I spent 12.30pm to 8pm today at the local tennis club watching my husband win both of his matches - men's singles and doubles! He's a happy man. I always have chocolate with me but today I should have left it behind - it totally melted!
I've had a spectacular week in this gorgeous sunshine hosting six tours and two chocolate and cognac pairing sessions. You really want to come next time. We tried three Frapin cognacs ranging from £45 to £120 a bottle! They were incredible and I was never really fussed about cognac before.
Tuesday's tours I led was a full day cake innovation tour which I could choose 5 delicious things all on its own but I'm going to exclude that day completely from this list. If next week is quiet I'll probably pop back in and get the best of them again.
WEEK 15 ending Sunday 8th July 2018 - LONDON
- The first interesting delicious sweet thing that comes to mind was dessert last night at supperclub The Waterhouse Project. Chef Gabriel Waterhouse used to work at two Michelin-starred restaurants and it showed. There were seven delicious courses with paired wines (my favourite wine which I'll be buying again was the Casal st Maria Arinto (2014)). The most extraordinary course was the perfectly balanced poached apricots with Brillat-Savarin white chocolate ganache, filo crustade, frozen honey yoghurt and a sprinkle of pistachios. I'm not the biggest fan of apricots but this was WONDERFUL.
- The burger I mentioned last week that I'd be trying was a special collaboration between Shake Shack and Hometown Bar-b-que from Brooklyn. It was fantastic and will be on all month but I was even more crazy for their collaborative Smoked Caramel Bourbon Milkshake. Go and get it!
- I had to stop myself from finishing that milkshake as I was heading to a soft launch dinner at Gazelle in Mayfair which officially opens tomorrow. It's pricey and its short menu requires you to be a relatively non-fussy eater, but if neither of those things concern you then the savoury dishes are inspired and superb quality. The mushrooms with pine nuts and garlic was one of the most extraordinary dishes I've eaten all year. It was like eating pasta and interesting because it was only mushrooms.
- I went to a Christmas in July press launch on Wednesday and sampled a new Kettle chip flavour - cheese and truffle. Normally the only flavours I can tolerate are black pepper and vinegar but these were moreish. The best things I tried were part of a sneak preview of some of Paul A Young's Christmas range of chocolates, including a new version of Burning Embers, Buck's Fizz and Cinnamon Toast. His new-in-store Strawberries & Cream I tried on Friday's chocolate tour is pretty wonderful, too. We've just confirmed today we'll be hosting Christmas for the first time this year (new kitchen!) so both these crisps and these chocolates will appear for our guests!
- I had SIX excellent iced chocolates this hot, hot week. Yep, on top of all the cake, milkshakes, truffles and more. I walked a LOT. Two of these iced chocolates were at home, two at Hotel Chocolat during tours and two as part of the Cognac & Chocolate Tasting at Gianluca's Coffee Cult. This one is going to be on his cocktail menu and it's dangerously good: made with Frapin cognac VS and Damson Tanzanian chocolate (30% off online orders tonight!).
I've totally cheated and included more than five things again, haven't I? Sorry! :-) I don't have a single dinner booked for this week so perhaps next week's email might be a little shorter!
I hope you have a great week!
There are still a few spaces for the private chocolate evening at Rococo Chocolates in Belgravia on Thursday 19th July at 6.30pm.
