It’s 16 years since Heston Blumenthal opened the Fat Duck and convinced us that snails and porridge is in fact a match made in culinary heaven. As Britain’s best-known practitioner of molecular gastronomy (despite latterly refuting the title in a newspaper article), Heston brought the esoteric experimentations of a small group of scientists and chefs out of the laboratory and made it a (pricey albeit) dining out option for us.

Now boardroom meetings, wedding receptions and gallery openings are about to go molecular.

A few weeks ago Re:VIEW was invited to taste a selection of treats from Bubble Food at St Barnabas House in the heart of Soho. The bespoke caterers have been laying on silver service banquets and posh finger food for some time, and have now become the first company to pioneer molecular cuisine for the events industry.

The sun has set on the era of ‘miniaturization’ in canapés, the phase that saw stalwart British fare like fish and chips or bangers and mash served en petite. Thanks to the huge popularity of shows like Come Dine With Me and Great British Menu, we all fancy ourselves as fine dining connoisseurs and are more educated about ingredients and cooking techniques than ever. Catering, all too often the preserve of lackluster stodge, has had to catch up.

Under the guidance of Venezuelan chef Alejandro Diaz, Bubble Food kitted out their kitchens with the scientific equipment needed to produce concoctions like the ‘hickory smoked langoustine micro salad’ and created three sample menus to cover canapés, bowl food or fine dining. Diaz’ team set about deconstructing regular dishes and passing them through molecular metamorphosis into something far more original and titillating. There are several plays on traditional finger food, like smoked salmon blinis and olives, deconstructed and recreated almost beyond recognition – the Spherical Olives, for example, look no different to those you’d pick up from the deli counter, yet in fact consist of fine skin of olive extract injected with a briney substance so that on the tongue these morsels dissolve to unlock the salty, oily essence of this foodstuff. Their gazpacho works in a similar way, wobbly red spheres that burst into a liquid tomato mouthful.

Other sample dishes are more visibly deconstructed in their elements, like the toffee popcorn with the light-as-air corn puffs served alongside gooey caramel, or the trifle glass of goats cheese soufflé, in which a strong cheesy mousse is topped with beetroot syrup and glistening cluster of olive oil ‘caviar’.

Molecular cuisine is characterised by subverting your expectations of texture and combinations, so this manipulation of olive oil into tiny egg-like beads was a case in point. As so many said about the quintessential snail porridge: it sounds so wrong, but somehow it works. My personal favourite was probably the caramalised scallop with miso, the saltiness of the glaze complimenting the fresh seafood, with a spoonful of almond crumble adding a crunchy bite, and finished off with a streak of smooth oyster cream. Sublime.

Naturally such creative fayre can’t just be swashed down with a generic glass of house white; cue Bubble Food’s quirky cocktail range, which includes potions such as Bubbles with Blue Raspberry Candy floss and the glowing, volcanic steam emitting Casino Royal.

The small portions molecular food is served in really lends itself to party food; as it’s surprisingly filling, in restaurants tasting menus of six or seven courses are the norm for dinner and The Fat Duck’s consists of no fewer than 14 dishes. Then there’s the wonderfully theatrical and multi-sensory nature of the food. Conversations are struck up fluently as people try to guess what they’re about to taste, giggles and gasps are emitted as the glass is lifted off a salmon blini and a pungent waft of smoke (it’s ‘smoked salmon’, with added showmanship) is released, or an olive pops like a balloon in their mouths.

So you heard it hear first: at London Fashion Week and the most prestigious City Christmas parties this year, you’re sure to encounter some of Bubble Food’s molecular canapés. Prepare to be entertained.

Estella Shardlow