London's first sherry bar: Bar Pepito

I am a sucker for invitations; launch parties, red carpet, front row - hey, even back row - and I'm there. It's partly because of an ingrained over-achiever ticklist I can't seem to shake, but also an insatiable curiousity. I like to know what's going on and I love learning new things. I realised last year you can't say yes to everything (without physical and mental health sufferance!) so I have started to be more selective. Before this starts sounding too much like some kind of dating profile, the point is that two weeks ago I got an invitation that was far too tempting: the pre-launch party for London's first sherry bar, Bar Pepito. It's a joint project between Bar Camino (of which it now completes the courtyard in Kings Cross) and Gonzalez Byass, who own the Tio Pepe and Pedro Ximenez brands.

I first encountered the masterminds behind this new adventure at their sherry exploration event last Summer where Ollie kindly let me tag along as his +1. It was here that I discovered sherry was good for more than just trifle and teeny crystal glasses for Granny at Christmas.

Andrew from Gonzalez Byass and I have been chatting since then about a port, sherry and chocolate tasting that we're going to run this year (let me know if you're interested!) and have run the first of our practise sessions (read: we sat down and ate lots of chocolate and drank lots of good wine and called it research! Hey, we took notes!). I figured this was as good an excuse as any to get more familiar with the wines.



Walking into the tiny room that is Bar Pepito is like stepping into Spain. Andrew and his colleagues spent a week exploring Spain and visiting their vineyards hijacking authentic memorabilia, tiles and prints to decorate the room (not bad fir a week's work!). This includes an incredible picture of Picasso with a bottle of Tio Pepe and the table tops are barrel lids from genuine sherry barrels.




It was great to catch up with Andrew and Martin from GB and Richard and his team from Bar Camino (and now Bar Pepito), a really inspiring bunch. The sherry flowed all evening and even the staff felt like we were in a small, family-owned tapas bar in Spain; they weren't Spanish but the knew the sherries intimately and did an impressive job of taking people through the journey from the dry Tio Pepe (the wine with thelowest sugar content in the world - great for the lack of calories, people) to the raisiny, far too moreish Pedro Ximenez (completely at the other end of the scale). There were tapas but we weren't too be distracted from the drinking, though what we saw come into other people's hands looked delicious - manchego, jamon carved from the leg at the bar. It was a mistake to forgo this as there's not much around in Kings Cross at midnight (when we left to find food). Bar Simmons (another funky small bar nearby) do let you order delivery to the bar though (just in case you're ever in the same position...).

It properly opens this Friday night. I'm sure it will be consistently crowded, but that's part of the fun, right?

My foodie family - styling and lamingtons.

OK, I think we gathered from my previous post that my family is not actually particularly foodie. Though whenever I visit Melbourne my brother and I always go out to at least one really good restaurant and he now has three kids who are proving to be quite fond of food.

Before I elaborate, my littlest niece would like to say hello to her adoring fans (check out that Queen wave!):

I ended up with tons of photos of her in her high chair - the place where she was most often found still enough to capture, and happy as well.

So now I have two nieces and a nephew who are into food (quite literally in Lila's case!) and I was excited to discover my nephew shaping up to be a food stylist in the making. I remember cooking with him and his sister years ago (they were 2 and 4 at the time) and he showed considerably more aptitude and patience for it than his otherwise more coordinated older sister. On this visit, when he noticed me taking pictures of food he offered up his own meals, styling first a hot chocolate at Cuppa Cottage (very cute little bakery in Sandringham with yummy cakes and savoury pastries - I spotted the Ottolenghi cookbook and some of the recipes oin the cabinet). By the end of my trip he was carefully plating up his BBQ and salad for my approval. Gorgeous!

Hot chocolate before and after Tom's handiwork.

