Chocolate Haven tour

November 16, 2005 at 12:47 am · Filed under Chocolate, Eating the Big Apple

As promised, here’s an extended tour of Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven in Manhattan. Part storefront, part chocolate factory, an outside glance of the building showcases its industrial side.

Can you guess which part’s the inside and which part’s a reflection from the outside?

Large windows allow passersby to spy the inner workings of Jacques’ store. Here, an “oompa loompa,” as he calls his employees, pops the chocolate out of its mold.

Unlike most chocolatiers, Jacques makes his own chocolate from scratch, all the way from bean selection to the roasting, grinding, conching, tempering and molding. (From what I’ve heard, most chocolatiers buy chocolate from somewhere else and then re-melt them into truffles.) In a recent chocolate demo, Jacques said that making chocolate didn’t make sense from a business standpoint. It would be a lot cheaper to outsource the chocolate, but Jacques loves the craft of chocolate so much that he can’t wait to come in every morning and smell the beans that have been conching (a process to smooth the gritty beans) all night.

A chocolate conveyer belt, in which goods are packaged.

Upon entering the store, a large welcome mat and bright red walls whet the visitor’s appetite for chocolate.

Here are more chocolate teasers: a two-foot tall bag of cocoa beans, molinillos (wooden Mexican whisks used to froth hot chocolate) scattered on the wall, and a metate y mano (a stone rolling pin traditionally used to mash cocoa beans into chocolate).

Before modern machinery, chocolate making was literally a hands-on process.

One of Jacques’ biggest draws are his truffles. I don’t know what’s more exciting: the exotic flavors like passion fruit, European peanut butter (hazelnuts and chocolate are a winning combination, as proven by my love for Nutella) and wicked fun (chili), or their $1 price tag! Yes, Jacques’ truffles are cheaper than Godiva’s!