Bread Ahead's new afternoon tea at its Chelsea bakery on Pavilion Road  2100x1400

Source: Bread Ahead

London-based artisan bakery Bread Ahead has introduced an afternoon tea at its newly-opened The Tea House in Chelsea.

The upstairs space is an extension to its site on Pavilion Road and offers a view directly into the specially designed pastry kitchen, where chefs craft the bakery and patisserie items.

Bread Ahead describes its afternoon tea, which was created by owner Matthew Jones, as a celebration of its commitment to putting flavour and ingredients front and centre. It is said to blend tradition with innovation while embracing seasonality and nostalgic bakes.

Read: Afternoon tea trends – what’s hot in 2023?   

Priced at £50 per person and served from 1pm on Fridays to Sundays, it features freshly baked artisanal pastries and an array of finger sandwiches with fillings including compressed cucumber & whipped cream cheese; Burford brown eggs, mayonnaise, and mustard cress; and Scottish smoked salmon with zested lemon butter.

There are also seasonally changing British sweets from Black Forest cake to battenberg, and warm fresh scones with clotted Cornish cream, homemade strawberry jam, and lemon curd. A selection of Fortnum and Mason teas accompany the baked delicacies.

A chef cuts cake slices at the pastry kitchen of the Tea House at Bread Ahead's Chelsea bakery  2100x1400

Source: Bread Ahead

A chef cuts cake slices in the pastry kitchen of The Tea House at Bread Ahead’s bakery on Pavilion Road in Chelsea

Bread Ahead says it has garnered a reputation for producing exceptional bread, pastries, and desserts, all crafted with a dedication to traditional techniques and uncompromising quality. It revealed the secret to its bread lies in the “time-honoured, slow fermentation process”, where only the finest, locally sourced ingredients are used.

It has also reportedly gained a cult following over the years among Londoners and visitors alike, largely led by the Instagram fame of its “legendary” deep-filled doughnuts.

Earlier this year, Bread Ahead was named in British Baker’s 2023 Bakers’ Dozen, coming fifth in an inaugural list of the top 13 UK artisan bakeries as voted for by industry experts.

Having first opened its flagship site and bakery school in Borough Market in 2013, the brand has since opened schools and bakeries at five locations across the capital. It most recently expanded to the Middle East with its first international bakery and school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, closely followed by a second location in Dubai.