I only cooked once with the kids, lamingtons at their request. Between the three of us we managed to coat the whole kitchen and ourselves with chocolate icing and coconut. Fortunately we made them straight from the pool in our swimming costumes but the kids still had to wipe their feet before they could even leave the kitchen. Great fun but allow an hour for clean up afterwards! To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of lamingtons (or vegemite - see, I am English!), but they are quintessentially Australian and must be tried. Anzac biscuits, however, are scrumptious, but frankly the lamington adventure didn't really encourage me to bake with them again, especially when the sun was shining outside!

The recipe we used:




I didn't eat out much in Australia but a post on the few places I did go plus the chocolate scene are on the way....

Homemade Tartare Sauce

I'm writing this post from my mother's computer in her classroom. She brought me in to meet her class and now that I've been introduced and I have bragged about how I have the coolest job in the world (ah, something about being inside a room papered with Times Tables and the alphabet has my maturity regressing to pre-adolescence), I've been tasked with getting cashback on the netbook she generously bought for me (thanks, mum!), as she sits on the carpet and helps her charges learn to tell the time. Being a school, all of the decent websites are blocked so I can't access Gmail, Twitter or Facebook to find out what's going on in the world. For whatever reason, blogger has not been blocked so, now that I've printed the requisite form, I feel free to whitter away the time. Unfortunately my half-written posts and pictures are not on this pc so instead of backtracking over the more interesting events I've not yet written about from the past few months, I just thought I'd say a brief hello to the world and a quick comment on regressing and food in the back of beyond.

I learnt how to cook out of necessity. I prepared a dish to go alongside my mum's chips (my mum makes the best chips) earlier this week. If you've ever seen The Castle, the reaction I got for courgettes and cannellini beans with garlic, parsley and lemon, was almost exactly like Daryl's response to everything his wife cooked:
"What's this, love?"
"Aw, that's just sponge cake, love, it came out of a packet."
"Wow. You're amazing. I am the luckiest man in the world to have a wife that can cook like this."
These are not exact quotes. It's been a while since I watched it and, yes, you really have to watch it to get it.

Anyways, they were suitably impressed that I'd managed to make something out of the next-to-nothing in the cupboards. It's flattering, but frustrating. I have informed my dear mother that I need to go to the supermarket on the way back from school. "What for?" Um... because there are no other meals I can make out of what's in the cupboards and from the vegie garden. At least, not enough to feed five people a coherent meal that will fill them up. Cousin and his lovely wife are heading down from Sydney and I want to be able to feed them and the baby-on-the-way. Plus I want to be able to make a birthday cake with unsalted butter, not margarine.

Last night my dad took my mum and I out for her birthday dinner. I was tempted to offer to cook but didn't want to rain on his parade. So we went to dine at the pub with the balcony and beautiful view. The menu options were typical of an Australian pub: Chicken Schnitzel, Chicken Parmagiana, Steak, Reef and Turf, Calamari, Fish & Chips and Seafood Basket.

The Fish and Chips were described as "beer-battered, locally-caught gummy shark served with chips, salad, homemade tartare sauce and a wedge of lemon". Oh how I wish I could get the picture from my iphone to plug in here so you could see the plate with its two plastic servings of Masterfoods' tartare sauce, and no lemon. When I asked for lemon I was told there wasn't any. I asked behind the bar and managed to get a few water-logged slices. The chips began their life as frozen oven-fries. No surprise we decided not to stay for dessert. We went home and they had a few of the Charbonnel et Walker truffles I bought for her. I had Milo. Definitely regressing. :-)

Ah well, at least the scenery was pretty!

Lex Eat... the best fish pie ever

After my dalliance into underground restaurants last Summer with an afternoon tea at Ms Marmite Lover's (in conjunction with Lavender Bakery) I'd been keen to try more of London's supperclubs but was too busy (read: slack) to get around to it. I did look into organising a private party last December but gave up and hosted my own mince pies and mulled wine evening at home. Most of my friends were keen though so when I saw that Alexis of Lex Eat was starting up her own supper club I booked a table of ten and then sent a blanket email to the people who'd attended the mince pie evening. The places were quickly snapped up.

