The Cleveland Tontine, a Yorkshire historic restaurant and hotel, has restored an early Victorian glasshouse in the hopes of including home-grown food on their summer menus.

Head Chef James Cooper in Victorian GlasshouseThe restoration of the glasshouse was a lengthy and costly project for the team due to the glasshouse being a listed building. In restoring the glasshouse, original features were replicated using authentic materials so that the original design was not compromised.

Its original purpose in the Victorian era was to grow fashionable tropical flowers as well as edible produce. The Victorian glasshouse now takes a proud stand at the end of The Cleveland Tontine’s car park.

James Cooper, Head Chef at the Tontine, plans to grow a variety of produce for his summer menu. This includes plants such as micro cress and salad pea shoots which are seen as fashionable summer foods this year.

When James Cooper spoke about the restoration, he said: “This is a great opportunity for some of my young chefs to get involved with the production of food right from the very beginning.

“Anyone who has an allotment will know the incredible flavours when foodstuff is home grown and eaten the same day as harvested. Plus, we are able to grow our produce without the use of chemicals so it not only tastes good but it does you good.”

“As well as all the edible decorative plants such as pea shoots and courgette flowers, we’ve a variety of soft fruits such as boysenberries, figs and strawberries and the glasshouse is home to two almond trees.”

www.theclevelandtontine.co.uk

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