Perfumed Pâtisserie at Jacqueline, The Chancery Rosewood

Inside the recently opened Chancery Rosewood, on the site of the former US embassy in Grosvenor Square, sits a dessert salon and tearoom named Jacqueline. Of course, when American history and teatime elegance are at play – there is only one Jacqueline that this sweet spot of the hotel could possibly be inspired by, and that’s Jackie O. With her Chanel tailored suits and felted pillbox hats, it’s known that the fashionable former first lady enjoyed the ritual of high tea – most commonly, as the hostess. Though she followed a strict diet, a cup of tea seemed to always accompany her honey on toast for breakfast and would find its way into her well-composed social gatherings. During the presidential campaign in 1960, she famously welcomed female reporters for tea in her Georgetown dining room. Now, The Chancery Rosewood has taken inspiration from Jackie O’s poise and perfected hospitality into the chic surroundings of Jacqueline.

Perfumed Pâtisserie

We’re all familiar with the concept of haute couture in fashion, but haute pâtisserie is quite another ball game. For Executive Pastry Chef Marius Dufay, however, it’s a craft he’s been perfecting for some time. Beyond the visual artistry of his desserts, Marius goes a step further, engaging the senses by uniting the worlds of fragrance and pâtisserie.

After spending time in France’s legendary land of perfume, the Côte d’Azur, Marius adopted the same scent-extraction techniques used by perfumers to capture the essence of flowers - and brought them into the kitchen. Through these methods, he infuses his creations with the flavour of the scent itself. There are no artificial flavourings in sight here, this is the real deal. This is the unique aspect of The Flower Collection at Jacqueline, featuring a selection of intricate desserts each crafted with fresh, wild and dried flowers and misted or infused with a delicate petal essence.

A Petal Out of Their Book

In his time before becoming Chef Pâtissier for Mauro Colagreco at Restaurant Mirazur and now Executive Pastry Chef at The Chancery Rosewood, Marius trained under esteemed names including Pierre Hermé, Thierry Marx, Christian Lesquer, Christophe Bacquié and Pierre Gagnaire.

Each flower in the collection serves as an ode to one of his mentors, subtly nodding to their signature techniques or flavour profiles - showing how he has taken a leaf (or petal, if you will) out of each of their books. My choice from the menu, The Rose, incorporated the iconic flavours of Pierre Hermé’s Ispahan - a pink-hued harmony of rose, raspberry and lychee. The dessert was dusted with rose essence from a vintage-style perfume bottle. Though I do love it, this is not the rose flavour you find beneath the chocolate in Fry’s Turkish Delight. This was as though freshly pressed from a petal - exciting all the senses with a rosy character, authentic and pure.

Time for *Lots of* Tea

With a luxury afternoon tea, its common to be welcomed by a fizzing glass of Prosecco or Champagne before diving into a milky cuppa. At Jacqueline, even the flutes are filled with tea of some description. This unsung hero of non-alcoholic fizz, Blå sparkling tea, was so effortlessly moreish that it could topple Belvoir and Schloer down from their thrones. So we say hurrah to those who are designated drivers and sober champions, because this Copenhagen-born beverage is 0% and delicious. As for the tea menu itself, it’s rather overwhelming, with hundreds of teas from every corner of the world. Thankfully, tea sommeliers are on hand to guide you to a something that will suit you and if you’re looking to explore beyond the daily bag of English Breakfast, this is the spot to expand your steeping horizons.

Potato and Caviar

The Jacqueline Afternoon Tea experience has a repeating theme of intertwining sweet with savoury. The most notable dish balances the two opposing flavours perfectly and takes a twist on one of Jackie O’s favourite snacks, a slice of potato heaped with caviar. While the generous portion of caviar remains, in this instance, Marius has swapped out the potato with a rich disk of chocolate mousse. Extending this iconic dish to account for vegetarian guests, it is also available served with veggie caviar (seaweed pearls). Continuing on to increasing levels of chocolate is the Pain au Chocolat. Not your usual depiction of the French breakfast pastry, this intimidatingly large, plaited masterpiece brought with it layers upon layers of buttery pastry and a delectable chocolate filling that had it bursting at the seams. Served alongside is a pot of airy chocolate mousse to dip into. For anyone yearning for the virality of Paris’ Chez Janou, this will save you the Eurostar fare and have you lulled into an even deeper chocolate coma.

Find out more about Jacqueline at The Chancery Rosewood and book via rosewoodhotels.com/en/the-chancery-rosewood/dining/jacqueline