The gorgeous Lex and her equally gorgeous partner Y put on a fabulous evening. It was exactly everything that, in my mind, supperclubs should be: delicious, homecooked food, friendly hosts and a cosy, jovial atmosphere. They have a gorgeous flat perfect for the number of people there (18, I think) and everything ran incredibly smoothly, from being greeted at the door and having our coats taken and hung up and immediately offered a glass of delicious sparkling to the end of the evening having cabs home booked for us. The only negative was that going with such a large group meant I barely spoke to all the people I knew, let alone the other lovely people, and I think that is one of the nicest part about these home restaurants.

I'll let the pictures tell you more about the evening:

funky table decorations

delicious homemade tortellini and pesto

the BEST fish pie I've ever tasted. flaky pastry and rich, creamy filling with smoked haddock and cod; the potato on the side was fabulous too.

a pre-dessert of coconut and lime sorbet - very special

a plate of 3 desserts (I was very happy!): lemon cheesecake, turkish delight and brownie.

The Turkish Delight was polarising amongst our group. Some thought it was the most amazing thing ever and others hated it. I was definitely in the former. It was original and delicately flavoured and the Persian fairy floss (candy floss) was a great addition (not to mention very pretty!).

Congrats and thanks to Lex for a fantastic evening and best of luck for the rest of them! I'm booked for Fernandez and Leluu in February and thinking I might have to get to one a month in 2010... Suggestions welcome!

Divine Divine Divine Chocolate Cocktails

It was a couple of months ago now that I crossed paths with Mathilde Of Mathilde's cuisine and she mentioned a Divine chocolate cocktail evening that she had revently attended. "um, sorry, a what cocktail evening?!". Thankfully she informed me that they had mentioned having another one and if they did she would tell them to invite me. Phew.

Mathilde is a girl of her word. Last December I was cordially invites to attend a Divine Chocolate Cocktail evening. Now, anyone who has been on a chocolate tour will know I prefer to eat my chocolate than drink it, and I was on unfortunately on antibiotics this particular evening. But I had to try at least one (and then a LOT of the chocolate truffles). There were two cocktails on offer and I opted for the berry version over the coffee option, and it really was Divine. I was so tempted to drink more. It somehow managed just the right blend of chocolate with the fruit and the alcohol to be easy to drink but still chocolatey enough to know there was chocolate in it. Slightly reminiscent of the icy chocolate drink L'Artisan make in the Summer (and actually a little like the one from Godiva too, though Artisan may be upset for me including them both in the same sentence!). Apparently the Sanderson is going to keep them on their menu. Hooray. I'll definitely be back in the Summer.

I had obviously heard of Divine before this evening but I had never made a special effort to taste their chocolate or learn more. It's my understanding that really fine quality chocolate requires a close relationship with the grower where they do get paid a premium for making the effort to grow quality beans. Therefore, I patted myself on the back for choosing superb chocolate where the farmers did get paid enough too. The reality is not everyone will choose to spend as much on chocolate as I do and it is fantastic that there is a company that is going to extended lengths to make sure that everyone who helps to get the chocolate in our hands is justly compensated for their efforts. What surprised me particularly in tasting the truffles made by David, Divine's account manger but also a former chef, was just how good they were. Incredibly moreish. A little secret I learnt that evening was that some other chocolate companies that sell bars in our supermarkets add cocoa back into their blend because they believe people expect the bitterness in 70% chocolate. Divine don't do this and thus have a smoother tasting chocolate that's pretty darn good for a high street brand. The people in the company are pretty lovely too. Not to mention you can eat it and feel good about helping the families who helped to produce it.


Earl Grey and White Chocolate with a dash of Tequila.
Delicious.

Goodbye 2009

I will remember it mostly as the year of eating. Ah...

I set a goal at the beginning of the year to eat in at least three Michelin starred restaurants. During two weeks in September I ate in six.

Never let it be said that goals cannot be achieved!

