Best Chocolatiers for Valentine's Day Treats

[eatsweetreats]

I have looked into getting a boxed chocolate set for a special treat on Valentine's Day from Recchiuti, Jacques Torres, Payard's, and Kee's (which I don't know if she ships). Does anyone have feedback on these chocolatiers, or know of any others I am leaving out?

[eatsweetreats]

Thank you for all your wonderful suggestions. I ended up ordering from Jacques Torres because it's fairly close to my and that way I know the chocolate will be fresh. Plus I could order online, which made things super easy. I'll let you know how they taste once they arrive....

[puppymomma]

I saw several recommendations for Chuao. But I just had an experience with Chuao Chocolates from San Francisco that probably puts an end to my mail ordering. I ordered two small boxes of their chocopods. I figured they would be small, but in reality, they were smaller than I expected. I had to ship it FedEx which costed $9.00 +. About 4 days later I wrote them because I didn't get my package. They informed me that the FedEx was ground and takes up to 5 business days.

So five business days pass and still no package. I called and she told me to keep waiting. I told the woman that I was upset that I paid over $9.00 to ship a small package and that the ship time was upsetting to me.

In the end, I waited 10 days. She didn't even refund my shipping. Never again is all I can say - No matter how yummy the chocolates were.

On that note, I enjoy knipschildt chocolates and I can buy them from a retailer who is within driving distance.
http://www.knipschildt.com/flash.html

[puppymomma]

I just want to say that the other day I got an email from Chuao. They apologized for not handling my complaint earlier and said they were sending me free samples of chocolates - 2nd day air.

I got about $30 of chocolates 2 days later. I haven't tried all of them, but I have to say that I totally fell in love with the dark Caracas bar.

Chuao won me over.

[toodie jane]

Tucked into the tiny gold country town of Nevada City in California's Sierra Nevada, De Groot's truffel shop is astounding.

These are the best tasting, most exquisitly decorated truffles; from a master chocolatier. Take a look aorund the site:

http://www.thetruffleshop.com/truffle...

[meg944]

The best chocolate I have ever had (better than anything we have had from Paris, San Francisco or NYC) is Gail Ambrosius in Madison, WI. http://www.gailambrosius.com It’s a small store, so the array is not vast, but her truffles in particular are amazing.

[meg944]

My other favorite (for something a bit more exotic) John Paul Hevin. Apparently he spent time in Japan and much of his stuff has an Asian influence (so, not too sweet.) http://www.jphevin.com/catalogue.php?...

[emily]

I think Kee's is far and away the best from the ones you've listed. Wonderfully fresh. A lot of people like Recchiuti, but everytime I try them, I think "meh".

Chuao has great passionfruit caramels. One of my favorite chocolates anywhere.

[AgentRed]

Has anyone tried Donnelly's at
http://www.donnellychocolates.com/iko...

[dolores]

Teuscher --

http://www.teuscher.com/

Expensive, but worth it.

[brandygirl]

Teuscher's champagne truffles are the best chocolates I've ever eaten! Dolores is right, expensive but worth every cent.

[ns1]

Hi guys, can somebody give me feedback on these 2? Going to get some for the wifey, she's big on chocolate

http://www.lamaisonduchocolat.com/commerce/en/US/US/product/U-ALCHIM/book-gift-box-sensations
http://www.burdickchocolate.com/item-...

[Alice Q]

I think they're both mentioned above actually - both are good, Burdick is my absolute favorite!

[frogmeister]

The Sweet Shop
Some of the best in the US
https://secured.keysql.com/sweetshopu...

[ns1]

they ARE both mentioned above, just wanted to see if anybody *cough, women, cough ;) * had an opinion on the specific products

[Alice Q]

You really can't go wrong with either - La Maison du Chocolat is probably a bit more sophisticated, but I've tried them all, and Burdick is my favorite. They're all hand-cut and decorated instead of molded with interesting and delicious flavors - just different enough to be interesting, but not weird. I also like that they're really small and delicate - the mice are just adorable.

[Docsknotinn]

We really enjoy Gayles chocolates as well. :)

http://www.gayleschocolates.com

[typetive]

I love Recchiuti, I pick some up whenever I can in SF. (When you buy it at the counter you can get it by the pound instead of by the piece - why pay for all that packaging when I'm just gonna eat it while I walk around!)

I second Chuao Chocolatier, they have inventive flavors and use El Rey chocolate exclusively. www.chuaochocolatier.com

I enjoyed Kee's, their stuff is more about the chocolates and less about the fancy box (which is kinda how I feel about MarieBelle). But I've never ordered from them, just visited their shop.

