Spain generally considered to have among the most adventurous sensibilities when it comes to food - including chocolate. Recently, however, representatives from a couple of different companies have begun to challenge Spain’s front-runner status in this regard. For example, Zotter in Austria makes a coffee/mustard bar and Coppeneur in Germany has some equally interesting flavor combinations. Even normally staid Switzerland, who many might consider among the most conservative when it comes to flavor pairings in chocolate is getting into the act. We recently reviewed a few bars from the Supreme line from from Chocolat Frey (pronounced fray in English) which is headquartered near Zurich.

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.