Testino’s tea room

What makes a restaurant hot? A celebrity clientele, perhaps? Delicious food, groovy decor and a fashionable location, certainly. So there should be no mystery about the sudden success of Shipp’s, recently opened in Borough Market and full ever since. Sir Bob Geldof came by on the first day to sample the cuisine, and the china has already been used by Mario Testino in a Vogue photo shoot.

But where Shipp’s differs from its trendy rivals is that it is serving neither dolly-sized portions of fusion sushi nor previously unfashionable chunks of offal gussied up into quasi-edibility. What it delivers is the perfect traditional British tea. Here, you can find such old-fashioned delights as melting vanilla slices, fragrant bara brith, gooey treacle tart and a victoria sponge of supreme unctuousness, all handmade and served on the prettiest antique china; the tea, from Ceylon 1, is fairly traded, single estate, organic and absolutely delicious.

The brainchild of Margaret Willis, owner of Vintage Heaven, on Columbia Road, in the East End, Shipp’s Tearooms started out as a way for her to display her ever-growing collection of china and tablecloths. Floral and gilt teacups hang on threads from the ceiling; the back wall is covered with teapots; and each table is adorned with vintage, hand-embroidered linen cloths. Cakes are displayed on china stands under glass garden cloches (Margaret used to be a horticulturalist). And if a teacup or a cloth takes your fancy, you can buy it to take home, along with a piece of lavender shortbread, perhaps. In fact, we loved it so much, we borrowed it all for our cake shoot, over the page.

Shipp’s Tearooms, 4 Park Street, London SE1

Join the waiting list

First it was cars; then designer handbags; and now there’s even a waiting list for tea. But, just as you’re not expected to hang around for a Ford Focus, so this is not your average cup of char. In fact, there are just 32 caddies of hand-picked, limited-edition Emperor’s Choice Pearl Dew green tea available in the UK. They were made by the Japanese emperor’s personal tea-maker, Mr Yamashita of Kyoto, and the tea was served by Claridge’s to the emperor on his recent visit to London. To get your mitts on the royal brew, head for www.dragonflyteas.com , but be prepared to wait – and to pay £21.95 for just 25g.

Take 3 ingredients

Anjum Anand, presenter of the BBC2 television series Indian Food Made Easy, has this recipe for a deliciously refreshing summer lassi.

Serves 2

- 200g ripe strawberries

- 180ml good-quality plain yogurt

- 1½ tbsp sugar, or to taste

Simply blend all the ingredients together in a food processor until frothy and serve over ice.

Indian Food Made Easy is on BBC2 on Mondays at 8.30pm

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