Bernachon Chocolates, Lyon

My first brush with Bernachon chocolates came several years ago in Melbourne, when the chocolate bug bit, and a copy of Bernachon’s ‘Passion for Chocolate’ arrived at the apartment.  Names like Amandine Princess, L’Aveline and Le President stoked the fantasies of a nascent passion for chocolates.

It was only this year, when I got to taste Bernachon chocolates for the first time at the Salon du Chocolat in Tokyo, where their seemingly ‘plain Jane’ Palet d’Or was the most mind blowing chocolate I ate.

Fast forward a few months and I found myself in Paris, with L’Etoile d’Or being the only shop in the world that can retail Bernachon chocolates, I made it the first destination to explore what Denise Acabo’s chocolate world was like.  Let the Maison Bernachon taste experience begin!

Chocolate Tastings Part 1- Salon du Chocolat, Isetan Tokyo, 2009

Having shamelessly plugged Artisan du Chocolat in the first post on the Salon du Chocolat here,  ’everyone else’s’ shall be shown here.   Yes yes, I am really biased.  However, the Salon du Chocolat did uncover a few gems and allowed me to sample lots of stuff that did not require:

1. Money
2. An air ticket to chocolate destinations

With many chocolatiers in one place, its no wonder the Japanese go all gaga over this event.  Its even better if you worked for an exhibitor like me.  Read: Free samples everywhere, esp. if you do the rounds with the boss.  Ever had Sadaharu Aoki ply you with enrobed macarons or praline chocolates?  Be jealous….VERY JEALOUS! (Don’t really be coz I was begging him for a job to no avail!).  

It was packed day in and day out, making it really difficult to sample everything on offer.  However, a friend, C and I persevered by lining up to do a tactical scan on what each chocolatier offers.  Basically, the salon has a ‘Chocolate Bar’, where we can purchase chocolates to eat in along with drinks or champagne.

The advantage of having 2 people is that we get to double up on everything and taste a bit here and there.  With an hour of lining up providing sufficient time for decisions, we chose 12 chocolates from 12 different chocolatiers to taste from.  This post will document the first 6.