Feast, Not Famine
Taste-test some of the world’s finest chocolate confections.
Ginger Elizabeth
Sacramento, California
A fresh spin on traditional truffles: Raspberry Rose Geranium, Eureka Lemon, Bergamot Pale Ale. Responsibly sourced couverture chocolate made with cream and butter from local NorCal farms. $24/12 pieces. gingerelizabeth.com
Teuscher Chocolates
Switzerland, Zurich
Chocolate made from a proprietary blend of cacao; the cream comes from Teuscher’s herd of Brown Swiss cows. Champagne truffles, invented here in 1932, are still made with Dom Pérignon. $112/pound; teuscher.com
Paul A. Young
London
Three tiny, jewel-box shops in London keep treats with esoteric flavor combos—recently, harissa and tahini; coconut and tonka bean latte; and Caribbean sunset. Everything is made fresh and nothing is shipped. $9/four pieces; paulayoung.co.uk
Christophe Artisan Chocolatier - Pâtissier
Charleston, South Carolina
A third-generation French chocolatier transplanted to the American South, Christophe Paume uses classic recipes and techniques for his opulent truffles and chocolate sculptures. $39/dark chocolate Eiffel Tower; christophechocolatier.com
Kreuther Handcrafted Chocolate
New York
Chocolatier and pastry chef Marc Aumont spent his childhood in his father’s patisserie in Chamonix-Mont Blanc. His smooth-as-silk bonbons unfurl on the tongue like a sensory poem. Single-origin chocolate flavored with saffron and honey recalls summers in the south of France. From $75/pound; kreutherchocolate.com
Patrick Roger
Paris
The French purveyor harvests his own honey and grows almonds on his farm in France. Stop at any of the company’s shops throughout the city to admire chocolate sculptures and dioramas. Buy a box of candied chestnuts. $26/eight pieces; patrickroger.com
L.A. Burdick
Boston
Larry Burdick sources his robust chocolate from small, family-owned farms in Grenada. The signature almond-eared chocolate mice are toothsome darlings. $34/nine mice in wooden box; burdickchocolate.com
Kate Weiser
Dallas
Expect a riotous array of spatter-painted Venezuelan-chocolate bonbons and adventuresome flavor combos (mango-habanero, strawberry-basil, pistachio-gianduja). $18/six pieces; kateweiserchocolate.com
ChocoVivo
Los Angeles
Owner Patricia Tsai sources cacao from a small farm in Mexico. She grinds the nibs into chocolate using an ancient Mayan stone grinder. $15/limited-edition Heirloom Bar; chocovivo.com
Vosges Haut-Chocolat
Chicago
Owner Katrina Markoff, a pioneer in the bacon-and-chocolate trend, blends chocolate with Mexican vanilla beans or Argentinean dulce de leche. Try the olio d’oliva cacao truffles. $32/nine pieces; vosgeschocolate.com
