Cakes and pastries with champagne

TOP SPANISH chef Albert Adria ( below) is getting ready to open a new gourmet dessert boutique in London on Nov 8 that will pair cakes and pastries with champagne and sparkling wine.

Aptly named Cakes and Bubbles, the dessert bar opens at Hotel Café Royal in the British capital and marks Adria’s first permanent outpost in London.

Adria is renowned within haute gastronomy circles for the culinary wizardry he executes at his Barcelona restaurants like Tickets, 41°, Bodega 1900, Pakta, and Enigma.

In 2015, his work as a cutting-edge innovator in the pastry scene earned him the title of World’s Best Pastry Chef by the same body that oversees the influential World’s 50 Best Restaurants ranking.

At Cakes and Bubbles, the dessert menu is described as a blend of tradition, modernity, whimsy and playfulness.

Classics like egg flan, homemade doughnuts and fruit cakes are offered alongside hazelnut and white chocolate cheesecake, ‘airwaffles’ with caramelised bananas, and chocolate Japanese ningyo-yaki cake balls.

The menu will also feature a classic version of the cheesecake made famous at Tickets, that will be served alongside waffles, doughnuts, ice creams and handmade chocolates, all of which Adria promised will have a “wow factor”.

For the ultimate dessert experience, guests can also pair their cakes with a glass of bubbly or sparkling wine.

“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,” Adria said in a statement.

Adria is the latest high-profile pastry chef to plant a flag in London and enrich the city’s dessert scene.

French chef Dominique Ansel (inventor of the cronut) opened Dominique Ansel Bakery in London in 2016. – Agencies