A TV chef once described as the ‘Heston Blumenthal of chocolate’ has set up a studio in Stone hosting chocolate workshops and masterclasses.
Paul Young says he wants to offer people the chance to have a good time while learning new skills and can cater for everyone from complete beginners to those already working in the trade.
He has spent the past few months kitting out a new space for Chocolate at Home at Whitebridge Industrial Estate after starting the business in 2023 by inviting people into his home to learn his secrets to working with chocolate.
Paul told Daily Focus: “It is a creative space, not an industrial kitchen, so it is a very welcoming environment where people can learn but have fun at the same time.
“My workshops will be accessible for all abilities and I aim to teach functional skills that can then be put into practice at home without the need to buy special equipment.
“Everyone gets tutored chocolate tasting as part of their class and they all leave with the recipes they need as well as everything they make.”
Paul hopes his studio will appeal to a wide audience from hen parties to couples to those looking for a full one-to-one masterclass.
Skills he plans to teach include making ganache and caramels, tempering chocolate, layering chocolates and decorating them.
He added: “It’s the chance for people to learn from me and all my experience, but in an approachable way, as I am also someone who has probably made every mistake going over the years.”
Paul worked with acclaimed chef and restaurateur Marco Pierre White for four years, including time as his head pastry chef before giving it up to make chocolate 20 years ago.
He once had his own group of four London artisan chocolate stores and was famous for his sea-salted caramels.
His chocolates have won him accolades in the Academy of Chocolate Awards and the International Chocolate Awards, which is the largest craft chocolate competition in the world.
Over the years, he has written four chocolate recipe books including Adventures of Chocolate, which won Best Chocolate Book in the World in the 2009 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.
He is regularly on television and has starred on the likes of Saturday Kitchen, This Morning and has been a challenge judge on The Apprentice twice. Paul has also appeared in shows alongside names such as Paul Hollywood and Gordon Ramsay.
Paul moved to Staffordshire at the end of November last year and his partner David Wolstenholme, who helps out with the chocolate events, is from Stone.
Paul said: “Staffordshire is a really good location for us to be close to family, and in terms of transport links. I still do some work in London myself, and we expect to be attracting people from outside of the area to the studio.”
The first event to be held in the studio takes place at the end of the month.
Others will be advertised on his Facebook page, which can be found here.
