Afternoon tea is all the fashion

We're already thinking of ways to escape the gloom that descends after new year, and the Merrion Hotel in Dublin is coming to the rescue with Prêt-à-Portea, an afternoon tea with goodies inspired by the world's top fashion designers which will brighten up February.

The fashionista tea was created in 2006 at the Berkeley Hotel in London's Knightsbridge and to celebrate its 10th anniversary, it's going on tour. From Saturday, 28th January, to Sunday, 5th February, 2017, the Merrion will welcome the Berkeley's head pastry chef Mourad Khiat and his team, who will be in situ for the week-long event. Khiat learned his craft working in his family's bakery in Canada, but dreams of elaborate pastries took him to London, where he spends his time studying catwalk designs and turning them into patisserie. Show him a Chanel jacket or a shoe by Manolo and he automatically sees it as a biscuit or a colourful mousse.

To mark the arrival of the Dublin tea, he's added some couture cakes inspired by Irish fashion designers Louise Kennedy and Orla Kiely, which will appear with Simone Rocha, Jimmy Choo and Jason Wu pastries. A special book of the Prêt-à-Portea recipes, High Fashion Bakes & Biscuits with a collection of more than 20 recipes and baking techniques, is available with the afternoon tea.