When I reviewed the Restaurant at St Paul's....

MY SWEET LORD

Helen Baron takes a trip to the Restaurant at St Paul’s – and finds that sustenance here isn’t all spiritual in nature. Tastebud = Scott

If you fancy going somewhere delightfully festive this month, why not try the restaurant at none other than (drum roll please) St Paul’s Cathedral? Though rather humble-looking – in the manner of museum cafes and the like – the toned down approach makes immediate sense. This is a place of worship after all, and the main attraction is the splendiferous cathedral itself, the architectural wonder that has become one of the capital’s most recognisable (and best loved) monuments.

Here, out of sight is most definitely not out of mind, and it remains something very special to dine in the vaulted space below the famous landmark, imagining Wren’s celebrated dome arching high above your head. It was this combination of the culinary with the historical that first saw me add the Restaurant at St Paul’s to my list of things to do this year – and indeed, which saw it march grandly into the Top Ten.

Quite a lot of expectation now rested on the shoulders of the restaurant’s proprietors Harbour and Jones, who launched the establishment in 2009 with the aim of creating a dining experience that would live up to the unique location – as well as catering for the hordes of hungry tourists (not to mention in-the-know local businesspeople) who throng the area every day. Specialising in working at distinguished venues including RADA, The Hoops Inn at Perry Green, Chicheley Hall, Portland Place and Carlton Gardens, Harbour and Jones are no strangers to an important address – but would fine dining beneath St Paul’s be biting off more than even they could chew? I was curious to find out…

As I mentioned earlier, the décor is undeniably simple, the main feature being the whitewashed brick, the curved finish of the brickwork offering a subtle suggestion of the cathedral’s famous dome. Clean lines dominate, so that rather than trying to outdo its host venue for grandeur, the restaurant is possessed instead of an almost ‘Ikea’ simplicity. If one does hanker after something more grandiose (no, unfortunately you can’t eat in the cathedral itself), there are private dining rooms available to hire which will take you at least some of the way there, but it’s best to dispel images of you and your pals eating in the Sistine Chapel before you arrive. Besides, the restaurant doesn’t even open for dinner – its servings are limited to café hours, so it’s lunch or afternoon tea only.   

Christmas lunches, brunches and parties are available, however, priced at a very reasonable £55 for three courses, with menu highlights including the St Paul’s fruitcake, plum pudding and Chestnut Delice. A handy tip though: it’s probably best not to quaff too much champagne; the cathedral is not the appropriate venue for the usual office party high-jinks. Is it possible to imagine a less enticing scene: an eyesore of drunken colleagues staggering out from beneath this great spiritual landmark… next stop: Slug and Lettuce.

If you’re prepared to behave yourself though, and can get down there early enough, you’ll find St Paul’s is no slouch when it comes to the crunch: serving great food. On my recent visit, a very appealing menu expounded the values of seasonality and local provenance, offering an interesting take on traditional British cuisine. My dining partner and I plumped for a merlot from a healthily-sized wine-list to accompany our heritage pumpkin soup and treacle-cured salmon with kohlrabi and apple salad on Hoxton rye; followed by grey mullet with celeriac, pine nut and purple broccoli, and West Sussex pork belly with Aspall’s cider red cabbage and apple sauce. Perfectly-sized plate of deliciousness. The mullet was light and fluffy, the celeriac beautifully blended; the pork belly, too, was exquisitely tender and flavoursome. Our charming waiter took obvious pride in the food and its British origins, to the extent of offering us an aperitif made with Carter’s sparkling wine (from Essex) and Chegworth Valley apple and rhubarb juice. This offering - dubbed ‘Britain in a Glass’ – was so sweetly lappable and refreshing, I found myself feeling rather Britishly merry by the end of it.

Another real surprise came with the desserts. We tried various options on the menu whixh was clever thinking on our part as otherwise I may have overlooked the Bakewell tart, thinking it to be a rather staid and dreary choice in the face of the more excitingly named Regent’s Park honey ice and gingerbread sandwich. I’m a BIG fan of the ice-cream sandwich, let alone one made with honey from the bees of Regent’s Park. But I have to say, the tart was the smoothest, most flavour-rich thing of its kind I have ever had the pleasure to try. Who knew a Bakewell could taste so exciting? Mr Kipling has sold his almond charges short by some distance. Added to that was further taste sensation with a little pot of vanilla pod custard – its consistency perfectly judged: thick, creamy but somehow also light. Our sweet odyssey didn’t end there, however: a Victoria plum compote served with set yoghurt and melt-in-the-mouth orange shortbread thins was not to be outdone – to the extent that I think a tasting board featuring all three desserts should be made a regular menu option. Either that or we’ll all just have to go back frequently and devise some kind of pudding rotation (while hoping that that Bakewell tart works its way onto the Afternoon Tea selection).

By now, my conclusions must be clear. I entered with grand expectations and the Restaurant at St Paul’s provided. Superb food and great value for money (at £20 for two courses and £24 for three) make it well worth a visit if you’re in the area. After coffee and gorgeously fluffy lavender shortbreads, my companion and I strolled over to the tombs of Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Sir Christopher Wren himself before wending our way to the exit and gazing up at one of the finest examples of artistic achievement the world has to offer; little had we known the culinary achievements that we would find below. The perfect destination, then, for hungry souls. In a word: divine.

Summer Berry Chocolate Cake and Muffins at The Luxe

Chocolaterie!!

Here's where I got to see how chocolate is made by hand...

