Cocoa does London

An essential part of owning a chocolate establishment is research and keeping up with the times. Anne and I are always on the look out for new ideas and inspiration, so we thought what better place to go for this than our dear capital city?

Our first stop was..... 

Cocomaya

 of Connaught Street

Chocolate Shop & Artisan Bakers

A truly magical place!

There were two separate entrances, one to the Chocolate shop and the other to the cake shop. A little confusing but it just added to the quirky-ness, we're used to that in our shop hehehe! 

Anyway, it was a tough choice to as to which to visit first, cake or chocolate. Chocolate won! Obviously. 

So we had to buy some chocolates to sample didn't we, on expenses of course.

Their lovely chocolates were so elegant all covered in fairy dust, they gleamed and twinkled in the light like little jewels. They were all saying 'pick me pick me', we just wanted them all!! It was a tough decision but we managed to choose some good-uns.

 

Ohh even pretty cars, everything was so feminine.

That chocolate choosing was thirsty work so we went next door for a brew and a cake!

We sampled their Rosebud tea and a lovely chocolate pistachio pastry.

Cheers! We felt very much at home with the pretty china and sweet surroundings!

The Cocomaya peeps were so warm and friendly, they even gave us these dreamy chocolates... fig & honey and Heather honey. Ohh lordy, I have never tasted anything like the fig one, it was a taste sensation! Saying that it wasn't just the taste it was the texture too, it was like eating a fig that had been left in chocolate for some time and had slowly soaked in flavours because it has the texture of fig but tasted of chocolate too. Perhaps they grow their own special chocolate fed fig trees, ohh now that's an idea!

Next stop was 

Rococo

of Marylebone High Street

Neither of us had visited this particular Rococo shop before.... 

We were greeted by the lovely Roberta, the shop manager, who was very friendly and sweet! 

It's always a treat to see their chocolates in their exquisite packaging all together in their own surroundings. 

We couldn't resist buying a bag of their loose chocolates to eat on the way to Baker Street Tube station, I decided this is one of my fav tube stops.

Then we wandered round to 

Melt

of Ledbury Rd

Simply delicious!

They sold lots of handmade caramels all individually wrapped in brightly coloured parchments.

We loved these square dippers for making hot chocolate

Ohh couldn't resist Ottolenghi on the way back to the tube.. love that place! Anne has bought me his cookbooks for Christmas/birthdays, hmmmm tasty stuff.

How cool is this?! 

Belgravia next...

Time for tea at 

Peggy Porschen

of Ebury Street

A very pink tea & cake Parlour

It was a perfect time to visit Peggy's place. The sun was beginning to go down and it was getting dark and cold. It was time for another brew!

We saw the gleaming shop from far down the street, it looked very warm and inviting, lit with its mighty chandelier.

My brother bought me a copy of one of her books for my birthday, ever since I have been a fan of her work.

Full up on chocolates we took a pass on the cake but shared a lovely pot of Passion fruit tea. 

There were lots of little rascals in their enjoying a hot chocolate cake and muffin after school, who kept us entertained!

We didn't venture in but we were amazed by this shop, a wonderland of accessories presented in a fairy tale sweetie shop sort of style

Next stop 

Hope and Greenwood

of Covent Garden

 Home time (and more chocolate eating)