I haven't worked out yet what the total for the year is. It truly was an amazing year of eating. I was quick to learn that Michelin did not necessarily mean delicious, nor did lack of mean that it wouldn't be a fabulous meal. The Michelin mission was punctuated in October with the ultimate pilgrimage El Bulli. No, I still haven't blogged about it (I will), but it was an incredible experience that I am still thanking the lovely Trissa in Sydney for allowing me to go in her place.

Petit Fours at El Bulli: Just for 2 of us. I've been carrying this picture on my BlackBerry and showing anyone and everyone. Being presented with this (17 different types of chocolate!) was a definite highlight of 2010 ;-) .

I've been pretty irregular at blogging this year, ditto for newsletters to people who have signed up at Chocolate Ecstasy Tours. I would love to do more of both in 2010 but I know better than to make promises about that! I will be making resolutions, but one of the things I have learnt in the last few years is to focus on doing fewer things well, and then move onto the other stuff.

2009 was a year I went to the cinema just once, but I managed the ballet, concerts, theatre, comedy, opera, a music festival, Wimbledon, the polo and lots of eating. How cultured.

2009 was also a year I attended 4 Weddings, and a Funeral. There was a second funeral, but I didn't make it to the other hemisphere for that one.

All but one of those five events was family-centred. Strange for me, when it seems that as I get older, and especially living so far from my immediate family, it is friends, and extended relatives, who are stepping into the breach of my immediate family's physical distance. I feel so fortunate to have so many amazing relationships here in London. It is most definitely home.

I am very much looking forward to visiting my immediate family, and my other home again in just four weeks. It's especially exciting as this will also be my first full week off since November 2008. Working full time and running tours on many weekend days, and fitting in emails and bookkeeping around all that... it's been a long, but incredibly satisfying year.

Apart from the weddings in Bahrain and Serbia and a long weekend in Morocco, the only travel I managed in 2009 was with work (to be fair, these were lovely trips to Scotland, Ireland, Jersey and Spain). 2010 will be the year I travel more (she says, ambitiously). I am starting with this break in Oz in February and over Easter I'm heading to Madagascar to visit Chocolate Plantations. (Excited!)

2009 was definitely a year of change. The end of a relationship, moving house and postcode, resignation for a new job for 2010... I'm blessed to be able to walk away from all of that with excellent friendships. And I am looking forward to more adventures in 2010!

On the business side, there are four exciting things planned for Chocolate Ecstasy Tours this year:

1. A BRAND NEW website for www.chocolateecstasytours.com. Complete with new logos! The site will be live by Easter (hopefully sooner!)

2. The first International Chocolate Ecstasy Tour! In November I'll be organising a trip to Grenada and St Lucia. We'll visit plantations and factories and also have free time for the beach and mountains. If you're interested in joining me please email me at tours [at] chocolateecstasytours.com

3. Blind Chocolate Tasting as a Charity Fundraiser for Sense UK. To be held in May/June. More details to come!

4. A new walking tour in the Notting Hill area. I'm hoping this will get off the ground (well, on the ground!) in March. Watch this space...

In other exciting news I have finally set up a Facebook Fan page for Chocolate Ecstasy Tours. I'd love it if you joined!

Wishing you a year full of love, joy, good health, laughter, adventures and great chocolate!

xx

Chocolate for Charity

One of the best things about running my own business is that I can help out charities by offering something of value for auctions and raffles.

And one of the nicest things about using Twitter is feeling the sense of community and charity that exists amongst the other food enthusiasts: bloggers, journalists, small business owners, restaurants and PR people. So many big-hearted people who have donated their time and the fruits of their labour to help other people over the last few months (and more, I'm sure). The world is a better place because of these people.

