A Seasonal April Feast
The Mowbray are presenting a super seasonal Supper Club with a special feasting menu inspired by the words, notions and arrangements of best-selling author Anna Potter of Swallows & Damsons - modern day influencers in a new wave of floral art and design.
On Thursday 27th of April we are celebrating the launch of her new book - Flower Philosophy in her hometown of Sheffield.
The chapter titles from the book of ‘Spring Musings’, ‘Bloom & Fade’, ‘Ancient Wisdom’, ‘Moorland Cloud’, ‘Beltane’s Blessing’ and ‘Solstice Gathering’ together with Anna’s beautiful writing have allowed Head Chef Emma Tophill Reed to take a creative journey through the pick of the best of late April ingredients.
The aim is to give you the chance to to ‘taste the pages’ in a beautiful foodie journey inspired by the unexpected and uniquely wild feel to floristry and seasonality that Anna is acclaimed for.
Thursday 27th of April. 19.00 - £45 per person
Flower Philosophy As A Feast
Served as a rolling feast of smaller & larger plates to share.
‘Spring Musings’
Quail’s eggs & asparagus, radishes with parsley salt & tarragon mayonnaise (v)
‘Bloom & Fade’
On this page Anna writes about the borders we try to draw between seasons. Likewise in the kitchen we're so eager for ingredients to come but truly seasonal ingredients are ready when they're ready. What could be more seasonal than British asparagus? Every year it welcomes in Summer, but can come and go in a matter of weeks. We’re sad to see it go, but eagerly await the next flurry of ingredients.
Friselle wreath & marinated tomatoes with wild garlic flowers & pickled buds (v)
Friselle is a ring shaped Puglian crispbread, traditionally left to crisp up in the oven as it cools. As the stems on a spring wreath drink from the damp moss beneath, the tomatoes release the most delicious juices and the friselle softens and as it soaks them up.
Chalk stream trout with pickled magnolia petals & rhubarb
‘Ancient Wisdom’
We loved Anna’s words about the ancient magnolia so we’re really hoping to get hold of some petals. We’ll most likely pickle them, which will make a delicious accompaniment for delicately cured trout.
Our vegetarian guests will be served a beetroot carpaccio with pickled petals & rhubarb
Quail & damsons with Moorland Cloud salad
Small birds gently roasted on the bone, with last year's preserved damsons, slowly stewed til sweet & tart
‘Moorland Cloud’
"The hills became blushed with pale pink, the darkest tones a deep crimson"
I love the image & words of this arrangement. We’ll create a ‘Moorland Cloud’ of our own using frisee, sorrel, red mizuna & amaranth shoots. With puffed amaranth seeds & heather honey dressing
Our vegetarian guests will be served a pithivier of manchego, porcini & Spenwood cheese
Hogget chop, with spiced heritage carrots & herbs
Jersey Royals roasted over the fire with butter & chives (v)
‘Beltane’s Blessing’
‘This transitioning time from spring to summer sees blossoms fleetingly fall and new growth strengthen…This is the time to give thanks for all the wealth that is to come.’
Hogget is lamb, allowed to mature to the summer of its life, more developed in flavour than spring lamb.
Our vegetarian guests will be served potato gnocchi with heritage carrots & creme fraiche
TO FINISH
Lavender cherry & yoghurt pavlova (v)
Honey & chamomile cheesecake (v)
‘Solstice Gathering’
“The summer solstice is a time for honouring our inner light…we use symbolic midsummer herbs to crown ourselves in nature, to honour and connect to the season and its warmth.”
(v) = vegetarian
Flower Philosophy by Anna Potter of Swallows & Damsons
On the 27th of April - after Supper - we’ll also be in conversation with Anna through the evening, charting her journey from opening in 2008 as a little flower shop in the heart of a Sheffield community, whilst contributing to international blogs and publications such as Design Sponge, Food 52 and Domino Magazine.
They have also designed for clients including Gucci, Architectural Digest, Harpers Bazaar, The Telegraph and Town & Country Magazine.
Our conversation will explore the unexpected and uniquely wild feel to floristry that Anna is known for - moving beyond the confines of blooms in floral decoration, incorporating a wealth of natural products and curiosities. Anna will discuss celebrating imperfections and the subtlety in colour and form in her designs - and her inspiration pool from the rich darkness of Dutch still life paintings.
The Back Cover
A celebration of season, Flower Philosophy presents a selection of beautiful arrangements designed to free readers from the pressures of perfection and instead encourage creative freedom, intuition and original results. Flowers are not perfect, and flower arranging shouldn’t be either. Anna Potter, author of best-selling Flower Fix, teaches us how to listen and learn from nature to create something truly original with 25 combinations of stems and foliage.
Review...
"Gorgeous writing about the solace of returning to the wild, the gifts that come with close observation and the wisdom of bending our lives further toward the seasons...The beauty of this book earned my attention." BookPage Starred Review
About The Mowbray
Just in reach of the wild gorse and heathers of Neepsend, Sheffield - an ancient hill home to Bronze age artefact finds - sits The Mowbray - our interpretation of a modern feasting hall. We are led entirely by the seasons and a ‘what’s good to eat now’ thinking for our menus and feasts. We host private events and monthly/weekly Brunch, Lunch and Supper Clubs.
Focused on presenting sustainable events - housed in a beautiful former Sheffield Steel Merchants originally built in 1889 we spent 3 years restoring each part of a derelict building with Sheffield craftsmanship, thoughtful design and the re-purpose of beautiful items throughout our interior.
Led by Emma Tophill Reed - The Mowbray Kitchen is a 4-strong chef team. With professional roots hailing from the South of England and London including The Pig and Rochelle Canteen. Our team work entirely seasonally - working with exceptional ingredients.
We love small but important touches - that all add beauty and ambience to what we do - including our own coffee blend that we use at our inner city cafe - Mow’s to custom artwork for both The Mowbray and The Chimney House - and a bespoke scent for the buildings.
The scent is woody and smoky with floral undertones to reflect the area, the building’s history and future. We drew inspiration from the origin of Neepsend and the local flora and fauna. Woody essential oils with earthy vetiver, smoky rosewood and cade capture the essence of woodland clearing and charcoal production in the 17th Century to the industrial metalworking use of the building in the 20th. A woodland floor of wild geraniums and herb robert and a cutting garden on the roof of the Mowbray today inspired the floral tones of rose geranium and palmarosa.
