This April marks the second Marylebone Food Festival, a collaboration between The Portman Estate and The Howard de Walden Estate, and is supported by the area’s Business Improvement Districts, Marble Arch London and Baker Street Quarter Partnership.
Over the course of this year’s festival from 24-28 April, Marylebone’s food and drink establishments—ranging from neighbourhood cafes and wine bars to Michelin-starred restaurants—will put on special menus and host exclusive masterclasses, one-off collaborations, food tours and talks, throwing the spotlight on the gastronomic wealth and diversity of the area.
A headline event – The Marylebone Menu – will launch the festival on Wednesday 24 April. The Marylebone Menu will see some of London’s best restaurants and food businesses serve a total of seven courses and wine pairings. Each restaurant will serve a course that has been paired with by wine from one of Marylebone’s renown wine bars, shops or bars. The event will take guests on a gastronomic journey through Marylebone in the striking, Georgian, grade II listed St Mary’s Church, York Street whilst tranquil, live melodies from The Marylebone Music Festival softly serenade the diners. There are just 120 tickets to The Marylebone Food Festival launch dinner available at £75 per person from today, 27 February. The seven courses matched with wine are chosen and introduced by ES Magazine Drinks Columnist Douglas Blyde. Tickets are available from www.marylebonefoodfestival.com.
Branded as a ‘dinner party with a difference’, all profits from The Marylebone Menu will be donated to Springboard, a charity which which helps to reduce unemployment and poverty across the UK, enabling those who experience barriers to employment, achieve their career potential in the hospitality industry. All water at the event will be provided by WaterAid, an international non-profit organization that enables the world’s poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education.
Following the Marylebone Menu launch event, from 25 to 28 April, plenty of other Marylebone Food Festival events will follow from a Vegan supper club at The Gate and Caviar specials menu at Twist to Lebanese food & wine matching at Delamina and a cocktail masterclass at The Coach Makers Arms.
Marble Arch London BID will be hosting a masterclass evening, as well as a lunch-time food tour. Watch this space for more information.
At the inaugural Marylebone Food Festival last year, celebrated chefs and restaurants including The Providores’ Peter Gordon, Michelin star restaurant Trishna, Roux at the Landau, La Fromagerie and many more were among those who brought The World on a Plate to life with an exclusive tasting menu all paired with a specially curated wine flight, in the dramatic setting of a Gothic Revival church. The festival raised over £2,000 for its 2018 charity partner, FoodCycle Marylebone.
