Fortnum & Mason’s Winnie the Pooh Afternoon Tea Is the Summer’s Smartest Family Detour
There are children’s experiences, and then there are children’s experiences that parents can actually get behind. Fortnum & Mason’s new Disney Winnie the Pooh Afternoon Tea falls firmly into the latter category.
Created to celebrate 100 years of Disney Winnie the Pooh, the limited-edition experience is now available at the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon. It is aimed at children, but comes with the sort of setting, service and attention to detail that makes it equally appealing to the adults who have to get them there.
The children’s menu has been developed by Executive Pastry Chef Roger Pizey and his team, with the top plate taking its cues from the Hundred Acre Wood. There is a Vanilla and Raspberry Lolly inspired by Piglet, a Chocolate and Orange Striped Loaf Cake referencing Tigger, and a Honey and Apricot Mousse for Pooh. The savoury selection keeps things reassuringly traditional: chicken and egg mayonnaise, cucumber with cream cheese, ham and cheese, followed by plain and fruit scones with Somerset clotted cream and Fortnum’s Strawberry Preserve.
For parents, the separate Summer Afternoon Tea is a more grown-up proposition with the same subtle Pooh references. Expect cucumber, lemon and mint sandwiches, Kames Bay smoked trout with dill cream cheese, a Herefordshire Strawberry Tart, Tigger-inspired Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake and Honey and Apricot Mousse. There is also Portland Crab Tart, smoked trout profiterole and a pork and chorizo sausage roll, with a Coconut Cake with Passionfruit Ganache making an appearance from the silver cake trolley.
Those looking to push the boat out can opt for the High Tea Stand, which adds dishes including Seaweed-Crusted Halibut with Champagne Caviar Velouté and Beef Wellington.
The collaboration extends beyond the tea room, with Fortnum & Mason turning the Winnie the Pooh anniversary into a proper retail collection. The Disney Winnie the Pooh ‘Hunny Pot Hamper’ comes in a limited-edition Hunny Pot-inspired wicker basket and is filled with a selection of sweet treats and honey-led products. There are also Winnie the Pooh and Friends Iced Biscuits, Pooh & Piglet’s Hunny Truffle Selection, made using different Fortnum’s honeys, and a range of illustrated homeware.
The most interesting addition, however, is Fortnum’s official Disney Winnie the Pooh ‘100 Aker Wood Hunny’. Produced from beehives placed in Friends Field in Ashdown Forest, the real-life inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood, the honey is being released in Spring and Summer seasonal yields. It is available in a classic glass jar, while the Creamed Spring Hunny comes in a 300g ceramic pot designed in the shape of Pooh’s familiar honey pot. There is also a limited-edition tea towel featuring a specially created map of the Hundred Acre Wood, alongside a Winnie the Pooh Bear with Honey Pot plush.
It is a particularly well-judged collaboration for Fortnum’s: recognisable enough to entertain children, considered enough for parents and sufficiently rooted in British retail heritage to avoid feeling like a generic character tie-in.
For families negotiating the long summer holidays, that is a fairly persuasive reason to book a table.
