Having been to both evening parties and general admission days there, there's something particularly lovely about heading to Chelsea Flower Show on press day that no amount of driving rain cancels out. What the hell's Chelsea got to do with restaurants, you might ask? Turns out quite a lot, not least the number of foodie folk it attracts. Hot Dinners spotted the Editor of the Observer Food Monthly (and keen floral instagrammer) Allan Jenkins, food writer Nigel Slater and chef Raymond Blanc all tramping down Main Avenue to gaze at the beautiful gardens.
Two wine companies in particular are closely associated with the show. Laurent Perrier is both a sponsor of the show and responsible for a show garden, so expect no shortage of opportunities to enjoy a glass of their bubbly if you're visiting over the coming days. This year, their garden was designed by Dan Pearson (who's also going to be designing the Garden Bridge across the Thames) and was inspired by Chatsworth.
The other key winery involved in Chelsea is Cloudy Bay and their garden this year certainly had the most jaw-dropping gadget - a summerhouse on rails that could be moved around its garden to catch the sun over the course of the day. [Watch the video on our own Instagram feed]. Perfect planning for enjoying a glass of their Sauvignon Blanc you might say.
Moving on, we next bumped into Jersey chef Shaun Rankin who was cooking up a BBQ storm on a state-of-the-art Sub Zero and Wolf BBQ range at the stand for Gaze Burzell outdoor kitchens. Rankin - who has two big openings hitting London over the next 12 months or so - served up oysters with oyster mayonnaise and pickled cucumber, lobster with avocado and seared scallops, all of which went down rather well with the Laurent Perrier, despite it being barely 10-o'clock in the morning.
If you're heading there yourself this week, if/when the British summer gives way to rain, duck into the Grand Pavilion where the Floristry section this year features two London hotels - the Intercontinental Park Lane and the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel. We loved the Alice in Wonderland look of the afternoon tea-inspired floral displays here.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs from 19-23 May 2015.
Chelsea Flower Show dishes and drinks
We pick the show-inspired items hitting menus at bars and restaurants around London to tie in with the Chelsea Flower Show.
