© Rebecca Gibb

Fortified toothpaste

Sunday, May 26 marks the first-ever World Sherry Day, and a pair of restaurateurs are marking it with an enterprising scheme.

London Underground users were rather perplexed at the sight of two young men carrying a sink on the train on Monday morning.

London International Wine Fair attendees were even more confused when the pair alighted at the exhibition center and proceeded to set up their equipment on the Gonzalez Byass stand.

Then the news spread: the pair had concocted sherry brand Tio Pepe's latest offering: toothpaste.

Invented by Dorset-based young restaurateur James Fowler and his award-winning bartender Joel Whitmore, the toothpaste wasn't created to take on Colgate or Sensodyne. The pre-dinner palate cleanser reeks of Heston Blumenthal rather than an orthodontist.

Instead of an amuse bouche or bread bun, customers at The Larderhouse can start dinner with the fino-flavored toothpaste.

"The last thing you do before you leave the house is brush your teeth, and you arrive at the restaurant and have your first glass of wine and it tastes of toothpaste – so this combats the problem," Fowler told Wine-Searcher.

The ingredients of the toothpaste are under wraps, but the pair reveal that there's a "healthy dose" of Tio Pepe fino, as well as apple juice, elderflower and menthol.

The restaurant is a big supporter of sherry and its cocktail list reflects the staff's love of the Spanish fortified wine. For example, Whitmore's "Refreshing Blend" is a combination of Hennessy Fine De Cognac, Earl Grey tea, Apostoles Palo Cortado, honey, and HB Vanilla Bitters. It took the top prize at a recent Hennessy cocktail competition.

Those looking for something a little more sultry could try the restaurant's "Black Velvet," made up of Johnnie Walker Double Black, PX Sherry, Vermouth and Orange Bitters, and Lapsang Souchong with oak and orange smoke.

While the much-traveled sink was filled with toothbrushes and fino-flavored toothpaste at the London fair, in the future sherry nerds will have to take a trip to Dorset if they want to give it a go. Or maybe Tio Pepe will make it the new must-have item in its portfolio.