Angus Thirlwell spends a day around the clock at Rabot 1745

It’s 7am and i’m walking into borough Market in London with a bigger spring in my step than usual. i’m spending the day in my favourite place in London – Rabot 1745, our ‘temple to Cocoa’.

Spread over three floors at the epicenter of the market, our restaurant, cocktail bar, cafe, shop and mini chocolate lab is all about the cocoa, and it’s going down
a storm.

I’m meeting a group from one of the UK’s largest landowners to talk about future projects over a Plantation breakfast, based on what we serve at our Boucan hotel in Saint Lucia.

We choose power shots, fruit platters and cocoa muesli, followed by poached eggs with warm spiced aubergine, and some lobster with spinach on cocoa-nib toast. At the end we nibble on warm banana bread, sipping cocoa shell infusions.

I love the blue sky and crisp air, so i stroll around the market before my lunch meeting with a potential Asian partner.

I choose the risotto with wild mushrooms cooked in a vegetable and cacao stock. I show him the bean roaster and dip a wooden tasting stick into the batch of conched trinidad 80% cacao for a taste.

On the way out i say hello to a ‘tree to bar’ group making chocolate straight from the bean with their own hands, under the expert guidance of our chocolatier Louise.

I take a tour of our London stores before returning to Rabot 1745. My day is feeling like the end of babette’s Feast. Rhye are playing on the soundtrack and enjoy the vibe as I sip a Cocoa Gin Martini.

My wife libby arrives and we both choose the new Creole Monkfish dish. Chef Jon bentham is a genius. the caramelised fennel and Marcona almond purée harmonise beautifully with the cacao-creole spices on the tender monkfish.

The restaurant is buzzing as we share a rum and coconut milk pannacotta with papaya and mango salsa.

The final call is checking out Cecil’s, a new speakeasy around the corner. A cool way to end a lovely day.