After Hours Dessert with Mark Donald: Pop-up at Ozone Coffee Roasters, London

Last month, scrolling through Twitter, I stumbled across a retweet mentioning a four course dessert pop-up in London. A mere mention of dessert and my ears prick up. Anyway a few clicks and a couple of text messages later, I'd booked a place for me and a friend to go to After Hours on Good Friday - a perfect Bank Holiday activitity, especially considering my Easter egg stash gets smaller and smaller each year (I actually had none this time round *sniff*).

At After Hours, they champion modern and innovative dessert; inviting London's most exciting pastry chefs to create a spectacular four course tasting menu for sweet toothed attendees, held in independent coffee shops across London. They've worked with chefs from restaurants including The Fat Duck, The Ledbury, and Opera Tavern, but on this occasion - at Ozone Coffee Roasters in Shoreditch - Mark Donald from Hibiscus took centre stage.

Mark is currently sous chef at the acclaimed Mayfair restaurant. He's previously spent time at 2 Michelin-starred Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, as well as a five month stint at that famous Danish place, Noma. The £25 ticket, which seemed like an absolute steal, included the four desserts and a coffee with petit fours to round the evening off. There were three different sittings, of which we chose the latest option at 9.30pm, and beer/wine/cocktails/soft drinks were available at an extra charge.

Getting dressed up and going out solely for dessert is pretty much any girl's dream (unless you're health/diet obsessed, and if that's you, bore off). I'd not been to Ozone before, but it's a large idustrial styled space split over two floors; an espresso bar and open kitchen, completed with stylish booths and seating areas upstairs, whilst the in house roastery malarky goes on downstairs. They clearly run a well oiled machine.



We were sat in prime position at the open kitchen bar top, meaning we could watch all the theatrics of the chefs plating up the art-like desserts, and we could also get sneak previews of what was yet to come. Raising a toast to the long weekend with some prosecco, a little Easter inspired treat came our way. Nestled in an egg box, and in real egg shells, we had a coconut mousse with a passion fruit coulis. It's at this point that I will apologise for my lack of knowledge on exactly what we had; the menu teased us with listing just the names of each basic element, and I was too busy gawping at the dishes to take notes when they were served. So perhaps consider this an approximation on the After Hours pop-up..

The first course was 'Sweetcorn, Basil, Bergamot'. A biscuit-y disk topped with a bergamot cream and adorned with plain and caramel coated popcorn, served with a glowing green quenelle of basil sorbet. It really was ALL about the sorbet, I loved how fresh and clean tasting it was.

Next up was 'Pistachio, Gariguette'. A pastry tart case, filled with 'Gariguette Strawberries' (an old and much-loved French variety that produces sweet and aromatic fruits early in the season) and a gorgeous pistachio crème pat/custard, sealed off with a delicate lid of caramelised sugar - as if stolen from a crème brûlée.The plate was sprinkled with pistachio and strawberry dust, and sauces of the same flavours. The vibrant red and green combinations looked fantastic on the white plate (it tasted as good as it looked too), and there really is nothing more satisfying than making that first crack in the sugar with your spoon.

The third course was a puzzler; 'Rhubarb, Ghruth Dhu'. The first part is pretty simple - rhubarb - we know that, having been only lightly cooked to still contain some of it's bite and sharpness. The other element seemed like a cheesecake of sorts, and it really did have that cheese-like taste.

Looking up the unusual name when I got home was a bit of a revelation. Gruth Dhu (or Black Crowdie) is a soft cream cheese with slightly sour, tangy milky flavour, which is what I was getting taste-wise. The actual cheese is rolled in pinhead oatmeal and crushed peppercorns, which explains the intensely black, black pepper custard, and the little oatcakes served with it too. The additional 'h' in the name must be to distinguish the fact that it's Mark's own clever take on the cheese.

Having this slight savoury course in amongst all the sweet was a good move as it prepared us for the last course. Titled 'Buen-no?' the only thing we could think of were Kinder Bueno's... Correct. I've not had a Kinder Bueno for years, and after this version, I very much doubt I'll have one again, at least not anytime soon; it simply can't compete. A wafer and hazelnut parfait, cased in white and milk chocolate, served with a scoop of wafer flavoured ice cream, splatters of silky chocolate sauce and crowned with wafer-y gold dust; majestic.

It was 'Coffee & Swedgers' before hometime. Apparently this word is commonly used in and around the Glasgow area (Mark is Scottish) to describe penny sweets bought from ice-cream vans. 'Swedgers', however, can also be used to describe pill or tablet based illicit drugs such as ecstasy; so the vintage sweet tin masquerading a wealth of bite sized 'sugar highs' is all very tongue in cheek

A strong caffeine hit in the form of an espresso and we dived in. Classic cinder toffee, with it's honeycomb appearance, had a wonderful honey flavour too. A lime curd filled macaron; subtly sweet and citrusy. A sugarcoated sea buckthorn jelly dome; bigger, better flavoured and less chewy than a Jelly Tot. And finally the opinion dividing bacon fudge; very soft maple-y fudge, coated in crumbs which resembled Frazzles crisps. I liked the weirdness of it, but my dessert night accomplice wasn't so sure.

