From Tammy Facey.
In between a luxe high-quality food emporium, and a cost-aware high-quality patisserie lies my foodie fantasy. Decent prices and exquisite food seems too good to be true, especially for food on the go. Ideal you say? Well enter Taylors of Harborne Fine Food Emporium. It’s a chic Devonshire sandwich shop meets a cool Soho deli stores. Full of foodstuffs to tickle your taste-buds, for the intolerant Gluten Free (GF) sufferers there are a number of basic supplies on offer from GF flour, to GF pasta and spiced orange polenta cake. There are hand-made jams and chutneys that just invite your taste buds.
The deli also has, like any good deli should, a selection of meats, breads and cheeses (I will get to the cheese counter in a minute), to make up your own sandwich. There are also a selection of herbal teas, clotted cream, flavoured oils, a foodie’s dream right? Perhaps, I hear you grumble, but savoury isn’t everything. I must talk about the cakes that caught my eye as soon as I walked into the wooden-floored, airy deli, that gave a gentle “Afternoon”!
Not a fan of the cupcakes that seem to be everywhere? You know the ones I mean, the heavily-frosted-much-publicised ones? Well, Taylors offer the most divine aversion with medium sized muffin-come-cupcakes that are meet in the middle bites of heaven! All handmade in the shop, the cupcakes have the lightness of muffins but the shape of a cupcake, with impressive decoration to rival the top tiers. From raspberry and orange to blueberry and chocolate, these could easily be the new favourites.
However, my favourite part of the new deli has to be the cheese selection. After avoiding dairy for at least five years because of a misdiagnosis I have only recently found out that I can enjoy dairy. So, as you can imagine, the cheese counter was like a fashionista feasting upon Christian Louboutin’s private collection.
The owner, Russel Taylor, even said he doesn’t ‘do’ cheddar because, frankly, you can get it anywhere. Instead he specialises in local produce, all British cheeses that are all equally unique. From the ‘red’ Wensleydale (which is more like pink), and double Worcester to the blackberry Stilton they are all yummy. I went home with a few 100g’s of the blackberry one.
With my cheese in my bag and a smile on my face I couldn’t walk away without a chat from the warm and passionate owner. Russel gave a friendly hello and had a brief chat with just about every customer that came in to the shop. Not the over-bearing shop assistant kind though, the ‘I know what I’m talking about and can give you advice about the food you’re looking at’ kind. He radiated happiness and joy as he spoke about where he got the idea to open up shop. Saying “I’m one of those people who can’t go past a deli without spending 30 quid” I felt instantly at ease.
With Russel who hand-makes the food that you buy, knowledge behind him about the food he cooks with, from the details about how the food is made to the flavours and what it goes with, Taylor’s of Harborne Fine Food Emporium is worth a visit. Even if you don’t buy anything the happy-go-lucky, but easy atmosphere is infectious. You will leave with a smile on your face. I did.
Taylors of Harborne
180 High St
Harborne
Birmingham B17 9PP
