Touring The Chocolate Factory with Jacques Torres

Written by Carol Cain on 02 July 2010

If you’ve read me enough you know I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. But I do have my exceptions. Jacques Torres Chocolates is one of them. I recently joined a group of my favorite food bloggers to celebrate Mr. Torres at his Chocolate Haven at 350 Hudson St.

To meet Mr. Torres is to be guaranteed a full dose of laughter and good story telling. I have to say, it was difficult not to be enchanted by his easy smile and charismatic persona. It didn’t hurt that he also treated us to wine and sweets galore.

Mr. Torres, a former pastry chef from Le Cirque and Le Cirque 2000, speaks passionately about his chocolates and his shop. The shop, a beautiful cacao-shaped room, with bright orange and red colored walls and sparkling chandeliers hanging overhead welcomes its visitors by embracing them with the scents of sweet chocolates.

Pedestrians can delight in watching the chocolates being made, shaped, and decorated through the wide, tall glass windows that offer a fun view into all the magic. We had a chance to go even further behind the scene and hear stories about Mr. Torres’ attempt to sell European pastry treats to the American palate, but instead discovering our preference for chocolate chip cookies, which pushed him to expand his production capabilities much quicker than he could have ever anticipated.

As we mingled with friends we were treated to some delightful in-house pastries as well as chocolate crepes made by Ken Goto, Mr. Torres’ business partner, who runs Jacques Torres Ice Cream in DUMBO, Brooklyn.

When chocolate is this good it’s meant to be messy…and worth a finger-lickin’.

Chocolate hard and soft, warm and cold, was everywhere. The sound of laughter filled the room as Mr. Torres made sure that all his guests had a moment to connect with him, as well as a full glass of wine in hand.

Jennifer from In Jennie’s Kitchen and Olga from Sassy Radish

To add sweetness to the experience, we met Madame Chocolat herself, Hasty Torres, a beautiful woman both inside and out, with a warm demeanor and an equally intense love for all things chocolate. Her shop, nominated for a 2010 Parent’s Picks Award as best coffee, tea, and juice place in Los Angeles, CA is currently on my Must-See list.

Mr. Torres’ chocolates are all natural, and are no-preservative, no food-coloring goodness. Make sure to stop by in the colder months for his signature hot cocoa, and when the weather is hot, cool yourself off with one of their decadent and oh-so-delicious ice cream sandwiches.

My thanks to Jaden from Steamy Kitchen for bringing us all together for such a wonderful event and Mr. Jacques Torres and his team for their most gracious hospitality.