A sumptuous, luxurious independent, Rococo is famous for its exquisite packaging (white with blue woodcuts) and even more exquisite chocolate. They weren’t voted Chocolatier of the Year 2012 for nothing.
When I heard about their latest venture, All Day Chocolate Breakfast, I was at their Belgravia flagship in Motcomb Street in a trice. The shop’s worth visiting for the secret MaRococo back garden alone, all Middle Eastern mirrors and jungle greenery, but let’s face it, I was there for the cocoa.
I’d suggest taking the ‘all day’ part seriously. Lovely though intense hot chocolate shots, 82% salted caramel chocolate spread and Rococo founder Chantal Coady’s signature ‘power’ granola might be, first thing in the morning it’s a bit too powerful. Call it ‘afternoon tea,’ however, and you’ll be in chocolate heaven.
Sit in the dappled sunshine under a spreading, ancient plane tree, slather new-baked artisan bread with 71% chocolate ganache, bite into a mini billionaire’s lemon shortbread and feast. The tasting menu is prepared to order, so needs to be booked in advance, but believe me, it’s worth it.
One last thing – if you’re going to Rococo, look out for a strange, Greek-style building in the same street with ‘Pantechnicon’ emblazoned in black over its massive doric columns.
It’s now a pub and upmarket shopping mall, but was, in Georgian times, a furniture warehouse-cum-art-gallery owned by the Pantechnicon company, whose enormous horse-drawn vans were the predecessors of all house removal trucks today, still known as pantechincons.