A few weeks ago I attended the amazing Blaggers' Banquet organised by Niamh, Kavey, Sig and many, many others. Having organised and managed events in a former life I was impressed when the first meeting for this event was just 2 1/2 weeks ahead of the actual date. There were so many people at that first meeting all ready to volunteer that we realised not everyone would actually be able to help on the night, or we wouldn't be able to fit the punters! I was convinced the night would sell out and as well as volunteering to help I bought the first pair of tickets, thinking I was absolutely going to make sure I was there, somehow, and if I was needed to help I'd sell or give the tickets to someone else. As it happened I couldn't find anyone free on the evening and we already had one server for every six people, plus an abundance of other helpers so I was privileged to be able to dine at the Banquet. It was inspiring how everyone pulled together to make an incredible evening that raised thousands of pounds for Action Against Hunger on the night and through the ebay auction that is still going on here.

It was a wonderful evening held at Hawksmoor London who kindly donated the space. You can read more about it on @Tehbus's blog and Fiona Beckett's blog and Wahaca's blog. The food was incredible, the company interesting and entertaining and @TimHayward's auctioneering skills were superb.

Since then, two weeks ago I was alerted to Menu for Hope, another food blogger organised mission to raise money to help relieve world hunger via World Food Program, headed by David Lebovitz in Paris and Chez Pim in San Francisco. Menu for Hope is now in its fourth year and both this and Blaggers' Banquet take a huge amount of totally voluntary time from wonderful people and so I wanted to give something more special than just a pair of tickets for a Chocolate Ecstasy Tour. At the Blaggers' Banquet Craig Linton won a private Chelsea chocolate tour and you have the chance to do the same via Menu for Hope. It's valid until the end of September 2010 and I will be the guide for you and three friends. All the money raised goes to World Food Program. There are tons of other amazing prizes and they have already raised more than $12,000! Dig deep, people.

More exciting for me on a personal level, I had a wonderful meeting last week with Sense, a charity that supports Deaf & Blind people. Not long after I first arrived in the UK I was accosted by one of the charity people on the street. In these early days in London I didn't realise the done thing was to smile and walk past quickly. When I heard what the charity was for it touched a nerve and despite the fact that I didn;t have a job yet I decided to sign up to give £6 a month. I read Helen Keller's book when I was really small and, for me, it was incredibly inspirational. A tale that can't help but make you overwhelmingly grateful for everything you have. Her most-repeated quote is one that drives most of my decisions: "Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."

I digress. When Celia from Sense contacted me, instead of just asking for a donation as so many charities do, she proposed we collaborate to raise money and awareness. So much more powerful. I am so excited from our meeting. We brainstormed a plan for a blindfolded chocolate tasting in May 2010. I'll be donating my time and I hope some chocolatiers will donate chocolates for the event and everything we raise from selling tickets and auctioning chocolates will go towards support for deaf and blind people in the UK. What a great way to raise money and also increase empathy. Watch this space!

I'll leave you with two other quotes from Helen Keller I found that I think are pretty poignant and relevant:

"It is hard to interest those who have everything in those who have nothing."

and one, more hopeful, that epitomises everything all of the wonderful blogger and Twitter community have been doing:

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."

In case I don't get a chance to update this again in the next few days: Merry Christmas, everyone. xx

Whirlwind Chocolate & Pastry Adventure in Barcelona

Pintxo. Look out for this guy to find the best stall for tapas in La Boqueria

I rather ambitiously thought I could see all that was good in food in Barcelona in one night and one day. Ha.

Not surprisingly due to the amount of sugar I ate in my five-dessert dinner the previous night, I woke up pretty early for my chocolate and patisserie adventure so I went for a quick run (not even remotely enough to offset all the sweet stuff, but hey, I tried).

The view from my perch at Pintxo. I loved this stall owner (and you can see the Xuixos just behind him!).

First stop when I left the hotel properly was Barcelona's food market La Boqueria. Spotting a spare stool at the bar Pintxo which was recommended by Brett of In Praise of Sardines I jumped on it, even though it was 11am and perhaps too early to eat the recommended squid in cuttlefish ink. Never! This was truly one of the best dishes I ate in 2009. The squid was so tender and the salty ink so flavoursome. Eaten with just a broken half-baguette handed to me by the jovial stall owner I devoured the whole lot and mopped my plate with the last mouthful of bread.

