A restaurant that serves only puddings? A splendid idea - and now there's a new pop up in the heart of Soho which is offering pastries, cakes and plated desserts, from first thing in the morning until late at night.
The Pudding Bar opened this weekend on Greek Street, taking over a five storey building next to local institution Maison Bertaux. There's a cafe area on the ground floor for daytime noshing and a candle-lit dining room up two flights of very steep stairs, which will take bookings in the evenings for dessert and wine pairings.
Everything is made in-house by pastry chef Laura Hallwood, who worked at The Savoy and then for the Gordon Ramsey group - now eager to take on her own project and allow her creativity to flourish. It's been an exhausting journey so far, with back-to-back 18 hour days to get the Pudding Bar off the ground, but she's clearly loving the challenge.
Laura says she's hoping to change the menu each week, to make sure people keep coming back to try something different. On the launch night, we tried the initial five: starting with a fresh, sharp lemon parfait with a honey ice cream and shards of crisp, mallowy meringue. Then came an earl grey pannacotta, managing to keep a perfect consistency despite the torrid heat, with some blackberries and a gingersnap on the side. A favourite was next - a thick, mousse-like chocolate cheesecake with toasted Italian meringue and peanut butter ice-cream: even the ginger biscuits in the base were made by Laura. Delicate profiteroles were filled with chocolate or vanilla custard and napped with a thick, intensely sweet caramel sauce, while a deconstructed take on Eton Mess was a riot of pastel-shades and contrasting textures on the plate.
Catching up with Oliver Whitford-Knight, one of the trio behind the project, he's hoping his experience running other start-up businesses will help to make it a success. He's been busy taking sample cakes and desserts to nearby businesses to show what'll be on offer. As we looked out at the huge crowd spilling out of Miss Saigon, he's primed to cater for a post-theatre market searching for something more than just a glass of wine to round off their evening.
Never mind the detox. If you've got a sweet tooth - this is one place you won't want to miss.
The Pudding Bar is open from 7am till midnight, or 11pm on Sundays, at 26 Greek Street London W1D 5DE. To find out more, follow them on Twitter @thepuddingbar.
