Leading caterer H+J has been preparing for the food performance of a lifetime – to serve audiences attending a co-production of Hamlet staged by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company. The three-week production was held in aid of the RADA Attenborough Campaign to support the transformation of RADA’s Chenies Street site in London, further developing the Academy as a world-leader in dramatic arts training and setting a fundraising target of £20 million over the next three years.
Alongside delivering hospitality, bars and student dining, H+J have partnered with the esteemed drama school for a decade, regularly supporting fundraising events showcasing the talents of RADA’s students and graduates.
During the show’s three-week run, H+J provided guests with some innovative culinary creations, which offered a playful nod to one of Shakespeare’s best-known plays and with a Scandinavian twist.
Menus served throughout the limited season included canapé selections of spiced Dorset crab, bloody Mary jelly, English wasabi served on a Hamlet-branded perspex box and beetroot, walnut and ewe’s cheese served on a pebble show plate. Culinary delights served from bowl stations included flaked cured sea trout, butternut squash ravioli and ham hock with caper and parsley. Tapas spoons (served on illuminated trays) consisted of chicken liver parfait, salted chicken skin with pickled cherry and quail egg, nettle mayonnaise and pine salt. Tiers of sweet treats on offer included Danish berry mess, plum and almond tarts and fruit eclairs.
Patrick Harbour, Director and Co-Founder of Harbour & Jones which owns H+J, comments: “We have been partnering with RADA for the last ten years, helping them to achieve their fundraising ambition and we are honoured to be involved in this hugely prestigious initiative. The fundraising for this terrific cause will ultimately support young talent, something we are passionate about in our own business. Our values in this sphere are fully aligned with RADA and this is why we are delighted to be given the opportunity to showcase our own talented chefs.
“The food was designed to be a performance in itself with the menu demonstrating our chefs’ creativity and pioneering spirit,” he adds.