Katrina Markoff, founder of Vosges, is in tune with the times. Perhaps best among her peers, Katrina has learned the lesson taught by Howard Schultz and Starbucks: She’s not just selling chocolate, she’s selling lifestyle—chocolate as a fashion accessory. You go into a Vosges boutique and you get a lesson in flavor as well as the option to buy apparel, handbags, and videos. Oh, and chocolate, too.

There is a danger in this, especially if the chocolate does not live up to the expectations that are set. Virtually without exception, the chocolate challenges most people’s conceptions of what flavors chocolate can be paired with; sadly, the execution is not always up to the idea.

I have to admit that I have not been a fan of Godiva. Although possessed of an excellent reputation and one of the most iconic packages in America (the signature gold ballotin is right up there with Tiffany’s blue box), the chocolate itself no longer lived up to the tradition in my opinion. (Read my original article.)

From a modest shop/factory in Brooklyn, nestled between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, Torres produces attractive chocolates for sale in his ship as well as for distribution to chocolate shops, restaurants, and #### throughout the United States and probably the rest of the world.

Mr. Torres is well known for his connection with the French Culinary Institute in New York as well as for his programs on the FoodTV network. I have seen Mr. Torres’ on FoodTV (as well as in person) and there is no doubt that he is a master craftman with a very thorough understanding of the chocolate arts—which is what you’d expect from a classically-trained pastry chef. However, like many top-notch pastry chefs, I think that the essential qualities of chocolate are less important to him than the presentation.

In some ways, the story of Richard Donnelly Chocolates is charmed.

Richard did not set out to be a chocolatier. He was interning at a legal office early on in his college career and found the people there to be overworked, unhappy, and unfulfilled. Not wanting to find himself in his mid-40s and in a similar position, he ended up taking a six-week apprenticeship in chocolate arranged through a friend. That apprenticeship was in Paris with Robert Linxe, founder of La Maison du Chocolat. Although Richard says that most of his time there was spent doing things like cleaning up, it is obvious that he learned a great deal about what goes into making a great chocolate.

Many people know Garrison Confections founder Andrew (Drew) Shotts through the televised Pastry Team Championships on Food Network. However, that is just one aspect of the personality and talents of this very talented pastry chef, and one of the real pleasures of my job is to get to watch people mature, craft, develop, and hone their own particular chocolate vision and vocabulary (not to mention eat the results of all that work). Garrison Confections is one of the few Prestige Chocolatiers using Guittard chocolates (which is not surprising given Drew’s work for them as corporate pastry chef), especially those from the E. Guittard line. Drew also uses others, include white chocolate from Felchlin, a Swiss manufacturer.

Chuao Chocolatier founders Michael Antinorsi and Brian Vandenbroucke both have classical training in chocolate making from the esteemed Ecole Lenotre in France, and are working hard to merge classical French and Belgian chocolate-making techniques with New World chocolate (El Rey) and flavors. Although a relatively new company, the pair (Michael hails from Venezuela and Brian from Belgium) craft many very good chocolates with some delightfully surprising flavor combinations and unusual choices for fillings.