THINGS TO DO – Page 14

How many times can you say you had cocktails while being surrounded by giant vegetable sculptures in a chic London Hotel? My guess is… not many, if ever.

While being invited to this kind of party wasn’t necessarily on my ‘Sunny bucket list’, it certainly wasn’t an opportunity I was going to turn down. Why? Because like Alice from Wonderland, I was just so damn curious.

Last week I went to the Sofitel St James, 6 Waterloo Place, London SW1Y 4AN for the opening night of an art exhibition. It was pitched to me ahead of time as ‘a stylish celebration of earth’s seasonal bounty with French artist Patrick Laroche.’ Since I had never been to the hotel’s stylish brasserie The Balcon, I was even more intrigued.

Sofitel St James is French owned, so I felt very shi shi foo foo, Sunny friends.

When I arrived, I found a giant vegetable sculpture outside the hotel’s entrance. Waaaaaa laaaa.

I absolutely couldn’t resist my first bad joke of the night. I asked the doorman if that was an asparagus in his pocket or was he just happy to see me. 😉

He found little humor in my joke. But, I was expecting a fairly chilli reception.

After some food and a few cocktails, people started to lighten up and go with the root of the exhibition’s concept.I even got a sneaky picture with the ahhhhhhtist himself, Patrick Laroche! Don’t we just look like two peas next to a pod?

Did you notice the girl’s face over my shoulder? Perhaps she was a bit jealous I got a photo opp with Laroche? Maybe someone beet her in to coming?

Maybe she’d prefer an exhibition that united British with French that was a bit cheesier?
Or maybe she should just yank out the carrot stuck up her…

Anyhow, I much more enjoyed the company of these fellas. They seemed quit amused and… cherry!

There were times during the exhibition that being surrounded by all these giant artistic vegetables made me feel like I was the White Rabbit on a crazy journey to the rabbit hole.

Or maybe it was just all the damn cocktails they kept handing me.

I applaud Sofitel St James and Patrick Laroche for their inventiveness and creativity. Sofitel loves French culture and gastronomy and often organises events and exhibitions at the property. This one lasts from September 18-October 31.

Further, the hotel’s signature restaurant will offer new vibrant, vegetable dishes created by Head Chef, Vincent Ménager. There will also be a ‘Laroche Cocktail.’ It’s a fresh mixture of rosemary and basil cubes, cucumber, Heirloom tomatoes and finished with a signature mushroom syrup.

I encourage you to stop by and see this fun, French exhibition at Sofitel St James. I hope you find it as a-peeling as I did. You just never know who may turnip!

To keep up with all the festivities at Sofitel St James, you can follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

What do you think, Sunny friends? What interesting art exhibitions have you attended?

‘Choccywoccydoodah, an Invitation to the Witches Kitchen…

It would be lovely to see you again.’

My eyes read over the words several times just to see if I was interpreting it right. Had I just received a personal invitation to an exclusive Choccywoccydoodah event? It suddenly hit me-

I received a real life golden ticket!

In the Spring I spent an afternoon sipping and eating chocolate with my chocolate connection at the famous bespoke cake company. I learned about how Choccywoccydoodah originated, grew and turned in to a famous television reality show about making chocolate and cake.

After my blogger advice and expat related posts, the Choccywoccydoodah feature is one of the most popular stories on Sunny in London. So, I made sure to RSVP immediately and coordinate a trip from London to Brighton for the exclusive event.

I spent the whole week wondering what the fabulous crew of Choccywoccydoodah would cook up in their Witches Kitchen. I also ran 4-5 miles every day and drank kale shakes so I could indulge during my visit.

I had been to Brighton three years ago with Mr. Sunny. But we didn’t have the opportunity to visit Choccywoccydoodah. As I headed down a tiny alley following my iPhone Maps, I guessed the chocolate shop was at the end.
Yes! I felt a bit like Harry Potter in Diagon Alley. The word to describe the chocolate shop is majestic. Just like their Carnaby Street London location, the walls are covered with vibrant colours and art.

I received a special armband and was whisked upstairs to the private event.

As part of a group of 5-6 bloggers, I received an apron and a choice…

Skull or Cake?
Well, I can’t say I’ve ever heard that one before. Have you?! Nearly all of us picked a white chocolate skull. There was one lonely cakester. Silly blogger.
Before us was a table filled with chocolate coloured flowers, jelly beans, morsels, chocolate dust and more.

And then they said, ‘It’s all yours. Have fun.’

I conquered the initial shock of the challenge and began to work. Let me tell you, figuring out how to make a chocolate skull look pretty ain’t easy, Sunny friends. I picked up my chocolate piping and started to draw. I have no artistic talent or training whatsoever. Good thing the super staff at Choccywoccydoodah were there to guide me along the way. Once I filled in the chocolate flower ‘mini sombrero’ on my skull, I stuck some chocolate flowers on top.

And then someone had the bright idea to make my skull a real piece of eye candy.Yep, that’s two shots of honeycomb straight to the eye sockets. As if that wasn’t enough, I decided to really go for the gold and started dousing my skull with edible dust.
My skull took it like a champ straight in the nose cavity. My camera, on the other hand, will need months to shimmer down. So, Sunny in London readers might really start seeing my London world through glitter coloured glasses 😉

I tried my best to arrange the chocolate in a fun, presentable way. And, of course managed to get some branding in the picture too!

We were all proud of our creations, even the cake blogger.Next, we toured the many rooms in the café, while our creations were ghost-wrapped for our travels home.
There was chocolate, chocolate covered food and chocolate drinks everywhere! Don’t believe me? Here, take a look…

And just as I turned a corner, I met one the chocolate wonder woman herself- Christine! She graciously took a picture with me and made sure I was having a delicious time.
The local television station captured her a few moments later. I tried to remain a cool cat about that.
I occupied myself with these fantastic sights of a real world Chocolate Factory and continued to sample more of the chocolate pieces of heaven.

As you can see, the Witches Kitchen experience totally rocked. That is, until I had to carry my 3 kilogram skull to the Brighton train station and for two hours on the London Underground.

I had the misfortune that evening of not being able to take the Northern Line home due to severe disruptions. Three trains later, with a lot of strange looks and very tired arms, I met Mr Sunny and proudly showed him my Halloween present.

Sunny friends, there’s nothing that compares to carrying a solid chocolate skull for hours on packed trains. Perhaps that cake blogger wasn’t too silly after all.

I highly recommend visiting a Choccywoccydoodah location. They’re in:

Brighton: 3 Meeting House Lane, Brighton, BN1 1HB
London: 30-32 Fouberts Place, Carnaby, W1F 7PS

Their chocolate is simply to die for! 😉 You can read all about their use of Belgian chocolate and celebrities who have contracted them for cakes in my Choccywoccydoodah piece. And of course, you can get your own for Halloween, Christmas, Easter, birthdays or just a day you want a fabulous bit of chocolate.

Follow them for news and mouth-watering pictures on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Sofitel St James- A Punny Tale with GIANT Vegetables

Choccywoccydoodah, Christine, Eye Candy and a Golden Ticket

THE ESSENTIAL FIRST TIME GUIDE TO

HARRY POTTER

YOUTUBE