Speaking of handmade truffles, try
http://www.xoxtruffles.com
San Francisco CA
734 Columbus Ave.
"Seven Greatest Chocolates in America"

ghirardelli in SFO
 

Very good premium Chocolate products

I've had lots of European chocolates.

And I'm still gonna go with Hershey's!!!

(That doesn't mean I'm not willing to explore other options, though!)

norske

Again just to level-set the quality in this thread, Ghiradelli is average to below average (in premium). Even at SFO it is not the best available (try Scharfenberger for example).

Cadbury's Dairy Milk - nothing fancy but very moreish

BUT it has to be the stuff made in England and not the stuff made overseas in warmer climates. They put stuff in it to stop it melting in the heat and it ruins it IMO

Just returned from Bruges and agree that Dumon was the best we found anywhere. When I asked Madame Dumon about shipping she said they had to discontinue it because customs kept breaking apart each piece of chocolate.

It sounded odd, but when we returned home Sunday all of our beautiful Dumon chocolate bunnies had been taken out of their boxes and broken apart
into pieces (see my KLM post) :( Thank goodness the other boxes were in a different suitcase and arrived home unscathed.


We didn't end up trying it, but the locals in Bruges swear by The Chocolate Line. It's not as traditional as Dumon but experimental with exotic additions like curry or Cuban tobacco leaves.

Krect™ ;)

I'm headed to BRU tonight to stock up! Anyone in NYC want to get together after work next week for a group dinner and chocolate tasting afterwards? Let's find a restaurant that won't mind us bringing our own dessert (provided we share with them). ;)

Best Easter Chocolate (for adults)
 

Anyone have an opinion on who makes the best Easter chocolate for ADULTS? I thought it would be fun to put together an Easter basket for the "grownups" this year, so no Palmer's or other icky stuff.....(After all, who can resist a good pair of bunny ears, right? ;) )

I've thought about the Lindt bunnies and the Lindt Hazelnut carrots- any other good ideas?

Chocolate by the Bald Man
 

Has anyone tried Max Brenner: Chocolate by the Bald Man?

I lived in Australia for a while and was addicted to his shops. Here's a menu - http://www.maxbrenner.com/menus/menu...sweets_usa.pdf

They've just opened a location in NYC. If you're a chocoholic and within driving distance - even if it's 8 hours by car - then make the trip because if the US store is even close to the Aussie ones, then it will be worth it.

For all the So Cal residents, there's a new place in Orange County that is also very, very good. http://www.mychocolatefix.com - it's across from the ziggurat building in Laguna Niguel and it's the best i've had in a long time.

(i didn't read every single post, so i apologize if any info here is a repeat)...

I remember having a chocolate cake with chocolate covered starberries and kiwis on top in Belgium. However, I cannot recall the restaurant that I had it in. But, I do remember, that cake was to DIE for. :P

I'm a simple chocolate girl, my favorite is cadbury mini eggs that come out at easter.

I just opened a box of jean charles rochoux yesterday. Swoooooooooon.

I think I may have a new favorite, then again, I have a box of christian constant next.

Trying really hard to stay away from the big names in French chocolates and going for some of the more boutiquey chocolatiers.

Just booked a combination mileage run/chocolate run to Brussels Thanksgiving weekend. Taking advantage of CO's holiday BE fares, EWR to BRU in Business Elite for $1157 RT all-in. Anyone want to meet me there for some chocolate sampling?

Chocolate was introduced to France in Bayonne by Jewish refugees from Spain--and Bayonne still has marvelous chocolate today. It's Cazenave (under the arcades) for the absolutely most heavenly chocolate drinks. We did a blind tasting of various chocolates from the region, and Daranatz "Bitter" (70% cacao) was the big favorite. Daranatz has all manner of unusual chocolate, including one kind flavored with Espelette pepper. Henriet in Biarritz is another favorite place. There's even a Chocolate Museum in Biarritz!

One of my best chocolate experiences
 

Some of the best chocolate Ive had-and this wont blow away any of you gourmet chocoholics- Paris.

I had Chocolate Crepes at an outside stand on a corner on Montmatre Blvd, across the street from the Grands Boulevards metro stop.

I proceded to have one every day I was there. I think it was just nutella they put on the crepe, but man oh man, it was delicious!!!!

Im picking up alot of chocolate tips by reading through this thread. Travelling and chocolate- what an unbeatable combination!!!! :D

Great places in Paris for chocolate:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/travel/12tab.html

A friend brought me bitter chocolate from Turkey, made by a company called Elit. It was really, really good! The bitter bar was smooth and rich...mmm....I saved the last piece because I don't want it to be all gone!

Does anyone know if it can be purchased anywhere besides Turkey? It doesn't look as though one can order via their website.

Moonstruck Chocolates
 

A Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe just opened here in the Detroit area. I have never heard of them before now, but did look up the website. Looks good, just wondering what others think of their products?

