I wrote about some of Amsterdam’s most known chocolatier such as Puccini or Unlimited delicious1. There is a far less known –but not less interesting- place in Oost: Van Velze’s.
Chocolatier and Patissier “Van Velze’s” in Amsterdam Oost
After the highly popular ‘Puccini Bomboni’, and the well-known ‘Unlimited Delicious’, today a brief travel back in time: Madame Pompadour.
Grandma style chocolates and cakes at Madame Pompadour
After a big bite at Puccini, here’s another long term classic among Amsterdam chocolatiers: Unlimited delicious. In addition to making bonbons, they are quite well-known for their patisserie, which is not what I will write about right now (only so much: it always looks very pretty and tempting!).
Pretty cakes and bonbons at Unlimited Delicious in Amsterdam
When asking Amsterdam locals about the best chocolatier in town, most of the time you get the answer: “Puccini Bomboni”. Another clear sign of its local popularity is the fact that they recently opened their third store in the old part of Amsterdam (their main store and manufacturing site is in Staalstraat 17).
Puccini Bomboni manufacturing place and shop in Amsterdam (Staalstraat 17)
Mast Brothers is the first bean-to-bar chocolate maker in New York and luckily it’s not in one of those posh neighborhoods in Manhattan, but in the self-proclaimed “hipster capital” of Brooklyn. And like its neighborhood, the Mast Brothers chocolate factory is quite an interesting, friendly place (OK, some hipster-haters1 might not like it so much, but who cares). Their chocolate bar designs, or better their style in general is very pretty. All their chocolate bars are wrapped in beautifully designed paper mostly with very characteristic minimalistic, geometrical layouts.
Pretty chocolates at the Mast Brothers factory in Brooklyn…
Hah! New York! Millions and trillions of expectations, clichés, high hopes. To disappoint you right away: I was there only a couple of days. So this is nothing more than a glimpse of a few things I found during my random walk through Manhattan and Brooklyn. If you want a more thorough overview on New York chocolates and chocolate shops, others have already done a great job1. …→ continue ← …
Anyway, I still want to add my half-baked opinions and impressions. I keep most of it short, though. Promised.
Although the Boston area has certainly several things to offer in terms of chocolates or candy, I will focus only on a small scale chocolate maker that I already heard of quite a while ago: Taza Chocolate.
Not the only interesting-looking old-school machine in Taza’s chocolate factory…
One thing I’d like to share on this blog are visits of chocolatiers, chocolate or candy makers, or even sweet shops… What for? Mostly -you’re right!- to make you jealous of some delights I had. Could also happen that it might occationally reveal interesting places or new good (sources for) sweets that you were not aware of. We’ll see what this brings to my and your knowledge (and to my tongue of course). Currently I am based in Amsterdam, so it would be most obvious to start there1.
Yet instead of starting at home, I’d rather begin with recent impressions from a short trip to New York and Boston!
Soon more about chocolates in New York and Boston (Mast brothers in Brooklyn // food stands at market again in Brooklyn // Taza chocolate manufacturer close to Boston).
A physicist becomes absorbed by the world of candy, chocolate, and food science and now runs his own candy making lab: KÄNDI.
