From its basement kitchen in Liverpool city centre, Table produces chocolate ‘from bean to bar’ and is launching new bars and eggs in time for Easter. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool luxury chocolate maker Table is launching our signature, handmade bars as well as limited edition Easter eggs.
Table, which produces its products from a basement under coffee shop Tops and Twines in Bold Street, focuses on “sustainability, quality and traceability”. It looks to show the connection between consumers and farmers.
Using what it claims is ethically-sourced cacao beans, the four new bars are Tanzania Dark 72%, Nicaragua White 43%, Haiti Milk 61% and Madagascar Dark 84%. They will be sold via Table’s website, in Ropes and Twines, A Slower Space, Skaus and Merseymade.
Three Easter eggs are also available for purchase including Tanzania Dark with a hazelnut praline base filling, Nicaragua White with a pistachio praline base filling and Haiti Milk with a pecan praline base filling.
All of Table’s chocolate is created from scratch in micro batches and made up of just two to four ingredients. All of the chocolate bars are packed in cellulose pouches that are home compostable and the packaging is recyclable.
Each process is handled in-house – from handpicking the suitable cacao beans, to roasting them, grinding the beans into a paste and demoulding the bars and packaging and boxing them.
Created by Ropes and Twines’ Tian Loh TSO and Dutch friend Remy Kuijken, the pair first met in the kitchens of The Dalaunay in London in 2013. Tian worked as a baker for Corbin & King group, at The Wolseley, The Delauney and The Beaumont Hotel and Remy started as a pot washer before working his way up to head pastry chef of a five-star hotel.
READ MORE: Number of Mersey firms hits record high
After several years, the duo reconnected during lockdown. Remy was in Argentina with his daughter and wife Andrea who is also part of the Table team and decided to relocate to Liverpool when Argentina’s borders reopened and in partnership with Tian, Table was born.
Remy said: “Relocating to Liverpool and creating Table with my friend Tian has been incredible. Table aims to bring traceability to the table and we’re so passionate about respecting the farmer whilst using a limited amount of ingredients, leaving out additives and emulsifiers.
“Our signature chocolate bars are handmade in house and from time to time, we also have seasonal products including our Easter eggs which are now available. The Easter eggs are a complete labour of love – each one has been handmade and hand painted in house. They’re dark chocolate with a base that’s filled with hazelnut praline.”
Tian added: “Table is about traceability. Our aim is to support farmers and bring a transparent, ethical and high quality product to our consumers.
“With each process taking place on site, we can pay close attention to every detail from handpicking the perfect cacao beans through to grinding them, hand pouring them into the moulds and carefully packaging them to be sold.”