When someone suggested Philip Khoury – the Australian-born ex-Harrods head pastry chef – should make his own version of the Dubai chocolate that went viral earlier this year, he wasn’t keen. “Why would I make something that someone else is known for?” he tells Broadsheet. Instead, he leaned into his Lebanese heritage and created the Beirut bar as part of a bake sale to raise funds for young people in Lebanon. Like Dubai chocolate, it’s a little bit “chunky and over the top”, says Khoury. And like Dubai chocolate, the Beirut bar – which brings together orange blossom caramel, twice-baked baklava, cashew creme, and 50 per cent almond-milk chocolate – went viral.
“It took on a life of its own in the Middle East,” says Khoury. “They were saying it’s the next Dubai chocolate.” Since then, it’s repeatedly sold out. After leaving Harrods, Khoury had intended on starting a cafe with a confectionery component. But the chocolate’s popularity means the confectionery has come first (though a cafe is still in the works), under the name Khourys. Khoury intends on releasing a new bar every month, each dedicated to a city that’s played a role in his life. The second bar is inspired by London, where he’s lived for seven years. And, naturally, it incorporates tea.
“Earl Grey has always been my favourite [tea],” says Khoury, whose second cookbook, Beyond Baking, will be released later this year. “So we’ve made a tea-infused caramel. We did nine different tests to land on the right recipe.”
That caramel is layered with a vanilla biscuit crunch Khoury says is a cross between a shortbread and a Rich Tea biscuit, and is encased in 50 per cent almond-milk chocolate. It’s also, incidentally, plant-based. Khoury has gone to great lengths to select ingredients that are ethical and sustainable, including chocolate from a brand that regenerates rainforests.
The London Bar was launched the evening of September 11 – but sold out almost straight away. It will be restocked on September 18 (bank cards at the ready). As for where the next bar will pay tribute to?
“You can probably guess,” says Khoury. “We’re going to Sydney.”
Khourys chocolate bars are available online.
