[title]
Should you be a fan of their cult cookbooks, the Hemsley sisters need no introduction – on the clean-eating stage, the duo are pretty much spiraliser-wielding rock stars. It makes sense, then, that they’d hook up with the city’s most on-point shop to open their first café. Hemsley + Hemsley is to be found within Selfridges’ new third-floor Body Studio. And for an in-store eatery, it looks surprisingly cool. There’s a minimal Japanese aesthetic to the bamboo-coloured walls and plants that dot the place, plus the lighting’s so well done that it took us a moment to realise it wasn’t natural.
But one thing that’s definitely natural is the grub. The entire (seasonal) menu is organic and free of gluten, refined sugar and hydrogenated fats. Fear not: there’s meat, full-fat dairy and booze on the menu, too – a healthy lifestyle is all about balance, after all. We opted for the feta and black bean burger (£12.50) and sauerkraut (£2). The patty was filling but needed more seasoning – the house-made cultured ketchup and fennel-flecked sauerkraut perked things up, though. The star attraction was the flaxseed bun. Fluffy and crisp, it was hard to believe it contained no yeast or grains – people with intolerances will know it’s near impossible to find bread with these credentials that doesn’t have the texture and taste of old rubber. We had the Choco Coco Shake on the side (£7), made of cacao, coconut milk, banana and raw honey – thick, creamy and unhealthy-tasting in the best possible way. Any slight niggles with the food – and its priciness – should be tempered by the fact that health-conscious cooking this substantial and thoughtfully put together is hard to find in London. The Hemsleys are sure to earn many more groupies in the near future.