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Bringing Artistry to Every Plate

We started with a simple belief that chocolate deserves more than a quick melt and drizzle. Back in 2019, three of us were sitting around a kitchen table in Leeds, frustrated by how pastry work was treated as background noise rather than centrepiece material.

Our founding trio—Astrid Jørgensen, Tomasz Lewandowski, and Niamh O'Sullivan—came from different corners of the culinary world. Astrid trained in Copenhagen with a focus on precise tempering techniques. Tomasz brought Eastern European plating traditions that emphasised geometry and contrast. Niamh spent years in Dublin refining sugar work and understanding how texture plays against visual expectation. Together, we realised that chocolate plating was stuck in a rut, relying on the same old curls and shavings.

How We Got Here

Every milestone taught us something new about balance, patience, and the strange magic of getting chocolate to cooperate.

2019

Kitchen Table Experiments

We began testing plating techniques in Astrid's flat, burning through kilos of couverture and arguing over whether asymmetry actually worked. Our first breakthrough was realising that temperature control wasn't just about snap—it changed how chocolate sat on ceramic.

2021

First Workshop Series

Hosted twelve workshops in a rented studio space off Street Lane. Attendance was modest, but participants kept asking for follow-up sessions. We learned that most people weren't intimidated by chocolate itself—they just needed permission to break traditional plating rules.

2023

Expanding the Approach

We partnered with local suppliers to source single-origin chocolate and started documenting plating variations that worked across different cocoa percentages. By autumn, we'd developed a library of techniques that accounted for everything from room humidity to plate material.

2025

Year of Refinement

Focused on streamlining our methods and cutting out anything that felt like unnecessary fussiness. We filmed over forty plating sequences and discovered that the best results came from understanding chocolate's behaviour rather than fighting it. Late in the year, we opened our permanent studio space in Roundhay.

2026

What's Ahead

Starting in February, we're introducing intensive weekend sessions aimed at professionals who want to elevate their dessert presentation. We're also experimenting with savoury applications—turns out dark chocolate pairs beautifully with certain game meats when you get the proportions right.

Our Philosophy in Practice

Chocolate plating isn't about making food look fancy. It's about understanding how flavour, texture, and visual composition support each other. We've spent years testing what actually works versus what just looks good in photos.

Why We Focus on Chocolate

Chocolate is unforgiving. It shows every mistake—poor tempering, rushed cooling, imprecise cuts. But that's exactly why it's such an effective teaching tool. When you learn to control chocolate, you develop habits that carry over to every other aspect of plating.

We're not trying to turn everyone into pastry chefs. Most of our participants are home cooks or food enthusiasts who simply want to understand why some plates work visually and others don't. Chocolate forces you to think about proportion, negative space, and how elements interact on a plate. Those principles apply whether you're plating a tart or arranging a cheese board.

Over the past few years, we've noticed something interesting. People who master basic chocolate techniques tend to become more confident with other presentations. It's as if understanding one material deeply gives you a framework for approaching everything else. That's what keeps us focused on this specific corner of food styling.

What We Actually Offer

No magic formulas or secret tricks. Just practical techniques built from years of testing what actually holds up under real conditions.

Hands-On Learning

You'll spend most of your time working directly with chocolate rather than watching demonstrations. We keep groups small so everyone gets individual feedback on their technique.

Understanding Fundamentals

We focus on teaching the underlying principles rather than specific recipes. Once you understand how chocolate behaves, you can adapt techniques to whatever style suits your needs.

Testing Different Variables

Our sessions explore how changing one element affects the overall result. You'll work with different chocolate percentages, plate materials, and temperature ranges to see what produces consistent outcomes.

Problem Solving Approach

When something goes wrong—and it will—we help you figure out why rather than just showing you the correct method. Understanding failures is often more valuable than memorising successes.

Ready to Explore Chocolate Plating?

Our next intensive sessions begin in March 2026. Whether you're looking to refine existing skills or start from scratch, we'd be happy to discuss which approach might suit your goals.

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