On Monday 13th July, fusion chef Peter Gordon and chocolatier Paul A.Young held a chocolate-themed dinner for 40 Great British Chefs ticket holders at The Providores and Tapa Room in London’s Marylebone. Peter and Paul have known each other for a number of years and have collaborated on similar projects in the past, so when given another opportunity to work together, they came up with not only a tasting menu, but also brunch dishes and cocktails inspired by some of the world’s finest chocolate. For this event, I was lucky enough to try their four course tasting menu, and I finished the evening with a new-found appreciation for chocolate. I was introduced to a variety of different chocolates from 0% - 100% (finding a few new favourite bars along the way) and learnt how chocolate can be used in a variety of different, and very unexpected, ways.
The dinner took over the whole of the first floor restaurant and we were welcomed with a spritz-style cocktail made from 70% Virunga chocolate, pomegranate, coriander and ginger. I’m not really a fan of chocolate cocktails – they can be so sickly sweet and cloying – but this was the perfect aperitif. Each sip evolved on the palate, with the pomegranate, coriander and ginger first, followed by just a hint of chocolate on the finish. I had no idea that a chocolate cocktail could be so refreshing, and could have happily drunk quite a few of them (they were non-alcoholic after all!), I only wish I’d asked for the recipe…