After his successful pop up at Hotel Café Royal in 2016, the famed chef Albert Adrià– who built a gastronomic revolution alongside his brother, Ferran, at the legendary Michelin three-star elBulli – returns to London to launch a permanent site, ‘Cakes and Bubbles’, this November. Adrià, who was voted The World’s Best Pastry Chef by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, runs an empire of restaurants which range from the perpetually sold-out avant-garde tapas bar Tickets, to Hoja Santa, a modern Mexican table that was awarded a star in the 2016 Michelin guide, and his lauded latest venture, Enigma. Cakes & Bubbles marks Adrià’s first bricks and mortar establishment outside Spain.
Cakes & Bubbles adds to an exciting culinary programme at Hotel Café Royal, which has been developing with increasing fervour over the past few years. In addition to Adrià’s previous project in 2016, the Roca brothers of El Celler de Can Roca brought their famous Girona-influenced cuisine to the iconic hotel that same year. Cakes & Bubbles also joins newly opened Laurent, a 110-cover restaurant helmed by internationally renowned French chef Laurent Tourondel that debuted in June 2018.
Cakes & Bubbles will offer the perfect blend of tradition and modernity – with the whimsy and playfulness that has come to define Adrià’s work – serving a parade of exceptional desserts that defy description. A classic Spanish cheesecake and the renowned ‘Tickets’ cheesecake, a delicately made and exquisite dessert with notes of hazelnut flavours complete with a non-traditional rind of white chocolate, offers customers a taste from one the most sought-after reservations in the restaurant world. ‘Classics’ such as Egg flan with dark caramel and homemade donuts sit alongside decadent fruit cakes including Pineapple with palm honey and Strawberries with fresh orange jus. Additionally, a selection of specials such as Airwaffles with caramelised banana and Chocolate ninyoyaki cake balls round out the menu alongside traditional pastries. A wide selection of Champagnes and sparkling wines by the glass and by the bottle will be available, well priced for accessibility and to allow for exploration of the varied producers on offer.
Adrià comments “I believe London is the capital of the world, and I’m looking forward to this new challenge. It’s a project that excites me as a pastry chef – I’ve never opened anything specifically related to the sweet world. Our approach and menu will be a cross between the classical and contemporary. I am looking forward to bringing this concept to Hotel Café Royal, London’s only modern grand hotel and the place I feel I belong whilst in the city”.
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