Entries Tagged as 'jacques torres'

Jacques Torres on Hudson Street

November 11th, 2007 · 1 Comment

Jacques Torres on Hudson Street
Jacques Torres, Hudson Square, Manhattan

Jacques Torres Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts
Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts, Jacques Torres, Hudson Square, Manhattan

I’ve been to Jacques Torres‘ DUMBO Brooklyn location many times and even got to meet Jacques and get a personal tour of the factory and store once, but I’d never visited his new Hudson Street location until a couple weeks ago. I still like the Brooklyn location. How it’s small and European. And I like the neighborhood over there in DUMBO, but the Hudson Street store is definitely more convenient now that Jeannette and Yvan moved from DUMBO and I don’t get there much any more. I think a Chicago location needs to open PRONTO.

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Vosges Haut Chocolat

July 29th, 2004 · 7 Comments

Vosges Haut Chocolat
Vosges Haut Chocolat at North Bridge, Magnificent Mile, Chicago

There was a lot of talk today over at Chicagoist about Chicago chocolate shops. I found out that one of the best chocolatiers in the city has a store right by my office so I stopped by to sample the goods. The Vosges Haut Chocolat store is a good mix of high class chocolate with cute, yet sophisticated, packaging. I’m sure the proper way to eat the truffles I purchased is in soothing lighting, laid back with a glass of wine.. but my office chair, florescent lights and Diet Coke had to do.

While in the store I sampled the Gianduja Bar (praline made w/hazelnuts & almonds melted w/blegian milk chocolate) and the Red Fire Bar (chipotle chili peppers, cinnamon and dark chocolate). The first was really smooooth, the latter HOT HOT HOT!

The three truffles I tried were:

1. Naga (milk chocolate, coconut extract, a pinch of curry powder). I didn’t know if I’d like this but bought it off of Benjy’s recommendation. It’s weird how the curry complements the chocolate so well. Very good.

2. Dulce de Leche (Argentinian caramel, Costa Rican cashews, milk chocolate). I’m a sucker for Dulce de Leche. This truffle was so smooth.. like I died and went to heaven.

3. olio d’oliva (extra virgin olive oil dripped in white chocolate and topped with dried kalmata olives). I bought this because olives seemed like an odd pairing with chocolate… and i was in an adventurous mood. This was the least chocolately of the three truffles, with a creamy greenish center. Very rich. The olives add a bit of a salty flavor.

Overall, I’d say some of the top chocolate I’ve eaten.. and yes, that includes Jacques Torres‘. Though Vosges’ did seem to be a bit more adventurous. But Jacques Torres will always have a special place in my heart because of the time that we met him and got a personal tour of his chocolate shop.

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Meeting Mr. Chocolate, Jacques Torres

November 23rd, 2003 · 13 Comments

Tien, Jeanneatte, Jacques, Jessica, Rachelle
Tien, Jeannette, Jacques, Jessica, Rachelle :: Jacques Torres Chocolate Shoppe, DUMBO, Brooklyn

During our last visit to the Jacques Torres Chocolate Shoppe, Jessica had a bad experience with a rude shop worker. Jess is kind of shy, but Jeannette, being the assertive consumer that she is, wrote in on the Jacques Torres Chocolate website to let them know about the situation. To make up for our bad experience, Jacques offered to meet with us to personally apologize and also give us a personal tour of his chocolate factory.

Because of my love for chocolate this was kind of a dream come true for me. I mean, think about your favorite food on earth and then think about personally meeting and getting to talk to one of the most renowned chefs of that type of food. Yesterday Tien, Jeannette, Jessica and I met Jacques Torres and got the tour. Right away Jacques hooked us up with a large cup of his classic or wicked hot chocolate. So delicious, they taste like liquid milk chocolate, which was too much for a few people in our group, but not for me! Along the tour he told us to feel free to try any of the chocolates we passed. He also gave us each a bag of chocolates at the end, remembering things we’d commented on and giving us those sorts of chocolates. I got the chocolate-covered macademia nuts.