Does anyone know if it can be purchased anywhere besides Turkey? It doesn't look as though one can order via their website.[/QUOTE]

ElitContact Information
HEAD OFFICE FACTORY

ELİT ÇİKOLATA VE ŞEKERLEME SAN. A.Ş.
Merkez Mah. Birahane Sokak No:7 Kat:1
34381 Bomonti Şişli-İstanbul
Tel: 212 444 0924 Pbx.
Fax: 212 248 3703
Email: [email protected] ELİT ÇİKOLATA VE ŞEKERLEME SAN. A.Ş.
Pir Hüsamettin Sokak No:49 - 51
Kasımpaşa 34440 İstanbul
Tel: 212 238 1171 Pbx.
Fax: 212 254 5780
Email: [email protected]

Meanwhile, as I await their response, I was hoping (as is usual in the FT community!) that someone had actually seen their product in a shop outside of Turkey and could provide a little more information. ;)

Royce
 

Moonstruck started here in Portland. They've had a good local following for years. I thought they were great when I first had it, but it's been a while since I had their chocolate, and I've had the opportunity to try more kinds since then. Maybe I'll pick some up here and see what I think these days. (oh, darn, an excuse for eating chocolate...) I know that they do make a lot of effort to get it right and even make their employees go to a kind of "chocolate school" to learn how it's made when they start working there....

Just tried some Belgian dark chocolate.
It was a lot sweeter than I expected (having expected to get most of the typical bitterness of the darkest chocolates).

So much for choosing something fairly dark so that it's hard to eat too much at once! This one is sweet enough for anyone. :eek:

[Edit to add: 51% sugar, 46% cocoa - and that is just how it tastes.]

After picking up a few tablets of Amedei at FCO, just found another brand, readily available here in SIN: Michel Cluizel. Awesome Cru chocolates. I particularly love the (dark) Madagscar cru.

His daughter runs his store in Paris and its really nice as well. Their pralines are very good.

201, rue Saint-Honoré
75001 PARIS

Good thing you can get his bars here at our local (swish) grocery store.

lala

Miss you by three weeks. Need some advice? I'll email you when I return (before you leave).

Thanks for the info. The store just opened last weekend and I have not been out that way in quite a while. Of course I will have to stop in and sample next time I am in that part of town.

Lalala, you can pave the chocolate trail.

I'd be interested to hear what you think of it once you've tried it.

Anyone who loves chocolate might greatly enjoy the story on chocolate in South America and Dagoba in the Oct. 29 issue of The New Yorker. Unfortunately, it was not online when I last checked. Great article though ...and thanks to a special FTer who gave it to me.

Also, a week or two ago I visited Mikel Cluizel's only US shop in Manhattan and had one of the wine and alcohol pairings. It was really a nice treat. I had about 10 different tastes of chocolate - ranging from milk chocolate, which is really not my preference; through various darks up to the 99 percent. I would have thought the 99 percent inedible, but it worked quite well with the El Tesoro Paradiso Tequila. I got to chose three spirits to taste the chocolates with and opted for the Caol Ila 18-year-old single malt, the Mallo Cuvee Saint-Jacquez 2002 Gewurztraminer and the El Tesoro Paradiso. Great way to spend an hour ...and drop quite a bit of cash, both on the tasting and in the shop. :)

Vosges chocolate bacon bar
 

I'd heard about the "Mo's Bacon Bar" by Vosges in Chowhound, along with Vosges' predilection for sweet/salty/savory chocolate combinations. Being a lover of all things chocolate and all things pig, I found the culprit here in BOS (low-dairy milk chocolate, applewood smoked bacon, alderwood smoked salt).

O M G ! :D

Just heavenly. Innocent slightly milky chocolate with the smoky notes and unctuousness of the bacon, and the salt notes married with all nicely. Try a sip of your favorite brown liquor with this (I suggest a single malt whisky or a smokier gold rum like Mount Gay) for after-dinner bliss.

Next try from Vosges is the white chocolate with kalamata olives...and I saw a dark chocolate with chiles that I'll try after that :)

Love the one with chilis ... and the kalamata olive bar isn't bad though not an addiction for me...tastes like raisins in white chocolate actually ...

I saw this at the check-out counter at Zabars in NYC. I think it was priced at $4.75

Yeah, the Vosges fire bar is a lot of fun. And Michel Cluizel's
noir infini is one of the most toothsome things I've ever tasted;
El Tesoro sounds like a great combo.

had some from COSTCO recently-excellent dark--from Belgium.

That Dagoba bar with chile peppers was a taste epiphany for me when I tried it outside their shop in PDX a couple of years ago...thankfully the local Whole Foods stocks much of their line for whenever I need to remind myself. The combo of chocolate and fruity chile heat is awesome!

Does anyone know if the still do "Chocolate at the Pen" in Chicago? I heard it's great and it was discussed very early in this thread. I'm headed to Chi in March and would love to do nothing but eat chocolate while I'm not working!

I have a vosges barcelona bar on my desk right now.

L'etoile, The Michel Cluziel bars are sold here in Seattle at my grocery store.

lala

According to their website... yes.


Also on Friday and Saturday evenings, enjoy Chocolate at The Pen, featuring our decadent chocolate buffet.