The English may be renowned for “chips with everything”. But chocolate? Well, that’s what two former Cambridgeshire businessmen are dishing up at their newly-opened Boucan restaurant in St Lucia. And if you’re looking for somewhere different to dine out from the Jade Mountain resort, then a 20-minute taxi ride will take you to the most unusual eaterie on the island and perhaps even on the planet.

With unique concoctions ranging from tomato, chilli and cocoa ravioli to beef rib eye with dark chocolate port wine sauce, owners Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris are adding a distinctly new culinary direction to their burgeoning Hotel Chocolat empire.

The pair initially went into partnership in 1988 and after various incarnations opened their first four Hotel Chocolat stores – including one in Cambridge – by 2006. Today they have 56 shops throughout Britain and in the past year have added further stores in America, Kuwait, Dubai and Bahrain. But now they are doing what no other British chocolate company has done before and are running their own 140-acre cocoa estate in St Lucia - with Boucan the jewel in their Caribbean crown.

Had it not been for an obscure book written in 1920, however, the restaurant might never have been built. 'Cocoa and Chocolate: Their History from Plantation to Consumer' was given to Angus by one of the members of their popular online Chocolate Tasting Club and proved to be the inspiration behind the purchase of the run down plantation.

“I was just setting off on a trip to see my father, who lives in the West Indies, so slipped the book into my baggage,” says Angus taking up the story.

“As a chocolate obsessed person I couldn’t put it down once I’d started it. What I hadn’t realised, and what I learned from the book, was how common it was for chocolatiers to make their own chocolate from the bean back in the 1920s and what an important cocoa-growing region the West Indies used to be.

“Since then there have been huge changes and now hardly any chocolatiers get involved in the bean any longer, buying all their chocolate ready made from specialist bean converters. And unfortunately cocoa growing has plummeted in the West Indies as bananas and tourism have taken its place.

“I thought, why don’t we grow our own cocoa and do the opposite of everyone else? And the prospect didn’t just inspire and excite me – the whole company was behind it. After a long and thorough search, we found the ideal old estate in St Lucia which had been in the same family since the 1930s. Peter Harris and I raced over and, in the face of strong competition, signed contracts within a week to buy Rabot Estate.”

Five years later the old plantation house dating from 1745 has been restored to its former colonial glory, thousands of new cocoa trees have been planted (primarily the Trinitario species rich in Crillo genes) and more than 100 new farming jobs created under their Engaged Ethics programme. Plans for an on-site factory are also well advanced and were given the royal seal of approval by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall on a recent visit to the island.

But ever the entrepreneurs, Angus and Peter have now built a 10-cabana boutique hotel on the site complete with 2,500 sq ft infinity pool and a spar with – yes, you’ve guessed it – cocoa beauty treatments and massages. But pride of place goes to their Boucan restaurant and bar.

Named after the traditional West Indian term for a plantation’s cocoa-drying facility and built on the original site of Rabot Estate’s boucan, the restaurant’s design is in stark contrast to the more clichéd Caribbean look of the 10 cabanas or pods as they’re called. Here the concept is much more minimalist and takes its inspiration from the cocoa tree with its supporting beams holding up a roof supposed to resemble the rainforest canopy. And with its modern linear wooden tables and chairs, if it weren’t for the spectacular scenery outside - at 1,000ft above sea level, the eaterie looks directly on to the iconic Gros and Petit Pitons - you could easily think you were in a trendy London restaurant.

Guests can see directly into the kitchens as their meals are being prepared while the presentation and service would meet even Marco Pierre White’s exacting standards. Each dish is initially devised in London and then recreated by the restaurant’s team of local chefs with every part of the cocoa pod utilised in some culinary way.

The fresh, tangy pulp which surrounds the beans makes its way into cocktails, sorbets and ice creams while the roasted cocoa nibs, the ‘meat’ of the bean, play a key role as a spice (while cocoa has been used as a sweet ingredient in desserts for 500 years, the restaurant is keen to point out that it has been used as a savoury staple for more than 3,000 years).

Among the starters, ranging in price from £5 to £10, are citrus salad with white chocolate dressing, line caught yellow fin tuna with cocoa pesto and peanut infused chicken satay with spiced cocoa glaze.

The main dishes, which cost from £12 to £25, are equally original: there’s comfit of duck with a bittersweet local orange and Rabot Estate cocoa nib sauce, parsnip tuiles and white chocolate mashed potatoes or chicken breast casserole cooked with lightly curry-spiced creamed coconut and cocoa nibs, served with Madras rice, homemade naan bread and organic green leaves.

The desserts, priced at about £5, are not surprisingly the icing on Boucan’s chocolate cake. Among a mouth-watering choice are cocoa crème brulee with cocoa infused brulee topping a papaya-mango jelly or Rabot Estate’s latest chocolate curvee paired with strong fresh expresso served with shortbread and bitter dark chocolate ice cream. And if all that hasn’t sated your chocolate craving then how about a cocoa-infused cocktail such as a fresh cocoa bellini, chocolate daiquiri or cocoa pulp martini to round off the meal?

Without doubt, Boucan is a unique experience. But is the food just a gimmick?  It is experimental, yes, but never gratuitous in its desire to be original; somehow the chefs manage to pull off a gastronomic feast which would compare favourably with any Michelin-starred restaurant here in Britain. The cocoa in its many forms is always subtle and never dominates the palette while its combination with locally sourced ingredients makes it both quixotic and exotic.

“Never mind about 1066 and William the Conqueror or 1087 and William the Second,” wrote Roald Dahl. “Such things are not going to affect one’s life. But 1932 and the Mars Bar, 1936 and Maltesers or 1937 and Kit Kat – these dates are milestones in history and should be seared into the memory of every child in the country.” Chocolate lovers can now add 2010 to that list: the date Boucan first opened its doors…

w. Boucan Restaurant

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Article written by Jeremy Bacon