Week beginning March 4th - Alexander seeds and Fat Hen Pastry

With the welcoming demise of winter, returns our iced sparkling cascara. I made a fresh batch of syrup last week which will be ready to consume this week. As featured in the new Caffeine magazine this lovely Kaffeine original is best paired with a certain salad which is also making a grand return--the Tandoori Chicken Salad.

However this Kaffeine regular has had a new ingredient added to it, Alexander seeds. Foraged Alexanders have been a constant item on our menu since last October. Alexanders are a forgotten vegetable commonly used in cooking until the end of the 19th century.

Alexanders resemble a thick-stalked flat-leafed parsley and taste of pungent celery. The seeds or fruit of the Alexanders have a distinct aroma of strong celery, spice and medicine, quite unusual to sniff at first but I found myself addicted to its smell over the course of the day. I've made my own tandoori paste and incorporated toasted and ground alexander seeds which gives the chicken an extra aroma, all balanced in a salad with avocados ruby grapefruit and a yoghurt dressing.

When ordering tandoori chicken salad this week consider a sparkling iced cascara as your beverage. There is a spicy, salty/sweetness in the salad that pairs nicely with iced cascara. If you're after a potent caffeinated hit then there is no need to fret. Cascara is very strong on caffeine and will keep you alert and wide eyed.

Also worth noting this week is the tart pastry base which will be made using the seeds of a plant called fat hen. Commonly found in waste lands and construction sites, this weed has edible leaves and grows little clusters of seeds or grains very similar to quinoa. This week I will be grounding these grains and will be incorporating them into flour to make a textural and slightly nutty pastry. Filled with our own cottage cheese and foraged greens, a health-conscious start to spring.

We hope you enjoy this week's menu as much as we have putting it together and as much as we will enjoy serving it to you.


Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.70 (add 30 p for granola or yoghurt)
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
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 4.00
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.40

Porridge - Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.80
Pain au chocolat 2.40
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet Muffins: Nectarine and coconut 2.20
Savoury Scone: Courgette and feta 2.20
Mango friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Afgan cookies 1.80

Lunch
Soup: Pork and pumpkin with chilli and mugwort 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Ham, pear, honey mayonnaise, pecorino, rocket
Salmon, cucumber, lime cream cheese, Thai basil, spinach

Foccacias 5.00
Ham, slow roasted smoked paprika tomatoes, red onion, cheddar, rocket
Rainbow cherry tomato salsa, avocado, brie, spinach


Salads: 5.50/6.50
Chicken marinated in tandoori and alexander seeds with avocado, cucumber, cos, ruby grapefruit and yoghurt dressing
Ox-eye daisy, red cabbage, carrot, onion with a fish sauce and lemon dressing
Roasted round courgettes with three corner garlic sauce

Tart: 4.00 or 7.50 with salad
Fat hen seed pastry filled with foraged greens and home made cottage cheese