Ask a group of food writers about their favorite for a box of chocolate* and the resulting dischord may surprise you. Of all our Five Great topics to date, chocolate turns out to be the most personal and divisive. Two clear winners emerged – Jacques Genin and Patrick Roger – with more than twice the number of votes as anyone else. Beyond that, there very little agreement among our contributing advisors. Perhaps you can help us out and share your own favorite in the comments?
Five Great for a Box of Chocolates
- Jacques Genin – a master in the Marais with an in-house salon for tasting his stunningly subtle chocolates.
- Patrick Roger – unusual flavors and surprising chocolate sculpture. A very close second to Genin.
- Michel Chaudun – Jacques Genin’s own personal favorite chocolate maker** and another serious sculptor.
- La Maison du Chocolat – Chaudun’s former employer & a consistently good source for more than 30 years.
- Fouquet – beautiful chocolate and a jaw-dropping array of candies.
Runners up (in order): Jean-Charles Rochoux, Pralus, Jean-Paul Hevin, Patrice Chapon, À la Mere de Famille
Rejects: Fauchon, Georges Larnicol, Un Dimanche à Paris, Gérard Mulot, Richart
About our process: For each topic, we begin with a little research to identify options. We then ask our readers, by posting a question in the forum, to offer additional suggestions. From that discussion, we compile a list of candidates and ask our panel of contributing advisors to rank their top choices and identify any rejects. Their rankings are weighted, analyzed, and compiled into a new Five Great post every week. Runners up are places who received more positive votes than negative comments. Rejects are places that received only negative comments with no positive votes.
* we asked specifically about a box of chocolates (bonbons, pieces, confections) and not about bars/tablettes
** according to Mort Rosenblum in the wonderful book Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light
More delicious Five Great lists:
- Five Great for Dinner in Montmartre
- Six Great for Wild Game
- Five Great with Kids
- Five Great for Groups
- Five Great for Vegetarians
- Five Great for Ice Cream
- Five Great for Outdoor Dining
- Five Great Places for Oysters
- Five Great Places for Sunday Dinner
- Five Great Steak Frites
- Five Great Baguettes
Woo hoo…let’s hear it for Chaudun! All of his chocolate and the boxes are simple & elegant. The paves are the bomb. And, I love that all pave boxes have a 10-day must-eat stamped date on the bottom. The petite box with 6 paves are quite reasonably priced and make wonderful and easily-packable gifts for folks back home.
I concur, Meg! And still have wonderful memories of wandering around Paris eating chocolate and pastry with you last Fall. There is a particular filling that M. Chaudun does that I can’t get out of my mind: pistachio/marzipan? Divine.
Pierre Marcolini is my favorite, how come he’s not even in the list?
Hi Coralie,
He’s in our Guide, and he was certainly part of our survey, but he didn’t rank in the top five results. He had an equal number of positive and negative votes, which meant that he was neither a “runner up” nor a “reject”.
Glad you like him – we think his “calins” are delicious.
I don’t get how Richart was a reject and it seems like you used their chocolate in the picture. They have such interesting flavors like lavendar chocolate and the graphics on the chocolate are beautiful. I reject your rejection!
Hi Rebecca,
No need to take it personally. Our group had a different opinion, but if you get pleasure at Richart, that’s all that matters. The photo at top left was taken by me at Jacques Genin, who uses graphics that are similar to those at Richart (and which are used widely throughout the industry).
Meg
I find it strange that there is no mention of Via Chocolat here (Rue Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, 9eme). They call themselves a ‘cho’room’, and compare it to an art gallery, with a regularly changing selection of the best chocolates from all around France. If you’re making up a box of chocolates, you can pick a huge variety of styles and flavours from the different artisans, all from cute little drawers. It’s got to be better than A la Mère de Famille at least…
Hmm… Adam, I honestly have never heard of the place. But it’s on my radar now, I’ll pop in the next time I’ve over there!
I totally agree that Genin is the best (and he does incredible, addictive Mango Passionfruit caramels) but I also highly recommend the chocolates at Pierre Hermé. If his macarons may have gone a bit overboard (too stuffed and sweet) the chocolates have some of the best integration between the base chocolate and the added flavors, strong and clear as gin.
I concur – Pierre Hermé has the best deal of the lot. His 10€ box of amazing chocolates may get smaller every year but the prix remains the same as does the quality. He is too often overlooked as a top notch chocolatier IMHO .
For serious chocolate lovers, let’s not forget Franck Kestner, one of the only 19 Meilleurs ouvriers de France chocolatiers who set up a boutique in Paris about one year ago: 7 rue Gay-Lussac 75005
Wow – such a great post – I can almost smell that lovely true chocolate scent. So bad as I live in rural France and guess what – nowhere to get chocolate this time of night but we do have our own chocolatier here in the Seven Valleys Pas-de-Calais so I know where I’m off to this weekend!
I discovered Jacques Genin last January while visiting Paris to escape from an Ottawa winter. I feel in love. I have an old buddy who comes to Ottawa from Paris twice a year, and he is under standing instructions to bring three boxes of Genin’s masterpieces every six months! I KNOW you are supposed to finish off his chocolates within 2 weeks, but being 5 times zones from his shop I just have to make them last longer than that.
Thanks so much for this list! I’ve always loved Jacques Genin, but had never heard of Michel Chaudun, so am now keen to check him out.
Hi,
Can you give me website or contact information for your Top 5 Chocolatiers in Paris? I’m an absolute chocolate lover, but I haven’t been able to travel since a car accident with a drunk driver. So, I’d like to do the next best thing: Bring the aforementioned chocolates to me.
Please send me any information that will help my search to purchase some of these chocolate gems.
Thank you.
Hi Brian,
Not all of the top 5 have websites so you may have to call but telephone and website info (when available) is listed on each of the guide pages listed below.
http://parisbymouth.com/our-guide-to-paris-jacques-genin/
http://parisbymouth.com/our-guide-to-paris-patrick-roger/
http://parisbymouth.com/our-guide-to-paris-michel-chaudun/
http://parisbymouth.com/our-guide-to-paris-la-maison-du-chocolat/
http://parisbymouth.com/our-guide-to-paris-fouquet/
Good luck and a speedy recovery!
Catherine
I know you’re concentrating on Paris but I have to mention an award winner chocolatier in the western suburbs : Gilles Cresno in Rueil-Malmaison.
http://www.gilles-cresno-chocolatier.com/
PS : Chaudun is best for me…