As you may know, we create one menu for the year, with a number of new chocolates added to our classics. But we feel it to be a bit constraining, in that it limits our creative possibilities to the summer season - preceding getting the menu printed in the fall. We have always wanted to create the most complex chocolates, with no regard to time spent on components or having to produce large quantities. And to be able to introduce fresh tastes for our loyal customers, who are an adventurous lot, hungry for new experiences. So came to be our...
Effective September 5, we are implementing a price increase across our product line. This will help us deal with higher costs, and particularly that of chocolate, our biggest ingredient by far. While we increased prices on those items that use a lot of chocolate, we decided not to change the price of other items where it was possible (Pâte de Fruits, Hazelnut Crème, Vegan tablets). Prices for high-quality chocolate have gone up yearly ever since we started the business in 2014, but that is where the silver lining comes in. Guittard, our chocolate provider and a leader in the Fair Trade...
Portland Old Port holds a month-long vote in July for Best of Portland with a huge list of possibilities (Best Place to Play Pool/Darts/Shuffleboard? Check. Best Twitter Personality? Check. Best Open Mic? Check.)
We were thrilled to be nominated along 7 others for Best Chocolatier, and elated to be announced the winner last night. Sarah was on hand at the award celebration to accept our beautiful certificate, which we will proudly display in the shop. We thank our dear customers for yet again supporting our little chocolaterie. It means the world to us to have you recognize our hard work!
Winky Lewis Photo Darcy was first introduced to all via this blog entry over four years ago. She has been a huge part of what Chocolats Passion has become today: first starting from our tiny corner at the Fork Food Lab, to helping decide on our move to 189 Brackett Street for our shop/production space. For four years, she juggled being a loving mom (and as we know, much of that during COVID) while giving us her creative energy, positivity and serene presence. She nudged me, ever so gently, away from our corny menus and inelegant graphics to new ways...
Winky Lewis Photo The time span between Valentine's Day and Easter this year was huge, and exactly what we needed to produce more bunnies and eggs than ever. This year, our French bunnies sport salted caramel and marshmallows in their stout little bodies. Amélie is our girl bunny, her name direct from Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain, a sweet movie that was a love letter to both Montmartre and Paris. Jacques is our boy, a Breton to the core with its salted caramel. As with Valentine's Day, we decided to share 10% of our online and shop sales of Easter...
The Perfect Puree has been a constant as long as Chocolats Passion has been in business. Our top selling chocolate, Passion Vanilla, uses their fabulous passion fruit as the base. There is none better anywhere, along with a number of others which are used for ganaches and pâtes de fruits. Catherine was recently approached about being featured in their "Inspiration" page, where various chefs talk about their work. Here is a reprint of this lovely piece. You could say artisan confectioner Catherine Wiersema has chocolate in her blood from her childhood in France, where she made her first (admittedly awful)...
