EXPERIMENTAL AFTERNOON TEA: PAYS DES MERVEILLES BY KITCHEN THEORY

JUNE 2014. PAYS DES MERVEILLES BY KITCHEN THEORY – AN EXPERIMENTAL AFTERNOON TEA SERIES

Taking the lead on this elegant and charming event was our Executive Pastry Chef Nicolas Guerin, who contributed his artistic and creative flair to the table alongside Kitchen Theory Chef Patron Jozef Youssef who transformed the event into a multi-sensory pleasure palace.

Pays des Merveilles translates into English as ‘Wonderland’, and it is with this spirit of excitement, humour and adventure which we approached this concept. The menu was designed to guide our guests on a journey through the summer season and consisted of a delectable spread of savoury canapés, a selection of open sandwiches, and a selection of masterfully crafted pastries followed by a range of small bite size cakes.  All of this is served alongside a selection of tea or coffee and of course the optional choice to indulge in some champagne! On the big screen we had a quirky reel of a collection of various different productions of Alice in Wonderland from around the world, with one dating back as early as the 1930’s!

Originally from the Loire Valley in France, Chef Nicolas moved to London in 2009 where he worked at Michelin starred restaurant Helene Darroze’s at the Connaught Hotel in Mayfair and later moved to the Square in Mayfair as a Head Pastry Chef before joining Kitchen Theory. Chef Jozef Youssef is founder of Kitchen Theory, author of ‘Molecular Gastronomy at Home’ and has worked in top some of the UK’s top establishments including The Connaught, The Dorchester and The Fat Duck. Jozef has established Kitchen Theory to share his passion and research within the field of gastronomy; food science, food culture, food history, multi-sensory flavour perception, neuro-gastronomy and molecular gastronomy.