Wareing restaurant in Birmingham revealed

Details have been released of the menu at the restaurant being overseen by Marcus Wareing (pictured) at the new £24m Hotel La Tour in Birmingham. Set to open on 30 March, the 90-seat Aalto brasserie-style restaurant within the four-star, 174-bedroom hotel will feature classic English dishes with a modern twist. Dishes will include starters of smoked beetroot tart with crème fraiche and walnuts; and celeriac and roast garlic soup with a soft poached egg. Amongst the main courses, there will be Hereford beef rib-eye steak with red wine sauce, horseradish and chips; Cornish sea bass with creamed leek, mussels and grain mustard; and field mushroom and thyme crumble with smoked applewood cheese and herb salad. The dessert menu will offer Jaffa cake pudding (warm chocolate, orange cake crumb, cream); bread and butter pudding with caramelised banana and rum cream; and a rhubarb knickerbocker glory. Prices are expected to be about £5.50 to £8.50 for starters, £11 to £16 for mains, and £5.50 for puddings. Head Chef Alex Penhaligon, who is in the final stages of planning menus with Wareing and his team, said: "Building a new restaurant concept is a really privileged position to be in - we've got a very dramatic building in the city centre and it's important that our menus live up to this vibrant setting." Online bookings are now being taken for the opening date of 30 March, while preview tables are available during the previous week, from 26 to 29 March by e-mailing aalto@hotel-latour.co.uk