Paul A. Young is organizing a class in a few weeks, an evening with Paul A. Young, where you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about chocolate. Too bad I won’t be around because I would love to spend a bit of time down in the chocolate laboratory at Paul A. Young where Paul and his team make all their creations in small batches, completely by hand in the kitchens at each of his three shops, one in Islington, one next to Bank and this shop we visited in Soho.
Paul is considered to be at the forefront of the British chocolate scene. He has worked alongside many a big name in pastry and has won quite a few awards. His book displayed in store, Adventures with Chocolate, looks pretty decadent. But really, why make the chocolate creations yourself when you can come here and enjoy them all! The Soho shop is just overflowing with all sorts of beautifully packaged little chocolate creations.
Although they looked beautiful, I never stop long at the chocolate displays. My main concern was the hot chocolate and this is one I have been waiting to try for a long time. The past 3 times I came by his Soho shop it had just closed, so this time we were organized and came by with plenty of time to spare (15 minutes before closing time!). Behind the large round table covered in chocolates, two women were packing and labeling a fresh batch of chocolates to be sold in the store. A young man came over to help us with our hot chocolates, an Aztec Hot Chocolate made with water at GBP3.95 a cup. He poured a couple of ladles filled with the rich dark chocolate from a large pot sitting upon an electric burner. Because there was no place to enjoy the hot chocolate in the shop they were prepared to go in a paper cup. We were given the choice of spices to add to the hot chocolate; delicate ginger, aromatic green cardamom, sweet cinnamon, classic nutmeg, smokey black cardamom or fiery cayenne pepper. I chose cayenne and Rich chose nutmeg. The young man proceeded to add a touch of the spice into our cup and whisk it delicately with the smallest metal whisk I have every seen.
I loved a lot of things about this hot chocolate. I loved the colorful shop, watching the careful process of putting our hot chocolates together. I loved the selection of spices and how much kick the tiny bit of cayenne pepper I asked him to add gave to my chocolate. Even the spices seemed to be better versions of the same spices I had had before. I loved how rich and delicate the chocolate itself was. I even loved that we had to take it away and walk through the busy streets of Soho on a cold winters night. The heat of the chocolate combined with the spiciness of the cayenne warmed me up completely and made me walk down the streets with a silly smile on my face. I almost got run over by a black London cab turning the corner at full speed because I was having trouble concentrating on anything else.
Verdict: Now if only I can convince Mr. Paul to put a little chair in front of his chocolate shop with my name on it then I could pass by everyday, have my hot chocolate and watch Soho walk by. A must try. Paul A. Young, 143 Wardour St., London, United Kingdom
