London's sweet-toothed diners rejoice - the city is soon to have its first first dessert restaurant, with The Cafe at Hotel Cafe Royal opening next month offering three dessert tasting menus. The restaurant swaps the traditional starter and main courses for sweet treats, each of which has a wine pairing.
The dishes have been designed by executive pastry chef Sarah Barber, the first female pastry chef in the hotel's 151-year history. Barber, 33, previously executive pastry chef at Corinthia Hotel and head pastry chef at Yauatcha as well as at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, told The Evening Standard: "The artistry of desserts always appealed to me more and that's why I pursued it as my career. Desserts have been big news and have got huge in the past five years. There is a massive gap in the market here in London for any decent places to get dessert. In many top restaurants, dessert is an afterthought — it is never the reason that you go there. Here, cake is at the forefront — and all of the dishes are light so you can eat more of them."
The venue will start serving the dessert menus on 3rd March, offer three dessert tasting selections from 6pm to 10.30pm. The five-course Sarah In Wonderland menu, inspired by Alice In Wonderland, costs £42 per person, with matching wines for £20. Dishes include Milky Way, with goat's cheese, wild honey and beetroot snow; the Queen of Hearts, with raspberries, champagne and roses; and Eat Me, Drink Me, a Snickers and chocolate malt shake.
Find out more about Cafe Royal here.