Cakes on the catwalk

I have stood outside the Rose Bakery on the Rue des Martyrs drooling. After frou-frou French creations, the home-made crumbles and carrot cakes looked like a delicious evocation of Blighty. Owners Rose and Jean-Charles Carrarini had cleverly sold English baking to Parisians - no mean feat. Now they have brought the concept home. Well, if you can call the curiosity that is Dover Street Market home, that is.

In this temple of high fashion (owned by Comme des Garcons and populated by what can only be called 'a breed apart'), they have set up store, tucked away in a fourth-floor corner. I was looking forward to giving it Billy Bunter but got something altogether more ascetic. There's a steel counter, hardly groaning with goodies, and a long, lone wooden bench table. Assorted fashiony types nibble at expensive miso soup or steamed veg with a sesame paste dressing; as did we - jolly nice it was too, fresh and nutty if hardly a blow-out.

I consoled myself with extraordinarily good Luscombe ginger beer (£3.80!), a weeny, superflakey Eccles cake with Montgomery cheddar and a not-nearly-gooey-enough carrot cake shaped like a flowerpot. Scones looked shrunken and an anaemic ricotta cheesecake made this most sinful pud seem positively virtuous. Still, I guess fashion folk don't eat much. They'll probably love it.

Rose Bakery at Dover Street Market
17-18 Dover Street, W1