Recently, Brittany and I were lucky enough to visit the Christmas Fayre at The Lancaster in London. The Lancaster is 4 Star hotel right next to Hyde Park, which makes it ideally placed for a visit to London, and a lovely setting for a Christmas Fayre.
The exhibitors were mainly small businesses that had often grown from a thought, to a venture in the kitchen, to in one case, selling to Waitrose.
One of these, Nuts4Honey, started when Dubi Rajakovic’s children were found to be gluten intolerant and to have other allergies. Dubi had a large selection of honey that is all organic and absolutely delicious. There were many flavours including chocolate and orange flavours. We could have spent all day tasting the delights at her stall!
Bee Good was started in 2008 when local beekeepers, The Cavills, with leftover wax, in their home kitchen started to play around with textures and flavors, from this, cosmetic history was made. The products are divine, and only use British wax, propolis, and honey. They also give back where possible to the local beekeeping community.
They have done so well that they are now available in Waitrose, nationwide. One of their most successful products is the Raspberry & White Chocolate lip balm. This lip balm was made in conjunction with beauty bloggers, who submitted their ideas and then helped make some of these a reality, this was then put to a vote. The result is delish – it’s all-natural and has a lovely feel on the lips.
I spoke with Simon Cavill for a long time and was very impressed with the ethos of this company, ethical, local, as well as supplying high-quality products that have a lovely skin feel. I would be more than happy to receive a Bee Good product in my stocking this Christmas (lip balm Mum, hint, hint!).
Whilst we were perusing these products, we were sampling the delish mulled wine and offerings from the Lancaster kitchens. The smoked salmon from the Island Grill, melted on my tongue and had me dreaming of visiting their restaurant in the future.
Divine Chocolate provided the perfect option for dessert after the salmon. Divine Chocolate has long been one of my favorites, it’s fairtrade and is 44% owned by cocoa farmers. Divine is high-quality luxury chocolate that comes in bars and slabs and now, advent calendars. The samples of this were amazing and so moreish.
Joe & Seph’s popcorn was next on our eating agenda. This popcorn comes in inventive and usual flavors, such as gin & tonic (infused with 5% alcohol), and has a lovely light after taste. In keeping with the Christmas theme, the Christmas mince pie was a hot crowd favorite. I would highly recommend taking one of these babies along with you to your next cinema experience!
Our final stall held Hiver Beer, recently voted best honey beer at this years National Honey show. There was a range of beers for us to try, given that I am, ahem, not a huge beer fan, I tried the blonde beer, and was pleasantly surprised. We are planning to host a Christmas party in the office next week, and I’m considering including this one in the beverage list. Since last month, we had been looking for London Christmas Party venues, and we finally found one only a few days ago. It is always a good idea to book venues in advance in London, even if you don’t feel particularly festive. It could be a real struggle to find an event venue here. Having said that, I wonder how far in advance the organizers of the fayre would have booked this venue here at the Lancaster. Finally, after all these culinary experiences, it was time to go for a walk into Hyde Park to keep with the Christmas feel.
There was a strong honey and organic feel to this fayre, which leads to a really positive atmosphere. Often the stories around bees and honey focus on their decline, but all of these producers were focused on ensuring that the industry would survive for many years to come.
We had a wonderful time and look forward to attending again next year!
Be sure to follow along on my travels & get a behind the scenes look at the cultures I experience by following my Instagram Account. I’d love to bring you along for #DoTheDaniel!
Luvs xx
Photos: Nicola Whyte