Harrods of Knightsbridge is arguably the most famous shop in Great Britain, and the food hall has always been a slightly awe-inspiring visit, though for a regular day I still prefer browsing the food hall in Selfridges, off Oxford Circus.
Now, however, I might have to venture a little further south on the London tube, and visit the new Food Hall at Harrods that opened on 7th May 2021 is providing a good reason to pay the historical venue a visit.
Although the project was completed over lockdown, it actually started several years ago as part of a wider project to bring all the food halls up to the high standards expected of the luxury venue.
The company is making a commitment to employ responsible procurement and use traceable cocoa and a farmer-direct model, including paying a premium in some cases. Hopefully in future the store will be able to make an unequivocal statement on sustainable sourcing practices.
In-house chocolatiers including head Pastry Chef, Alistair Birt – winner of UK Chocolate Mastery, will be on display amazing you with handcrafted chocolate being created fresh, while you watch.
TO’ak chocolates from Ecuador are present, and this will likely be my first stop as I’ve wanted to taste chocolate from the famous ‘Nacional’ cacao which traces its history back to the first-known cacao trees from about 5,300 years ago.
The chocolate hall will be supplemented by 11 boutique concessions, including that one from Pierre Marcolini, who is not only an award-winning pastry chef but known for his fastidious ethical sourcing of cocoa.
Of course, at a venue like Harrods, you would expect a big name like Godiva to be present, and they don’t disappoint. The chocolate company has reimagined the Godiva chocolate-coated strawberry at a dipping station, where you can go to dip ripe strawberries into Godiva chocolate.
Look for a follow up story on this one after we visit the store for ourselves.