Award-winning Chef Adam Handling MBE is so excited to finally announce the secret project that he has long been hinting about on his social media. His boutique chocolate shop, simply named the Adam Handling Chocolate Shop, opens at 10am on Wednesday 26th March. Chocolate is one of Adam’s favourite ingredients, so this opening is a bit of a childhood dream come true. Located in the heart of Covent Garden, at the historical 17 Maiden Lane, just 2 minutes round the corner from his Michelin-starred restaurant, Frog, the shop features 14 types of single variety chocolate. This marks a ground-breaking moment as Adam becomes the first British Michelin-starred chef to open a chocolate shop of this kind.
The shop represents a new age of British chocolate-making, with a vision to showcase the best sustainable chocolate, emphasising the purity of its fruit and demonstrating the importance of the location in which it has been grown.
The Adam Handling Chocolate Shop offers an exquisite selection of luxury hand-painted chocolates, truffles, foraged caramel bars, freshly baked cookies and brownies, a dedicated hot chocolate corner, with 12 varieties of hot chocolate, florentines, pastries, proper chocolate nut spreads, real chocolate buttons, and dipped fruits and nuts. Basically, everything that you could possibly want to be made with chocolate. Every product is finished in London and crafted in-house.
The team roast and grind cocoa beans, from countries including India, Peru and Madagascar, to produce their own chocolate in store. They also work with producers, such as XOCO Gourmet – the world’s first chocolate producer to develop and cultivate its own single variety cacao. XOCO’s commitment to regenerative farming, biodiversity, and supporting farming communities aligns seamlessly with the Adam Handling Collection’s ethos of sustainability and excellence. The ancient Roman cultivating technique, known as single variety grafting, creates a new tree that produces fruit while preserving the natural flavour of the fruit of its mother tree. This leads to the creation of pure and unblended chocolate that is representative of the soil that nurtured its original Theobroma cacao tree fruit. The resulting cocoa is naturally low in bitterness and rich in complex flavours.
To further depict the beauty of the deep jungles of Nicaragua and Honduras, from which much of the chocolate is sourced, each chocolate bon bon is individually hand painted and finished in the heart of Central London, and is available in elegant gift boxes of 4 (£12), 12 (£34), or 24 (£55), as well as the option to go ultra-luxury with a hand-crafted wooden display box that is home to the 21 flavours of chocolate. The flavour collection pays homage to timeless favourites with a refined twist, including:
Rum caramel; Woodruff caramel; Krug Champagne; Caramelised biscuit; Banoffee; PB & J; Tropical fruit; Sicilian pistachio & cherry; Raspberry & pink peppercorn; Orange marmalade; Cornish brown butter; Lemon tart; Yuzu Sencha; Earl Grey & lemon; Toasted coconut; Irish cream; Coffee pecan; Bergamot & ginger; Piedmont hazelnut; Mayan Red; Madagascan vanilla.
Seasonal and signature chocolates will also be available over the coming months.
What further sets these chocolates apart is their all-natural ingredients, with single origin cacao beans fermented for 2.5 days, then expertly roasted and ground to create an unparalleled luxury sustainable product. And, being rich in antioxidants, boosting heart and skin health and enhancing mood, the chocolates have been designed to be enjoyed regularly, and not just considered an indulgence.
The Adam Handling Chocolate Shop is promising to have the best hot chocolate in London, available in twelve varieties as a warming drink with optional marshmallow, whipped cream and spice add-ons. There will also be seven varieties of the highest quality hot chocolate options, to enjoy at home.
The shop also offers a range of indulgent 170g jars of proper chocolate nut spreads, available in Dark, Milk, or White Chocolate Hazelnut for £7.50 each, as well as White Chocolate Pistachio for £8.50. Chocolate-dipped orange slices provide a zesty contrast to the deep, rich cacao and, for those craving the ultimate treat, the shop’s brownies and freshly baked cookies – Caramelised White Chocolate & Macadamia or Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt – are irresistible.
Says Chef Adam Handling MBE: “The cultivation of cacao tells a powerful story. Similarly to coffee, every cocoa bean has different expressions, based on its locality. In the UK, it’s common to think that chocolate tastes the same – that generic word, ‘chocolate’. But gone are those days. My vision is to create the purest expression of perfection, utilising sustainable chocolates that really showcase the essence of that fruit. The flavour of these chocolates is representative of the soil, the air and the hands that nurtured them. So, it’s easy for us to create stunning, hand painted chocolates in Britain, as we already have the foundations of excellence to play with. I hope you enjoy what we’ve created.”
The products will also soon be available for purchasing on the Adam Handling Collection’s separate online shop, for UK-wide delivery.
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 10am-10pm
Adam Handling Chocolate Shop
17 Maiden Lane,
Covent Garden,
London,
WC2E 7NL
www.adamhandling.co.uk | Instagram: @ahchocolateshop
