Matthew Hunter
Google
There are few greater luxuries on a grey London afternoon than stepping off the pavements of Camberwell into Isabel’s inviting hot chocolate and confectionery shop. It is not simply the waft of cocoa that envelops you, but the sense that you have crossed into a space more akin to a warm French salon than a storefront, made of beautifully hand-painted glass.
Isabel, the French proprietor, has over 17 years cultivated something rare: an atmosphere that manages to be utterly unpretentious and authentic. The shop is small, but its proportions are perfect; walls lined with historic chocolate artefacts (Isabel was once the owner of a chocolate museum in Brixton), boxes of handcrafted chocolates (think artisanal Easter eggs and raw cocoa beans), and cocoa-dusted truffles which surround you. The presence of Lula, the (well behaved and clean) resident shop cat, adds a note of domestic ease, a signal of the home Isabel has made out of her craft.
The hot chocolate itself is an event: Isabel crafts this in full view, mixing a rich, silken, think and aromatic showcase of hot chocolate at its most articulate. Opt for either a purists hot chocolate (70% cocoa chocolate and estate dairy milk), or something avant-garde and add a range of herbs and spices (salt, rosemary, ginger, cumin etc.) Sourced from sustainable producers, it achieves an elusive balance of comfort and sophistication. One suspects Isabel could lecture at length on the science of the perfect hot chocolate, yet she prefers to let her work speak for her.
Perhaps the true reason this shop has become a Camberwell treasure is not the chocolate alone — exceptional though it is — but the familial way Isabel and her team make you feel. A seat at the dark-oak-topped counter brings conversation, warmth, and a kind of intimacy often absent in London retail.
It is worth travelling to, from far beyond Camberwell. In an age of chains and digital commerce, Isabel’s shop reminds us that the best food experiences are local, tactile, and human. For those who believe chocolate can be both comfort and art, this is place to be treasured.