I definitely recommend looking at Theo Chocolates, fair trade, organic, beautiful to look at and most of all tasty. www.theochocolate.com

I enjoy Vosges quite a bit, I love their Green collection but I don't know if that's available for Valentines. (I wasn't as keen on their caramels - but I have a walnut allergy so I was probably missing the best of the best.) Their purple boxes are lovely and seem to keep the chocolates all in their place and looking pristine in shipping. www.vosgeschocolate.com

CocoaBella in SF lets you design your own box and pick exactly what you want or get one of their "world's best" mixes. They offer a variety of domestic & international chocolatiers ... some stuff that I don't think you can order anywhere else in the US. www.cocoabella.com

Charles Chocolates has excellent peanut butter butterflies - fanstastic combination. They have truffles and other sweet treats as well (and very nice boxes for presentation). www.charleschocolates.com

If you like toffee, look at Valerie Confections - www.valerieconfections.com

Fran's has great salted caramels - www.franschocolates.com

Finally, I can never say no to a box of See's Nuts & Chews ... I know it's not high-falutin' but it's good quality, inexpensive and tasty.

[Alice Q]

I like Sees Nuts and Chews too - especially the dark ones! And good call on the Vosges - I forgot to mention them.

Chuao has a perfect bon bon for Valentine's day - it's a heart shaped chocolate filled with passionfruit caramel - by far my favorite of their chocolates.

We also have two other excellent artisan chocolatiers in San Diego - Guanni - www.guannichocolates.com - they took a hit during the recent fires, but are back in business. You might want to email them about mail order. Top notch ingredients and inventive flavors, many from South America and Peru - Pisco Brandy, Lucuma fruit, dulce de leche, etc.

More about Guanni - http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/11/08/food/9_22_1611_7_07.txt

Eclipse Chocolat is another inventive SD Chocolatier - he does a really nice lavender caramel truffle, and just opened a retail shop in San Diego with desserts, etc. www.eclipsechocolat.com

My husband has ordered me John and Kira's and Moonstruck before - Moonstrucks chocolates look great, but taste terrible, at least in my experience - and I'm just not that crazy about John and Kira's flavors - though they're good quality. They give you several of only a few flavors, and I like more variety.

[AnneInMpls]

La Maison du Chocolat is my favorite splurge. For less money (but not all that much less), I LOVE B.T. McElrath chocolates, especially the salted caramel butterflies, the dark-chocolate macademia toffee, the passion fruit truffles, and the plain dark chocolate truffles. These chocolates are a standard Valentine's gift in my house. They're also common for minor celebrations, bad days, and random "I deserve this" treats.

B.T. McElrath is based in my own home town (I'm so lucky!), but is available online at btmcelrath.com .

Anne

[soupkitten]

second b.t. mcelrath! it wouldn't be v-day without the passion fruit truffles! my faves are the same as anne's, with the addition of the red zin "fish" truffle.

[brentk]

John & Kira's gets my vote: http://www.johnandkiras.com/

[Docsknotinn]

Another vote for Maison du Chocolat. I was just thinking I need to mark my order date so I don't forget.

[MMRuth]

Kee's does ship, and I think she is better than Payard's. Haven't tried the others.

[ccbweb]

Jacques Torres is my wife's favorite and they've always arrived well packed, on time and delicious. I've ordered from them probably 4 times a year over the last 4 years and we've never been anything but thrilled.

Well, there was the one time when we left the box of champagne truffles on the dining table and the dog helped herself to the whole box....but we try not to think about that one too much. (And all of the chocolate is now much much higher and behind latching doors....and the dog was fine, thankfully.)

[Alice Q]

I love L.A. Burdick - www.burdickchocolate.com - they are hand cut and dipped, rather than molded, and very small, which I love. Michael Recchiuti is my second favorite.

We also have a really good local company here in San Diego called Chuao - www.chuaochocolatier.com - lots of exotic flavors, very similar to Michael Recchiuti. The only reason I prefer MR is the Chuao chocolates are molded and I prefer handmade - just my little quirk.

[Bob W]

Burdick's rocks -- I just finished my last penguin 8<( -- as does another New Englander, my hometown favorite Garrison Confections in Providence.

www.garrisonconfections.com

[maria lorraine]

Burdick's is at the top.

[Lucia]

La Maison du Chocolat and Pierre Marcolini are my favorites. Kee's is very good, but I don't like the chocolates as much as my previous recs. Jacques Torres is reliable if, as before, not as good as LMdC and Marcolini. I'm also a fan of See's for your basic chocolates.

[Cookiefiend]

La Maison du Chocolat is the bomb!

http://www.lamaisonduchocolat.com/en/

[Jill Brazil]

I like Martine's at Bloomingdale's, although you can also order online at:
http://www.martineschocolates.com/
Even the sugar free selection is delicious!

www.SouthAmericanEscapes.com/blog