Chocolat Michel Cluizel

Michel Cluizel has been a chocolatier since 1948. Beginning by making truffles for neighbors, working in the attic of his family home in Normandy, he has progressed to become one of the world’s rare “cacaofévriers”—which means he transforms cacao all the way from bean to bar. Seeking out the world’s best cacao plantations, Cluizel has formed direct and longstanding relationships with the growers. The beans are shipped to his workshops in Normandy, where his team of 200 employees roasts them and processes them, mixing the cocoa paste and cocoa butter with cane sugar and Bourbon vanilla beans, and hand finishing them into a wide range of the highest quality chocolate indulgences: ganaches and truffles; bars of dark, milk or white chocolate, either plain or with orange peel, hazelnuts, coffee or cocoa nibs; single-origin bars from plantations in Santo Domingo, Venezuela, Madagascar, São Tomé or Papua New Guinea; chocolates filled with Calvados, Cognac, Cointreau, Poire William and other liquors; special holiday items and many other sweet treats.

Cluizel also created the Chocolatrium in Normandy, a museum devoted to chocolate, where visitors learn through exhibits, photographs, films, objects and equipment, both modern and vintage, how chocolate grows and is processed. There’s also an atelier where professionals demonstrate the chocolate-maker’s art. Avenue de Conches, Damville. 02.32.35.20.75. website

Michel’s daughter Catherine runs the Paris boutique, a landmark on the rue Saint Honoré since 1987, where a copper fountain overflows with molten chocolate and the aroma alone is enough to tempt you inside. 201 rue St-Honoré, 1st, Métro: Tuileries, 01.42.44.11.66.

And now you can also find Cluizel chocolates in New York, because Michel and his son Marc, now the company’s CEO, have opened a gorgeous boutique—the company’s only US retail store—where you’ll find an irresistible selection of the Cluizel family’s finest chocolates. 584 Fifth Avenue (between 47th and 48th Streets), (646) 415-9126.