You’d have to define mainstream. For argument’s sake, let’s assume it’s something you can find in more than one supermarket chain. Here are a few: Theo, Raaka, Guittard, Scharffen Berger.

There are also many American chocolate makers that are not quite mainstream, but still amazing: Castronovo, Charm School, Chequessett, Christopher Elbow, Donnelly, Fine & Raw, French Broad, Gotham, Harper Macaw, Manoa, Map, Michael Dunn, Philip Marks, Piety and Desire, S.K. Frey, Solstice, Somerville, Stone Grindz, Xocolatl. And those are just the ones I’ve tried that were fantastic. There’s an even longer list of American makers that are really good, but not, to me, amazing.

I’ve tasted my way through many European chocolates. There are many great ones, but also some pretty bad ones. Neither continent has a monopoly on good or bad chocolate.