I am in Leeds. I have not slept. I am so tired I am fantasising about giant piles of carbs, maybe pancakes, and if not a bath chair, then sofas. John Lewis is a safe place to head.
The pedestrianised and covered shopping centres in Leeds are wonderful and doubly useful at the moment, because I can’t handle the hustle of streets and definitely cannot be held responsible for looking left and right at oncoming traffic. After sniffing everything in Neom, I cross the polished floor to John Lewis. Conveniently, in the men’s shoe department (ground floor) there is a lovely sofa. And, even better, close by are displays of ‘chocolates as presents’.
I buy something I’ve had my eye on for ages: Islands 55% milk chocolate buttons, £10/250g, and some Heston from Waitrose the Chocolate Dabbit, £6 for two.
I had hesitated every time I saw the Islands buttons because they are expensive and I do have a quibble with the size of the buttons (small) and the packet is such that it opens beautifully, but seems to be made so you can’t shove your hand in and scoop platypus handfuls of the stuff into your mouth. But. The chocolate itself is really fantastic, perfectly pitched, delicious, creamy, life-affirming… you get the picture. You’ll love them. You can cook with them, but it’s almost a shame to. My younger testers adored them.
The Dabbit (is it a rabbit is it a duck? It’s quite the trip) is a dark chocolate shell, covering salted blond chocolate truffle. I was expecting to be disappointed, but oh no. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, but honestly, on that sofa, biting into that dabbit’s ears/bill, I think I found a bit of God.
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