The Jacques Torres Chocolate factory is small. On a busy day during the holiday season there are about 16-18 workers there (including those working in the Chocolate Shoppe). Somehow they manage to produce 50 tons of high-quality chocolate products. You could tell that Jacques takes pride in the quality of his chocolate and has a very high standard for the chocolates that go out of his factory. One thing that interested me was that Jacques is against using any preservatives, chemical additives, extracts or flavorings in his chocolate so they have a special machine that vacuums the air out of the chocolate before it is used in any of the products. Taking the air out helps the chocolate have a longer shelf life. And, have you ever wondered how they make the chocolates that have a filling? We saw the Swiss-made machine that does it. It has two “needles”, one inside the other. One is filled with chocolate, the other with the filling. The machine squirts out chocolate into a mold and then the filing and then more chocolate and it all sets up and hardens in the mold. Also impressive is the sanitation device that Jacques had installed on the employee bathroom. When a staff-member goes inside the door locks and to get the door to unlock to leave the bathroom, the employee has to pass their hands under a hand sanitizer that sprays antibacterial solution on their hands.

During the tour Jacques was so friendly and down to earth. He joked with us and stopped to tell us stories while giving us great detail about how each of his chocolate products are made. He seemed to be genuinely grateful for and to be enjoying his success. Plus his French accent is just so adorable! Jess asked Jacques if he ever gets sick of eating chocolate and he had to admit that he kind of does sometimes.. but that he loves it so much that he never stops eating it. I said that if I worked there I would probably gain 50 pounds and that’s when Jacques revealed his secret. He runs to work every day from Hells Kitchen, Manhattan to DUMBO, Brooklyn. He also runs long distances on the weekend. And every year he runs in the New York City Marathon. I think I need to start running just so I can keep enjoying his chocolates, let alone work there and eat it all day, every day.

This was an awesome experience and I really admire and thank Jacques for taking the time out to do it. I think that more businesses should be this attentive to their customers and be willing to right a wrong. Jacques thanked us more than once for helping him to improve his customer service. Oh, and I was only half kidding at the end when I said this was one of the highlights of my life. heh.

If you live in New York you should definitely go over to DUMBO and experience the Chocolate Shoppe. It is located at 66 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 and is open Monday through Saturday, 9:00 am to 7:00 pm. You probably will not get a tour of the factory, but you can see it through the glass windows that line one wall of the store. Jacques also revealed that he is planning on opening a store in Manhattan soon. He hopes to sign the lease on a property this week. (And it’s only about 6 blocks from my apartment!!!! So excited!). If you do not live in New York you can still experience and order Jacques Torres chocolate by visiting mrchocolate.com or by tuning in to the Food Network where Jacques has many cooking shows.

� Tien’s post on meeting Jacques Torres
� Our last visit to the Chocolate Shoppe
� My first encounter with Jacques Torres chocolate was last year with Jeannette at The Chocolate Show

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Brooklyn Decadence

October 27th, 2003 · 3 Comments


Yvan, Jeannette, Tien, Jessica :: Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn


The Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory is located on the Fulton Ferry Landing Pier in what used to be the Fulton Ferry Fire Boat House.


Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn


Hmm. You know where this is going!


Jess has Diet Coke with her ice cream. Surprise, surprise. Tien has the key lime soda. Surprise, surprise.


View of the Brooklyn Bridge & the Manhattan skyline from the Fulton Ferry Landing Pier outside of the ice cream factory.


There were two wedding parties being photographed on the pier. We were trying to figure out if they were real weddings or if they were wedding photo shoots.


A birdfeeder in a park near the pier.

After the Forgotten NY tour, Jess, Tien, Jeannette, Yvan & I went first to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, and second to Jacques Torres‘ chocolate shop. It was like I died and went to heaven! Inside the chocolate shop we saw Julianne Moore, who is filming a movie down the block. This was the second time I’ve seen her.. the other time was in the West Village, where she lives.


