From petal-wrapped jewel-like truffles, to the 'majorelle blue' interior, Noshy has made a colourful splash in Heath Street.

Stefanie Siraghi opened the shop selling luxury vegan treats earlier this month.

The former City worker ran a pre-pandemic company supplying nutritious snacks and biscuits to offices, which was only 10 weeks old when the first lockdown came. Cue a change of tack to reinvent her product.

"It's been a humbling and exciting journey throughout the pandemic," she said. "We worked long and hard on the recipes after a lot of kitchen experiments. It's more complex and time consuming to achieve flavour and taste satisfaction when you are not able to use dairy or sugars."

Despite the name, the truffles with their quirky names; Giorgio, Elton, Frida and Coco, are not chocolate-based. Sweetened with mejdool dates and flavoured with the likes of ginger, orange, coffee bean, cherry, and, pistachio, Stefanie describes them as "a hybrid of a truffle, a cake and a biscuit".

"Think of it not like going to a chocolatier but to an ice cream shop full of flavours."

Covered in edible petals, they are free of dairy, gluten, wheat, additives and colourings, and can be bought by the box, made into wedding truffle towers, or supplied for events and afternoon teas. The flavours are part inspired by her travels and partly by customers.

"If someone asks for strawberry we make it. Whether you have a diet restriction by choice or for healthy reasons it shouldn't feel like a sacrifice," she adds.

"People who are diabetic or gluten intolerant can feel left out at dinner parties when the sweet treats come round and they have to say no. Our truffles are as healthy as they are beautiful as they are inclusive. Customers come in and say 'wow I can eat this.'"

While "cutting no corners" with the quality of ingredients, she wanted Noshy to be "a special experience."

"I wanted to bring that magical vision for the brand to life and where better than a place with a love of plants and the natural world? The shop is a treat for the senses. A website can never quite translate that multi-sensory joy."

And Stefanie has even moved to Hampstead to be close.

"There is so much love that has gone into this, Noshy is my life, I don't have much private life any more."

https://lovenoshy.com/