My dish of squid and beans at Pintxo in La Boqueria. Ugly, but so good!

During my brunch ecstasy I observed many locals purchase the pastries from the pile in front of me. I had to follow the pack. I barely stepped away from the market before I reached into the bag and tore off a chunk of this doughnut which oozed custard. Oh...... More ecstasy. It was greasy and sugary, but in such a good way, unlike the others I picked up later in the day. Like the squid, this was damn good. It brought back memories of a similar pastry (I think they're called Xuixos) that I encountered in a patisserie on my last day of a six week trip around Spain during university. It's fortunate it was my last day otherwise I might have put on even more than the 11kg I did! (I did try to locate the same patisserie but had no luck.)

My xuixo after the first bite. Nom.

I felt so prepared with my map and list of everywhere worth in eating in Barcelona and it started out so well. My first stop after La Boqueria was Escriba. One of the oldest patisseries in Barcelona and apparently Ferran Adria's favourite. I should have got the croissant because I was underwhelmed by the choices I did make: more grease than flavour.

Escriba on Las Ramblas
Sweet pastry with pine nuts from Escriba (not so special)
More pastries from Escriba (I didn't try - sorry!)

First chocolate stop: Cacao Sampaka

Chocolates from Cacao Sampaka

I got told off for taking pictures in here so this is a photo I took later at home. There are a few Cacao Sampakas around Barcelona. The one I went into was large and included a small cafe at the back. If I was capable at this point of eating anymore I might have stopped. But I wasn't, so I just got chocolate to take away.

The shop assistant I spoke to was insistent they made their own chocolate in Barcelona. They did stock a range of origin bars and some flavoured bars, as well as chocolate in every other form, so it's possible this was true. I bought a box of 16 truffles and 2 origin bars and a flavoured bar. I haven't tried the origin ones yet but I wasn't overly impressed by the chocolate truffles, or the blackberry flavoured bar. The chocolates are fine but have a slightly gluey texture that gives away the sugar syrup used to extend their shelf-life and the taste just didn't quite cut it for me. When I finally try the origin bars I'll report back!

Unfortunately by the time I got to my second chocolate shop on my carefully planned route, Enric Rovira, I realised my failure in not checking opening times. As I arrived the lights were switched off and the shutter was being lowered. Nooo...! It was only 2pm! The shop assistant was not interested in my pleas. Hmph.

The lid of the box of Oriol Balageurs chocolate truffles. Isn't it brilliant? It's like it was made for me.

Not far from Enric Rovira's boutique was the smaller of Oriol Balaguer's shops, really just a store room off the main kitchen. The girl who helped me there was one of the chocolatiers, dressed in her chef's whites. I got a sneak look at the kitchen but unfortunately they weren't making anything. It transpired that this wasn't the real shop, and though she could sell me things from there, there was more to see at the real boutique. So I kept walking (surely must have burnt off the calories at this point). Oriol's actual boutique is small, but gorgeous and filled with deliciousness. Like Pierre Herme in Paris, I discovered Oriol Balageur makes great chocolate but excellent pastries. His biscuits with raspberries were possibly the nicest chocolate item I tasted all year and I wish I had tried them in the shop and realised this, because it isn't possible to order them online. And his little petit fours were just so good. The shell chocolates are great, but I wouldn't travel to Spain for them. The shells are unnecessarily thick for my taste.

Oriol Balaguer truffles, as seen under their protective plastic coating. They look like fossils reading for filing!

Oriol Balaguer window display of petits fours. He makes larger cakes too. How I wished I had somewhere to go to take one. Or that it would survive the journey back to London for my birthday lunch the next day.

The little box of petits fours I bought from Oriol Balageur and had hoped might survive to share at lunch. Unfortunately they were completely smushed before I even got on the plane, so only one friend got to try any.

