Rosewood London launches David Hockney inspired Art Afternoon Tea

Launching Wednesday 1 st March, Executive Pastry Chef Mark Perkins, well known for his exceptional portfolio of Art Afternoon Teas developed over the past seven years, will showcase his interpretations of Hockney’s immersive show served in the elegant Mirror Room. The expertly designed cakes take inspiration from Hockney’s life in Yorkshire and Los Angeles combining classic British flavours with iconic US desserts crafted in never-before-seen ways.

To further immerse guests into Hockney’s world, Rosewood London has partnered with stylist and set designer, Camilla Wordie to ‘Hockneyfy’ the Mirror Room’s interiors. Wordie has taken Hockney’s everyday essentials and turned them into sophisticated sets with a highly detailed approach playing with colour, props, and whimsical nods to Hockney’s personal style including his statement yellow crocs, flat cap and glasses.

The afternoon tea menu will comprise three courses: traditional sandwiches, followed by the selection of five Hockey-inspired cakes and desserts, each a work of art in themselves.

World-famous, ‘The Splash’, brings together a chocolate sponge with a sharp passionfruit insert, encased in Earl Grey chocolate bavarois with blue glaze to mimic the fluidity of the famous Californian pool. The cake is then carefully placed on a crumbly almond sable and decorated with passionfruit chocolate décor to illustrate the painting’s splash.

The second cake centres around the vibrant Spring colours and organic shapes found in ‘ The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate’. The pinks, limes, and forest green tones of the 2011 work are portrayed by a delicate cherry mousse encasing a spherical pistachio almond sponge with griottine cherry insert - showcasing beautifully defined sections of pink and green as it is cut.

In a take on the vibrant and visually arresting, ‘ A Bigger Picture’, a vanilla cheesecake enrobed with purple glaze featuring a strawberry insert imitates the plum-coloured trunk of a tree from Hockney’s work. Wrapping around the trunk, placed on a luscious green vanilla almond sable, grow vines with passionfruit and yuzu leaves in an eye-catching display of Hockney’s creative world.

Alongside the cake and dessert selection, guests will enjoy a contemporary selection of freshly made finger sandwiches, including lobster and crayfish roll, cucumber, asparagus and cream cheese, smoked salmon rillette on rye and chicken avocado on spiced tomato relish, as well as traditional scones. A wide selection of Mariage Frères teas will also be available.

Hockey’s exhibition at Lightroom showcases some of his most notable pieces and sees him experimenting with perspective, using photography as a way of 'drawing with a camera', capturing the passing of time in his polaroid collages and the joy of spring on his iPad. Available to visit until June 2023.

The Art Afternoon Tea will be available from Wednesday 1st March, bookable Monday to Sunday from 12.00 p.m. to 5.45 p.m., priced from £75 per person. Guests can also include a glass of R de Ruinart, or Wild Idol 0%, for £90, cocktail for £92 or Ruinart Rosé for £95.

Images of David hockney inspired art afternoon tea here

Rosewood London, art afternoon tea webpage here

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