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.

Type(s): Prestige Chocolatier, Drinking Chocolate
Style: French
Taste Rating: Ordinary to Very Good
Overall Value Rating: Ordinary

Katrina and her sister Natalie are genuinely nice as well as being masters at promotion, and have managed to create a very strong buzz around the chocolate and their business, which seems to be very successful. In the long run, however, their ability to succeed may be more closely linked to their ability to stay hot in the haute fashion industry than the chocolate biz.

Katrina Markoff

Vosges Haut Chocolate, founded in Chicago and now with retail stores in Chicago, Miami, and New York, is also planning stores for London, Australia, and San Francisco.

The entire Vosges experience (retail, catalog, and online) is well thought out, consistent, and complete—from the design of the stores to the design of the packaging and all collateral materials. Katrina is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and has worked extensively in Spain, Italy, France, Southeast Asia, and Australia, and her approach to flavors reflects this diversity. Sometimes you wonder at the combinations and ask yourself, who ever could have figured this one out? For the most part they almost work, perhaps being a little too self-consciously cute; the fashion equivalent of haute couture.

Vosges New York Storefront

A sampling of items from the Salt + Sweet menu at the opening party for the New York store (132 Prince St., between Greene and Wooster) shows the range of influences Katrina melds into her work:

• Mini shot glasses filled with a maple syrup and milk chocolate pudding speared with warm fried bacon.
• Granny Smith apple wells dipped in bittersweet dark chocolate, filled with foie gras foam, and topped with crushed corn nuts.
• White chocolate cups filled with savory coconut espuma, edamame, julienne of fresh lemon peel, and a mark of grey sea salt.

(There were four other items on this menu, but I had dinner reservations with my guests and needed to leave before all of the items were served.)

Of the three items above, the only one where the notes didn’t come together was the Granny Smith apple and foie gras foam. In my case, the tidbit was topped with a corn chip, not chopped corn nuts, and the one large piece added the wrong texture and too much salt to it, and the apple, which took the form of a fluted cup, was slightly too sour/acidic for the chocolate base and the foie gras. On the other hand, the white chocolate cups with the coconut, edamame, and lemon were made perfect by the sea salt.

Importantly, and like few other high-end chocolatiers (Marie Belle has learned this lesson), Vosges embraces and extends by not just selling Vosges-branded products. So, in addition to being able to purchase their four exotic candy bars (in New York anyway) you can also purchase bars from Scharffen Berger, Cluizel, and Chocovic along with leather jackets, handbags, and videos.

Vosges has ambitious expansion plans, straining the ability to keep on top of quality and retain the hip coolness of the brand—many have tried and most fail.

But now, the chocolate.

It is very hard to pick a bad piece of chocolate out of the Voses counter. In fact, it’s hard to figure out how to not buy at least one of everything in the case—the pieces look good and the descriptions are intriguing. But (you knew there was going to be a but, right?) the reality of the flavors does not live up to the image. Unfortunately, the flavors are surprisingly timid. While it’s true that the flavors in the Naga (curry and coconut) bar and truffle are clear, clean, and identifiable, they don’t stand out and assert themselves. The same is true for the Black Pearl (ginger, wasabi, black sesame seed) and gianduja.

There is also a little bit of bait and switch in the name. While some see the pun on “Hot Chocolate” the marketing image is very much a play on “Haute Couture” which to me implies hand made limited production in addition to high price. Sadly, Vosges uses pre-made shells and has them filled by a contract manufacturer - the chocolate equivalent of manufacturing offshore.

Should you choose to buy from Vosges (and by all means don’t let this review stop you, after all if you like them then you like them and it doesn’t matter what I have to say), pick a custom selection. Service is very attentive and the counter help knows their stuff in helping make recommendations. One of the nicer touches about the custom box is that you get a hand-written guide to the pieces you’ve selected (making the service slow).

One of Vosges better products is their hot chocolate, which comes in three flavors: la Parisienne, which is in the classic French style—thick, dark, and rich; Aztec Elixir, which is slightly spicy, aromatic with cinnamon, and thickened with corm flour; and Bianca, made with white chocolate, lemon myrtle, and lavender and just might be the perfect replacement for warm milk at bed time to help you sleep.

If there is a dark horse in the collection, it’s the Caramel Toffee, which has both toasted walnuts and pecans as well as milk chocolate. Vosges calls this the ultimate comfort food, and I find it hard to disagree. I like toffee in general and Vosges’ is quite tasty.

Conclusion

At about $35/lb for the toffee, $1.90-$2.20/pc for custom truffle assortments, and about $65/lb for ballotins, Vosges is not cheap. Whether or not it’s worth it may depend on your fashion sense; much is accommodated in the name of fashion but “fashionable” and “good” are not necessarily synonymous.

The truffles are a different style from most other chocolatiers in this price range, and therefore may not appeal to people looking for something more traditional. However, they are visually impressive and well made. Flavors are clean with clean aftertastes.

Packaging is clean, and some of it is fun and funky. This is the sort of stuff you wish you’d get for a gift, and not that faux-Belgian stuff.

Company Information:

Corporate Office:
Vosges Haut-Chocolat
858 West Armitage #185
Chicago, IL 60614
tel: 773.772.5349

Orders and Customer Service:
tel: 1.888.301.9866
email:
http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/
Retail Locations