My final chocolate stop was Xocoa. More novelty than real chocolate shop it still sold an interesting range. I'm afraid I still haven't tried the Wasabi and Raspberry bars I bought from here. The chocolate biscuit cake and two muffins I bought (actually, one was given to me by the lovely store assistant, but don't tell her boss) were tasty enough, if a little over-sweet.

Looking into Xocoa from outside.

Some of the Xocoa bars.

OB's patissier who I spoke to recommended me to another shop, called Dolc (Sweet, in Catalan), that is a 20minute train journey from Barcelona. Unfortunately not enough time for me to get there and back in time for my flight back to London. I will have to return and visit there and Enric Rovira. Hopefully I'll also make it to the two tapas bars that I schlepped to only to find them BOTH not serving and have a proper look around the Chocolate Museum. *sigh* The things we have to do in the name of research...

So, who's up for coming with me next time?

Espai Sucre - Dessert restaurant in Barcelona

Since I first heard about this dessert only restaurant in Barcelona I have been dying to visit, or the one in New York. That's right, folks, DESSERT ONLY!! So when a work trip to Spain finished on a Friday I decided to extend my stay by 24 hours and fly to Barcelona to eat at this mythical restaurant where your tasting menu keeps serving up dishes that are sweet. I was also pretty keen to get to Oriol Balaguer and some of the other hot chocolatiers of Barcelona.

I emailed Espai Sucre the day of my arrival and was delighted with their prompt reply that yes, they could offer me a table for one.

When I arrived I could see why it was so easy to get a booking. There was only one other table occupied in the room, with an English couple. Hmmm, ok. Fair enough, dessert only restaurants aren't going to be EVERYONE'S cup of tea. (I suppose...)

The Maitre'd was very pleasant and had perfect English (and Spanish, French and Portuguese). There are tasting menus with savoury courses as well but I took the view that olives and beetroot featuring in the ingredients counted as my veg and I should just go for the BIG dessert menu (5 courses). The Maitre'd even let me switch one of the desserts for another one. Disappointingly, the restaurant appears to be sponsored by Cocoa Barry and, while I don't dislike Cocoa Barry chocolate it's not spectacular so I also steered clear of the Chocolate Menu. The one chocolate dessert that appeared later made me glad I did.

The first course had me so excited; interesting combinations with intense, fresh, fruit flavours with great contrast in textures. That's a liquorice foam you see below, the combination of apple, liquorice and salty yoghurt were superb.


“Marialuisa” cold soup with green apple and spicy yoghurt ice cream

Sadly, this dish was the exception to an otherwise ordinary “meal” as the courses got progressively more weird.


Red wine "baba",pear and saffron

This red wine sponge tasted like soggy, slightly bitter bread. The cubes were pear jelly and fried parmesan; the latter, sadly, were over-crisped and mostly just tasted burnt. The red wine sorbet was nice, as were the cubes of pear, but couldn't lift the sogginess of the centre piece.


"Idiazábal" cake with cherry + beet and black beer
This dish had one good component: the crumbled dry chocolate cookie, though it was full of cacao nibs so I didn't finish (so I might have a hope of sleeping later). The cherry layer underneath was pretty nice too, but lost with the white oblong that was a smoked cheese cake. Ick. Equally ick was the quenelle of beetroot sorbet, tasting of, surprise, surprise, frozen beetroot juice. Why would you? The black beer foam also was just as described, but again did nothing for the dish. Where was the thought behind this? A selection of bizarre components that together became worse than their individual parts.


Extra virgin olive oil cake, white peach, green olive and “San Simón”
Another failure of soggy cake. The peach jelly cube and peach sorbet were sublime though. Why the chef thought a green olive caramel crisp, green olive slick of sauce and goats cheese cream would add to this, I have no idea.


Empyreumatic 2
This dish was a feature of coffee, tea and chocolate. The earl grey granita tasted like old tea that had stewed for too long, the crisp was burnt and the milk chocolate mousse just highlighted that they should have opted for a better quality chocolate than Cocoa Barry. Sigh. I remember liking the jelly parts but I can't remember if they were coffee or liquorice. There was just way too much going on.