Chocolate Heaven

Entering Paul A. Young is like stepping into another world: a world that knows only chocolate. Could anything be more tempting? Tucked away on Camden Passage - an idyllic location for an independent, traditional-styled shop such as this - Paul A. Young has been in business for five years. Prior to that, the Mr Paul A. Young himself was Head Pâtissiere for Marco Pierre White, before moving on to work for retailers Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer, developing and managing products for the brand. In this way, he was able to earn his chef stripes before choosing to specialise in chocolate. In fact, his decision to do so came after years of attending food trade fairs at which there was always a demand for chocolate.


Paul investigated, and found to his surprise that there was nowhere in London that supplied it freshly made. As a pastry chef, Paul had not, at that point, worked extensively with chocolate - but his skills enabled him to begin experimenting and honing chocolate-based recipes. Before long he was commissioned by leading chocolaterie Rococo to develop and supply new treats - and in 2006 he was invited to be an honorary member of the Academy of Chocolate.


Strongly influenced by traditional Parisian patisseries that bake on-site daily, Paul is hugely passionate about his chosen career path. “There was nowhere you could find fresh chocolate, hand-made on the premises!” he remarks, emphatically. “And I mean fresh without glucose, sorbitol or any preservatives whatsoever.” He and his business partner took a gamble investing in a product with a comparatively short shelf life. Their faith and perseverance have, however, paid off, and their shop is now the only chocolaterie in London that makes truly fresh chocolate, completely by hand and without the use of machines or automation. Paul thinks that the shop's location has been key to its success.


“Islington is great for us," he says. "Our customers love that we take an artisan approach; they enjoy coming in on a daily basis to try samples, buy a brownie or a hot chocolate and have a chat.” As a result of such support, within just 18 months of opening the doors to the Camden Passage shop, Paul A. Young were launching another at Royal Exchange in the City. Currently, their kitchen is operating at full production capacity and the company has 110 tantalising products available to fans of the sweet stuff. Success, however, has not bred complacency, and Paul’s purist sensibilities extend right to the Islington shop’s interior design, which steers clear of the ‘shop-fit’ look for a rather more antiquated scheme, reflective of its location. He points out to me the reclaimed French dressers that now serve, rather splendidly, as chocolate display counters. It's a scene from a chocolate-lover's fantasy. Paul talks me through the chocolaterie’s seasonal activities: Valentine’s Day tends always to involve red and pink colouring, rose and heart moulds and champagne flavours. Mother’s Day engenders more floral fare, while Easter is all about bunnies and eggs - while Christmas gives rise to the most variation: an interesting mix of traditional ingredients and spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, cranberry), classic flavours and more contemporary tastes. The business is as 'olde worlde' as it gets, and in the very best possible sense. For one thing, waste is kept to a bare minimum, and chocolate is never thrown away. If a product proves to be too daring, it’s simply offered at discount price or as a taster. Only Billingtons muscovado sugar is used, at Paul’s insistence, along with the finest natural ingredients. “I source French chocolate," Paul says. "I don’t like other, more fatty varieties with a higher cocoa butter content – it’s more expensive, but we seek to make the most fantastic chocolate possible.”



Further evidence of Paul’s dedication to his product can be found in the kitchen, the beating heart of chocolaterie, where we head next. Two gleaming marble slabs act as canvases for the resident chefs’ creations. It takes months to learn the art of tempering – at which Paul is obviously a dab hand, demonstrating the process for me with deft precision. “Chocolate begins to set at 27 degrees,” he tells me, “so there is a level of molecular accuracy needed here: it’s like tempering steel, mixing and cooling with a spreading action.” He conducts a taste test for me, to show what a difference the varying percentages of cocoa and blends can make, all the while plying me with truffles and sea-salted caramel pecan brownie (it does the trick - I soon feel like I’m a golden ticket holder wandering around Willy Wonka’s magical factory). I also try 100% cocoa chocolate (liqueur, as it's called in the business), and am slightly relieved to know that my tasting education stops there - if only because the delicious richness of the chocolate means you’re unlikely to scoff a boxful in one go – two or three chocs supply adequate flavour to see you through to your next mealtime. The shop will soon have a whole host of exciting Easter options available in milk, white and dark chocolate. The labour-intensive ‘egg work’ will begin in earnest once Mother’s Day is out of the way. My personal favourite will surely be the sea-salted caramel hen’s egg (complete with a porcelain egg-cup and spoon): my inner child is going to have a field day with that one. But if that doesn’t tickle your fancy, there will also be chocolate laced with gold leaf and gold pigment bunnies.



As my afternoon of chocolate came to an end, I was a little saddened. It was as if I had experienced some kind of return to innocence, and now I had to leave it behind once more. I resolved to return, if not on a frequent basis, then with some degree of regularity. This is a place I want to factor into my errands. In line with wanting to buy fresh food from local grocers and delicatessens as often as is physically and economically possible, I can see Paul A. Young becoming my new 'pop-in' place when there are gifts to buy, a special occasion to cater for or if I simply deserve a treat after a hard day at the office. Paul loves seeing regular customers come in, from kids who save up their pocket money to splash out on a few truffles to businessmen buying box upon box at Valentine’s Day. His staunch dedication to sourcing the finest ingredients, his attention to training his staff in age-old techniques and his attention to detail in making artisanal chocolate means Paul A. Young has created a shop possessed of a charm rarely seen in the modern age. It's a place where, quite literally, dreams are made. Long may it continue.

SxSW Foodage

I have been very slack about posting...so here goes with a whole load of festival eats.