All in all, a perfect night was had. We ate, drank and bascially watched an elaborate performance in the kitchen. For £25, it was a FEAST for the eyes and for the belly.

BTW: Amazing photos of the evening can be seen in cwiss's Flickr Photostream - puts my poor phone snaps to shame.

Love Liverpool

A fleeting trip to Liverpool for a family party meant that I could scout out a couple of good places to eat and drink for the weekend. As you might have figured out, I like to taste my way around new places, and I'm most definitely one of those people who comes back from holiday fatter, not fitter.

Free Waitrose coffee firmly in place in the cup holder, off we went through wind and rain, competitively counting Eddie Stobart's along the way (I lost - by quite a few). Having set off on empty tummies, first stop was breakfast. Indie run Bold Street Coffee has quite a reputation in the city, three years in a row they have won best coffee shop in the Liverpool Food & Drink Awards, so it was a no brainer really. Having always been a fan of the caffeinated bean, I'm finding myself more particular on how I like my daily cup these days. I'm not opposed to the big chains such as Costa or Cafe Nero (I never go to Starbucks though), but the whole queuing to order, queuing to take your own coffee to the table kind of thing isn't a pleasant experience when you're trying to enjoy the act of 'going for a coffee'. Lets face it, they all look identical anyway, so, when I'm off on a jolly, I always make a conscious effort to find a decent independent joint.

Bold Street is a place for serious coffee lovers; various beans, various brews, and they have not-your-standard-Twynings tea for those crazy haters too. It's not the sort of place with slouchy leather sofas and big comfy chairs; it's no frills tables, chairs and long benches. You'll probably be almost too close for comfort to the neighbouring couple, but it doesn't matter, they're either too engaged in work-related-chats over their laptops, or busy nattering and tucking into their food. Which gets me swiftly onto the food.. Bold Street have a superb breakfast menu to complement their coffees, and at the weekend they're available all the way til 4pm; perfect for those persistant hangovers (I sure wish this place was my local). They have all the traditional's - bacon sarnies, a range of eggs on toast, etc - but done a little posher (this is no greasy spoon), and there's a healthy supply of pastries to tempt you at the counter. What sealed the deal for me, however, was the french toast made with sourdough. I could have had it with bacon and maple syrup, but cinnamon apples and a butterscotch sauce sounded much more appealing; served with a dollop of creme fraiche, I'd put it up there as one of my best breakfasts.

The chap and I hit the shops hard after this (in search of the perfect knitted scarf for me - don't worry, I found one), but all that shopping is very thirsty work, cue afternoon beverage. At the edge of Liverpool One is Salt House Tapas; featured in The Times' 2013 Food List, this charcuteria and tapas bar/restaurant is another Scouse favourite. Had we not already planned our late lunch, this place would have been a definite contender for eats, with plenty of breads/chorizo/serrano on offer. As it was, we simply ventured in for a drink, the chap had a beer whilst I had a ginger/lemon/prosecco combination. Despite it's central location, this place seems like a laid-back-graze-as-you-like-it-retreat, and the service felt personal, so would be a great venue for a multitude of occasions.

A bit of a trek up the road, and we arrived at 'my suggestion' for late lunch. Situated within the Baltic Triangle, in place of what used to be the artspace A Foundation, you'll find Camp & Furnace. It's pretty unassuming from the outside, but being three warehouses wide, this is not your average venue. The bar area is a good place to start; one giant table in the centre of the room, sofas snuggled up to the roaring fire, and dark corners for those kind of days where you'd rather not be noticed. They have a nice selection of wines, spirits and craft beers; perhaps try Brown Bear, which has been especially brewed for C+F.

In contrast, the room next door is a vast open space. Primarily used for events (and fortunately for the chap, they show the footie - not so fortunate for me) the room comes complete with picnic benches, retro caravans, a stage and an abundance of fairy lights; I imagine the late-night happenings are where this place comes into it's own.

As for eats, C+F is a bit like street food meets pub grub meets fine dining. They have interesting soups, stuff on toast, bountiful salads, burgers (note the 'legendary' chorizo burger), roasts, etc; there wasn't a single thing on the menu that I wouldn't have eaten, which is pretty unheard of. Forcing myself to make a decision, I had braised lamb shoulder, with pistachio cous cous, olives, saffron aioli and a scattering of toasted seeds. It was both beautifully cooked and beautifully presented, which you'd probably not expect from a place that is essentially a warehouse. The chap had a more manly meaty meal of braised beef blade, crisp pancetta, smoked onions and egg yolk ketchup (he does love a condiment). If this is anything to go by, their Food Slam Fridays and Social Supperclubs must be amazing. Camp & Furnace is well worth the walk.

That's as far as my taste tourism goes, the rest involved a boozed up party, with a dodgy disco, even dodgier drunk dancing, and a lot of wine spillages on my new dress (good job it was white not red). On that note, I best go collect my things from the dry cleaners; maybe I'll go out in my curlers like those Scouse gals do..

.. Or maybe not. Til next time Liverpool!