Supporting the local community, prioritising environmental sustainability, delivering high quality and discovering talent – these values that are right at the heart of what makes any night at Opera Holland Park so special are this season, more than ever before, also there in the food and drink you can enjoy at the theatre bars.
For several years now OHP has focussed on bringing you some of the best food and drink from suppliers local to us. Whether that’s picnics from Il Portico restaurant just opposite the park gates; wines from London Cru, London’s first urban winery; or stretching out a little further to Kent and West Sussex for Gusbourne’s glorious English sparkling.
This season we’ve expanded on that commitment by sourcing more small, local, independent businesses with exceptional, sustainable, ethical, and always delicious produce. Months of work have gone into seeking out just the right things to make your time spent at OHP in the interval, or before / after the show, even more of a delight. If a gin and tonic is your tipple of choice then I hope you’ll love as much as I do the multi-award winning London Dry Gin from 58 and CO, with its notes of pink grapefruit, lemon and vanilla. This is a very special distillery just over the other side of London from us in Haggerston. An emphasis on sustainability runs through every aspect of what 58 and CO do there – from solar panels that power the stills, to bottles made in Yorkshire using recycled glass. Most importantly: it is mighty fine in a tonic, rivalled only for its refreshment as a long drink on a warm evening by the amber vermouth and tonic we have from London Vermouth Company.
For the first time OHP has no/low alcohol beers with stunningly good IPA and Pils from family-run Nirvana Brewery in Leyton, the UK’s first dedicated alcohol-free brewery. Round Corner Brewing are back with us from Melton Mowbray and it will be hard to beat one of their beers to go alongside the Dickinson and Morris Melton Mowbray pork pies you can get at the bar with some Tracklements English mustard. Although a cider from Cornwall’s Trevibban Mill orchards would be terrific too…
You might perhaps already be familiar with Sarit and Itamar of Honey & Co from their lovely London restaurants, many cookbooks and regular recipes in the Financial Times. We are delighted to be welcoming them to OHP this year with a selection at the bars of Middle Eastern salads, dips and the scrummiest white chocolate and orange cookies.
These are just a few of the producers and suppliers we are excited for you to enjoy. Head to the OHP website to f ind out more about them all and our belief that supporting businesses like these matters not just for them to thrive but for us all to eat and drink in a way that puts a value on integrity and quality as much as deliciousness. Or better still: head to the bars and let your tastebuds tell you why we are prouder than ever of the food and drink curated for you here today.
Angela Clutton
