white-rinded cheese wonderfully reminiscent of its French cousin and is made entirely by hand.
Cobble Lane, a specialist butchery in Islington, produces Coppa Ham and Fennel Salami. The first meat is aged for up to five months to create a rich, fruity flavour and soft marbled texture. The Fennel Salami has a fresh and clean fragrance from the herb and is rounded out with a little wine and garlic.
The cocktails on the new bar menu are:
- Scarlet Amaro, which has notes of dark cherry, dried fruit and cocoa and is sweetened by Pineau Des Charentes Rastignac, a sweet wine fortified with unaged brandy.
- Passionfruit Sour, which was inspired by a request from one of Harborne Kitchen’s guests. The cocktail is comparable to a pisco sour but is fruitier, lighter and even more refreshing.
- The Tropical Spritz, was created to replicate the enjoyment of a refreshing cocktail on a hot day and does so by combining Hoxton’s tropical gin, complemented by peach liqueur, Luxardo Maraschino and Lillet Blanc.
- Kentucky Orange, which was born from the intrigue of combining the flavours of orange and vanilla. Maker’s Mark Bourbon is used as the vanilla base and Aperol for the orange.
- Rhubarb Fizz, which was inspired by leftover rhubarb syrup from the Forced Yorkshire Rhubarb pre-dessert in the tasting menu. So, to minimise wastage, the syrup is used in this sweet-and-sour recipe.
- Martini Stinger, which features wild nettles from Warley Woods and Harborne Kitchen Fig Leaf Gin, made in collaboration with Staffordshire Distillery, with fig leaves from a staff member’s garden. It is sweetened with champagne syrup, made in-house from leftover champagne.
The new bar menu also features Spiced Hummus with Crispy Chick Peas; Smoked Cod Roe, Trout Roe with Lemon; Burrata with Spicy Tomato Salsa; Ricotta with Smoked Almonds, Rocket and Orange; Chicken Liver Parfait With Sourdough; and Sourdough.
Tom Wells, Head Chef at Harborne Kitchen, said “The new bar menu has come at the perfect time for the start of warmer and sunnier weather, when a cheese board or small bite to eat, with a cocktail is just what the evening calls for.”
“We’ve been so fortunate to work with such amazing artisan specialists and now we’re looking forward to sharing their expertly crafted products with our guests.”
The new bar menu is available Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings and Friday and Saturday afternoons.
To make a booking to sample the new bar menu or the tasting menu, please go to www.harbornekitchen.com