Albert Adrià, the younger brother of famed El Bulli founder Ferran Adrià, is to open a cake shop and sparkling wine bar inside the Hotel Café Royal in Piccadilly this November.
Following on from a 50-day pop-up restaurant at the Regent Street hotel in 2016, Cake & Bubbles will be Adrià’s first permanent site outside Spain.
A trained pastry chef, Adrià is best known for his quirky tapas bar Tickets in Barcelona, which is notoriously hard to get a reservation at.
He also runs an ambitious restaurant concept called Enigma where diners walk through an interactive space rather than sit down to eat their meal, alongside vermouth bar Bodega 1900 and Mexican restaurant Hoja Santa in Barcelona.
Adrià will travel to London regularly to oversee the project and two key members of his permanent team are moving to London to oversee it, including pastry chef David Gil, who was named ‘Best Chocolatier’ in Spain.
Adrià will bring some of his signature desserts from Tickets to London, including his renowned cheesecake, presented to look like a classic wheel of cheese, which is in fact filled with hazelnut and has a white chocolate rind.
According to Eater London, among the other puds on offer will be an egg flan with dark caramel; doughnuts; pineapple and palm honey cake; and specials like “waffles as light as air” served with caramelised banana; and chocolate ninyoyaki cake balls.
On the fizz front, expect the likes of grand marque and grower Champagnes, Cava, Prosecco and English sparkling wine.
“With our position in this 5 star hotel we have the buying power behind us to ensure that the list is well priced for accessibility and to allow for exploration of the varied producers on offer,” Adrià told Eater.
“London is the capital of the world and I’m looking forward to this new challenge. When I decided that I wanted to open a restaurant outside Spain, it was an easy decision to return to the city.
“Pastry and sweets are my first love and I have long wanted to create a concept like Cakes & Bubbles.
“I am confident that our guests will find surprise and delight in this offering and our exciting interpretations of sweet dishes,” he added.
