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Venue: LAND, 30 Great Western Arcade, Colmore Row, B2 5HU; website
Choice: Six Course Taster (£39) Chooser: Jay Rayner. Yeah you heard.
As world leaders gather in Glasgow for a massive chinwag about how to stop destroying the planet, it felt right to not book a restaurant predominantly based on meaty, methaney morsels, and instead stick with plants. Plants can’t fart – that’s just a fact. In October 2020 Land received a knockout review from Jay Rayner, about four days later we went into Lockdown 2.0, which must have been pretty gut-wrenching, but it did give chef / owners Anthony and Adrian, a chance to relocate and create Land 2.0. Still within Great Western Arcade, they are knocking out plant-based food that’ll have you wondering why you spend so much time chowing down on things with hooves and beaks. If this Wednesday evening was anything to go by, Rayner's words are still ringing in the ears of the good people of Birmingham, it was packed. We went for the six-course tasting menu, which at £39 a head will leave you saying, “yes, I will have another glass of that funky, biodynamic, orange wine, please.” Now, when I say “ooh” you say “mami”. “OOH!” “MAMI!” That’s right, if you’re the sort of person who enjoys showing off foodie credentials to your dining partner, then the first course of mushrooms cooked in dashi, with a herb oil and bean curd crisps, will have you excitedly screaming “umami,” at the person opposite until they’re demanding a bottle of funky wine to drown you out. It’s big, bold and absolutely beautiful. All your other favourite veg pop-up on the menu, artichoke, celeriac and of course, the big daddy – beetroot. This was the standout course, beetroot with a red wine sauce, wasabi mousse and linseed crackers. The beet happily drenched and swimming in the robust, rich sauce. The only course we weren’t wild about was a squash sponge with a squash puree and seeds, a slightly too savoury way to end. That’s nit-picking though, five out of six bangers will have you Googling ‘allotments near me’ on your way home. If COP26 has got you thinking about reducing your meat consumption and getting passionate about plants, get yourself booked in here to find out how to do it properly. Menu
(Words: Rob Newsome)
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BLOOMING HECK, PLANTABLE CARDS
Ahhh this is a nice one, right here. Brum-based Blooming Heck is an eco-friendly and zero waste concept that bloomed out of the 2020 lockdown period. Made from seed paper, it's 100% handmade with recycled material and the cards are embedded with botanical seeds so they can be planted. Then, you can watch your message turn into flowers to help bees, pollinators and the surrounding nature. "I wanted to send my parents something to let them know I missed them," says founder Emma Stokes. "Normal online greeting cards just weren't cutting it and seemed, in a sense, a bit lifeless. Blooming Heck allows people to plant a message and watch it bloom, even throughout hard times. The idea has really taken off and I'm very grateful to all of the customers who have taken the time to leave feedback, and praise for what is still a relatively new and unique idea." Blooming Heck uses recycled envelopes and compostable vegetable starch bags to protect the products in transit. They're big into clean gift-giving without added waste. "I'm still working on more processes to make it even more eco-friendly and sustainable," adds Emma. "The past few months have been dedicated to creating wedding cards, confetti and thank you cards. Christmas cards are now available too". More
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