Jacques Torres chocolate shoppe, DUMBO, Brooklyn


Jacques Torres is a world-renowned Master Pastery Chef who grew up in Bandol, France. In December of 2000 Jacques opened his own chocolate factory in Brooklyn. It serves both the wholesale and retail markets.


Jacques custom designed the chocolate factory himself. He even constructed much of it. During our visit no chocolate was being made. I wanted to snatch this tart off of the counter!


Jacques Torres frequently appears in newspapers, magazines and on television. He also has several of his own shows on the Food Network.


Jacques lovingly refers to his shoppe workers as his “oompa-loompas”.


Outside of the chocolate shop. Yvan sits on the bench. You can see Tien’s & my reflection in the window. If you look really close, through the window you can see Julianne Moore. See the ponytail? A new movie, The Forgotton, is being filmed just down the block. I’ve seen Julianne Moore in the West Village, where she lives, before.

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Forgotten NY Tour

October 26th, 2003 · 12 Comments


The Forgotten NY Tour #14 was between the bridges in Brooklyn. One of our first stops was this building. I think that it used to manufacture terra cotta.


Walking through DUMBO.


Filming started today for a new movie called The Forgotten, starring Julianne Moore, Anthony Edwards, & Gary Sinese. Later on we saw Julianne Moore, but she wasn’t an official part of the tour :)


Looking back on DUMBO as we walk over to Vinegar Hill.


Vinegar Hill


Abandoned building in Vinegar Hill.


Con Ed buildings in Vinegar Hill.


Old house in Vinegar Hill


Harrison Alley is no longer accessible to the public.


Vinegar Hill.


Next we walked past the Brooklyn Navy Yard and through Farragut, the projects.


In June, James Davis, the councilman of Brooklyn’s 35th District was shot dead at City Hall in Lower Manhattan. His brother, Geoffrey, ran for his position. I’m not sure if he won on November 4th.


This strange car was parked at a house near the corner of Duffield & Concord Streets.


Billboard we saw while walking back around to DUMBO.


The Iron Shop on Adams Street. I thought the wrench above the door was cool.


More of The Forgotten movie set.


The Forgotten movie trailers.


Jeannette & Yvan live in DUMBO but I didn’t really know any of its history. I’ve probably walked past this arrow dozens of times but never saw it until today when Kevin pointed it out. It’s a really old one-way sign.


Robert Gair, the inventor of corregated cardboard, built many of the buildings in DUMBO.


Another Robert Gair building in DUMBO.


In DUMBO many old railroad tracks still exist.


Jeannette & I quickly ran up to her apartment to use the restroom. Jeannette brought down Gatoraide juice boxes and passed them out to everyone.


Taking a break at the park under the Manhattan Bridge.


Everyone who was on the Forgotten Tour.


St. Ann’s Warehouse on Water Street.


Tien tries unsuccessfully to run from the camera.


It’s really Sweeny Condominiums on Water St.


Fish & chips from The Chip Shop in Park Slope.

Yesterday, Kevin Walsh conducted Forgotten NY‘s 14th tour, Brooklyn Between the Bridges. Kevin has made it his mission to document things in New York that are forgotten. Things you don’t see every day or things that are remnants from the past. In this tour we visited Vinegar Hill, Farragut, and DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). The tour ended with a walk over the Brooklyn bridge into Manhattan. Since my friends and I all had plans in Brooklyn, we skipped out of the end of the tour to get some ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory and some chocolate at Jacques Torres. To top it off, Jess & I went to Park Slope & got fish & chips at The Chip Shop. I’m quite surprised that I didn’t have a heart attack last night after all of that!

The tour was great. Kevin is very knowledgeable about the history of everything New York. I can’t wait to see where the next tour takes us!

- Tien’s post on the Forgotten NY tour
- Jessica’s photos from the tour (ofoto)
- Kevin Walsh’s details of the tour on Forgotten-NY

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