At least the petit fours had some highlights. The bayleaf and pineapple slushie was delicious and the black pepper marshmallow was excellent too. I wasn't so keen on the curried biscuit.

Sadly, my excitement for eating in a dessert only restaurant had been punctured by reality. You would think if a restaurant if going to focus on sweets it would have some sensational offerings. My suggestion? Save your money and just order some extra desserts in one of Barcelona’s other fantastic restaurants. Maybe one of the heaving ones I walked past on my way to this barren space. Then you’ll get a better atmosphere as well.

Launch of Thornton's Metropolitan Chocolate Box

I'm waaaay behind with this blog. So busy doing things, no time to write about them! I did catch up on a few words on a recent plane journey, now just need to add some pictures and put them up here. So here goes with the first of these...



A few weeks ago I was invited to the Thornton’s launch of their new Metropolitan box, held, coincidentally, at the Metropolitan Hotel. I’d had a sneak preview of some of the chocolates early in the Summer when I’d been invited with a small selection of other chocolate fiends to taste the products in their development and offer feedback. I was pretty keen to see what the final selection looked like.

Still recovering from food poisoning, I dragged myself from bed to see what they had to say. I couldn’t really eat anything on the night, nor indulge in the free champagne and cocktails, but fortunately (along with the other guests) I was given a box to take home. I should say up front, I’m not a regular Thornton’s customer. When I have such easy access to amazing chocolates, Thornton’s doesn’t really get a look in (though I did buy their toffee-chocs pretty regularly when I first moved back to the UK, and still enjoy them now). I was intrigued when they hired Keith Hurdman, formerly of Melt, and before that many other chocolate companies and schools, to be their head of development. Keith and I had some interesting conversations about the need to stay relevant to your core customers while keeping up with new trends and the change in the market place. I understand it took a while to convince Thornton's to launch a chilli bar, but its success paved the way for more freedom in his designs. Some of his other new bars I was involved in giving bronze awards at the Academy of Chocolate Awards earlier this year (all anonymously in blind tastings).



There are some great chocolates in this box. I understand they have lost some of their magic in the transfer from the development kitchen to the production line, but the literally melt-in-the-mouth Manhattan Melts and Midnight Melts and the praline are both good for a Thornton’s box. (The production line is itself a pretty magical place, it’s like being in Willy Wonka’s factory, but that’s another story for another blog post!)

If you’re a real chocolate aficionado you won’t be blown over by the Metropolitan box, but it is strides ahead of most of their other offerings. And, if you have a grandmother like mine, who still thinks Thornton’s is the ultimate in expensive, quality chocolate you might help to introduce her to the new world of more interesting chocolates through a brand she trusts and understands.

Le Ecole Internationale de Patisserie, Perpignan

I woke up in France, fell asleep in Spain and, betwixt and between, tasted 11 desserts, multiple chocolate and caramels at Le Ecole Internationale de Patisserie, and ate 35 courses at El Bulli, the *best* restaurant in the world, followed by a petit four cabinet of 17 different types of chocolates.

Yes, this was a very happy day.

The El Bulli post is still to come, but first: some pictures taken at Le Ecole Internationale de Patisserie in Perpignan, France. Drool over these, my friends....



My favourite was the chocolate one to the left of the apple. It had a layer of caramelised banana between the chocolate sponge base and chocolate mousse.


Apricot with peanut praline. Ick. This one was not for me.


Saint Honore Possibly my favourite. Pistachio mousse and berries and pastry and oh, just goodness...



Check out the inside of this apple creation!
Apple mousse, raw and cooked apple marmalade, ginger biscuit base.



Coconut and mango with white chocolate and caramel and biscuit. This one was also delicious. zingy and fresh, while deliciously creamy.




And, in the other room - the class my friend wasn't in - the chocolates:



Heaven, people, this was heaven. The best bit? We were allowed to take what we wanted from the chocolate room! I felt like Gretel being given permission to eat the gingerbread house. A childhood fantasy come to life.