Best chocolate shops
Pierre Marcolini is regarded as the Hermès of chocolate
11 April 2012
Easter is one big chocolate-fest and you'll probably be swamped with eggs by Easter Sunday but if you want to break your Lent chocolate ban in style, order your Bank Holiday chocolate fix from one of these superior London stores...
- L'artisan du Chocolate89 Lower Sloane Street, London SW1 8DA. Tel: 020 7824 8365. Visit www.artisanduchocolat.comTheir fresh, hand-made chocolates are envied across the world. Using single plantation cocoa beans, fresh cream, butter and an amazing array of herbs, spices, flowers and fruits, their ganaches are works of art with mini-explosions of flavours. Flavours include sea salted caramels, banana and thyme, fresh Moroccan mint, orchid or tobacco to name a few.
- Pierre Marcolini6 Lancer Square, off Kensington Church Street, London W8 4EH. Tel: 020 7795 6611. Visit www.pierremarcolini.co.ukRegarded as the Hermès of chocolate, Pierre Marcolini designs some of the world's finest chocolate. Using high-quality ingredients such as vanilla from Tahiti and butter from Brittany, Marcolini uses his world champion pastry experience to create chocolates that taste as wonderful as they look.
- Rococo321 Kings Road, Chelsea, London SW3 5EP and at Chantal’s new shop, 45 Marylebone High Street, W1U 5HG. Tel: 0207 352 5857. Visit www.rococo.roThis shop was opened by Chantal Coady in 1983. Now in its 20th year the business in known for its eclectic and eccentric chocolates, offering new and surprising combinations to titillate the senses, while lifting the spirits with witty packaging.
- Harvey Nichols Foodhall109- 125 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7RJ. Tel: 020 7201 8689. Visit www.harveynichols.comHarvey Nichols Foodmarket is known for its mission to travel the world to source wonderful food and wine from exceptional producers, be they large or small. The Foodmarket carries the finest ranges from master Chocolatiers such as Pierre Marcolini, Enric Rovira, Valrhona and Alessio Tessieri at Amedei as well as unusual, fun ranges from Hershey's and the Chocolate Alchemist.
- Prestat14 Princes Arcade, Piccadilly, London SW1Y 6DS. Tel: 020 7629 4838. Visit www.prestat.co.ukEstablished in 1902, Prestat is one of London's oldest chocolate shops and is based in Piccadilly-St.James's, the city's traditional chocolate heartland. With recipes dating back to the mid-18th Century, Prestat is know for its colourful and eccentric packaging and is the purveyor of chocolates by royal appointment to the Queen.
