PATRICK ROGER CHOCOLATIER

Patrick Roger is a chocolate artisan like no other. Patrick Roger is very involved in every step of chocolate making–from acquiring ingredients, developing flavor combinations, tempering the chocolates and sculpting! With a team of less than 15, Patrick Roger comes up with grand creations that are delectable and very detailed.

The clean lines of the Patrick Roger shops really give the chocolates the chance to pop. Don’t let your eyes fool you, those bees and chickens you will see on the shelves aren’t porcelain or glass—they’re chocolates too! Entering his store and getting a taste of the chocolates made us feel like being in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. It’s handmade love for sure!

The day we visited the Patrick Roger Paris store, a one tonne block of chocolate in the window had been carved to a huge elephant. Something really amazing to see!

If you are in Paris and you’re looking for a chocolate gift then you will not be disappointed.

Flavor suggestions: anything with lemongrass, Sichuan peppercorn, pralines and caramels

Locations: Paris and Belgium click here for directory. We’ve vistied both and they are equally exciting.

PIERRE HERMÉ

 

Pierre Hermé comes from a long line of Alsatian pastry makers and he started his career as an apprentice to Gaston Lenôtre at the age of 14.  Over the years, Pierre Hermé has garnered different praises “the Picasso of Pastry” (French Vogue), “pastry provocateur” (Food & Wine), and “The Kitchen Emperor” (New York Times).

Pierre Hermé’s modern take of pastry-making has become so popular not just in France but also in the United States and Asia. Although Pierre Hermé is most known for the macarons, the chocolates are a great understated luxury in the shops. The chocolates range from 45% to 75% cacao and the product line includes bars, bonbons, truffles, nougats and cubes, to name a few.

We visited the Herme Paris Store and were mesmerised by the pastry. Soft delicate layers of pastry filled with incredible chocolate mousse – amazing. It’s very evident that he began his career in pastry and then moved to chocolate – the result shops full of both!

Flavor suggestions: Chocolates like Melissa (dark milk bar with sea salt, toffee and caramel), Java  and Mogador

Locations: Complete list of locations here

PIERRE MARCOLINI

 

Pierre Marcolini started out with a childhood dream to create the best chocolate in the world. Up to this day, this dream is what fuels Marcolini’s passion to run his “Haute chocolaterie,” with products that he oversees from bean to boutique. What makes the chocolates extra special is the fact that the flavors are products of Pierre Marcolini’s travels (he does so two months a year in tropical regions), and that the premium chocolates come from major suppliers from Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Ghana, Madagascar or Vietnam, who all maintain ethical practices. Other chocolate ingredients includes Moroccan pink berries, Sichuan pepper, Tahitian vanilla, Sicily lemon, Ceylon cinnamon, Piedmont hazelnuts and Montelimar nougats.

His chocolates are so good, they have been featured in Oprah causing a major stir in the American market.

We first encountered a Belgian Marcolini store in Belgium. What an amazing store. Two levels of chocolate gifts, macrons and a multitude of gift baskets and gift boxes. It’s a food gift buyers delight and just as wonderful for those of us that were looking for a gift for ourselves!

Flavor suggestions: Lime praline, dark chocolate, coffee and collections like The Ephemeral Collection

Locations: Belgium, France, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Monaco, United Kingdom (exact addresses here)