Catering for a queen isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but you can always call the experts. Rhubarb are the go-to caterer for Britain's elite including the royal family, Catherine Whyte spoke to company director Sarah Hammond about food fit for a queen.
What would you serve if the Queen were coming to tea? After downing a dram of gin and Dubonnet to calm the nerves, you could do a lot worse than to pick up the phone to elite caterer rhubarb. For Britain’s most famous family – Les Beckhams aside, bien sûr – is among its clientele.
“We’re quite genned up,” says Director Sarah Hammond. “We frequently cater for the Royal Household. So, for example, we know how each member of the family takes their tea.”
Based in London and Surrey, the company has been involved with many high-profile royal events. In 2012, it was brought on board for the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant to serve up food aboard the royal barge, MV Spirit of Chartwell.
“It was a real honour,” says Sarah. “We didn’t know what job we were bidding for and the confirmation came very close to the event. It was all top secret.
“Everything had to be absolutely ready and checked by security before being taken on board the night before. My husband [also a director] had to stay with the food the entire time!”
Rhubarb at the Sky Garden
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the plat du jour was traditional afternoon tea, with cucumber sandwiches to the fore. And while Sarah can’t divulge the details of who ate what, she can at least confirm that Her Majesty partook of the fare, warding off the unseasonable effects of that horrendously inclement day.
“She came down off the deck to warm herself up and enjoy some of the food. It was a lovely occasion. Just lovely!”
And rhubarb’s roll call of lofty clients extends way beyond the Saxe-Coburg-Gothas. The company looks after the hospitality at Royal Ascot, the Royal Albert Hall, Sky Garden – London’s highest public horticultural space, far above the City – and, as of this spring, the Goodwood estate in West Sussex.
“We’re on quite a high,” says Sarah. “It’s a two-year process getting a contract like that – we held events and did lots of tastings. If people get to enjoy good food, they’ll associate that experience with Goodwood, not us. In that sense, we see ourselves as ambassadors for our clients.”
So how do they go about designing a menu for an iconic venue such as the Royal Albert Hall?
“Well, the board will have a strong idea of what they want – it’s our job to add extra sparkle. We always try to stay one step ahead of food trends. For example, we were the first caterers to use liquid nitrogen and the chocolate bomb. It’s relatively easy to do that sort of thing in a restaurant kitchen, but quite a challenge in some of the venues we work in.”
In some ways, the business has grown beyond recognition since it was set up by Sarah’s mother from her kitchen table in Cranleigh, back in 1996. And yet, big corporate clients and glamorous restaurants aside, rhubarb has stayed true to its roots as a service for the little as well as the large. Sign it up for your special event and you too will be hiring caterers to the Queen.
“There are no limits,” insists Sarah. “We do everything from dinner for two to dinner for 2,000!”
That said, the “dinner for two” she cites as an example is scarcely your bog-standard nosh-up. Her client, it turns out, hired the London Eye in order to propose to his girlfriend, whereupon rhubarb filled one of the pods with flowers and served a course for every rotation. Unsurprisingly, the answer was yes.
But what about a spread for Her Majesty’s 90th birthday party?
“Everything would have to be British,” says Sarah, without hesitation. “If we were doing the party in June, we’d use asparagus tips or tiny strawberries. In April, well, we’d make a dessert with rhubarb, of course!”
Silly question, really.
If you'd like to read another one of Catherine's scrumptious food and drink articles why not check out her piece on Surrey's healthiest snacks, treats and nibbles? You can also follow her on Twitter @topbirdcatwhyte
If you'd like to learn more about rhubarb you can check out its website here
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Catherine's Food and Drink page in our May edition of the Richmond Magazine
