chocolate Archives - Lani Kingston

One weekend in Belgium.

My life, since the beginning of this year, has taken a turn completely unexpected. An excellent, marvellous, wonderful turn. After the finish of my book, I couldn’t even think about writing. I needed a hiatus. So I started to email a few people about opportunities – food styling, media work – just to fill the time when I wasn’t at the Deli.

And all of a sudden, I got whisked away on a tremendous, exciting adventure. Out of the blue, and very suddenly, I was put on a plane to Brooklyn, to go back to one of my favourite food businesses in the world – Mast Brothers Chocolate Makers. They were expanding to London, and wanted me to manage it. Me?? I’m still not sure this isn’t all a dream.

So off I went, to learn how to sort, roast, grind, temper and make chocolate in Brooklyn. And since my return, it’s been non-stop getting the location off the ground. We are up, up and away! But more on that later. The weekend before I left for Brooklyn, a mere few days after I was offered the job, we had a trip, one that had been booked for months. To Belgium. On a chocolate adventure. Serendipity.

Cobbled streets. Bed and breakfasts on the canal with cute little Belgian breakfasts. Underground beer bars and whipped cream meringue cakes. And the chocolate. Here is our weekend in Bruges and Brussels, in pictures.
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Toad in the Hole, a damn fine Brunch + Tea at the Tate.

There is a distinct chance that I will not survive to the end of this post. I am sitting here in great misery, after consuming a quantity of British food that shocked three fully grown men. My sense of pride did not allow me to stop, even when I knew that it was time. When a waiter states, ‘I’ll be really surprised if you can finish that,’ I take that as a direct challenge. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s rewind to this morning.
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Moroccan tagines, soul food + crack pie and cereal milk soft serve at Momofuku Milk Bar.

Last day in NYC today – I’ve had a killer (but fattening) time.

Brooklyn is a lot bigger than I realised. When I organised to stay down south on 68th, I didn’t realise how far it was from Williamsburg, the hip place to be in Brooklyn.
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Beer battered fish tacos + an Australian music festival from afar.

Juniper-crusted bison carpaccio, smoked dark chocolate fudge + coconut green mole.

Last night we had one of the best meals we have eaten in the USA, right here in Phoenix. A few weeks ago when we visited the Desert Botanical Gardens, mum pointed out the restaurant in the gardens and mentioned it had been recently redone by a well-acclaimed chef. I checked it out when I got home, and Executive Chef Stephen Eldridge is alumni of other well-known Phoenix dining hotspots such as Quiessence (Arizona’s answer to New Yorks farm-to-table dining experience Blue Hill at Stone Barns).

So when my grandparents told me they would take me anywhere I wanted to go for dinner for my Christmas present, I finally settled on Gertrude’s, and boy am I glad I did.

We turned up to the Botanic Gardens after dark, and walked through the open entrance gates towards the restaurant. It was weird walking through the Botanic Gardens after closing time.
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