Chocolatiers throughout the country are raising the bar on chocolate-making to a dark art form. Here’s a round up of our favourite places to shop for the ultimate choc hits.
Bibelot, South Melbourne
Bibelot, South Melbourne
Bibelot have a range of nine chocolate bars (three white, three milk, three dark), seasonally appropriate chocolate figures and a range of various nut and chocolate combinations, such as macadamia nuts coated with dark chocolate and coconut.
Bibelot, South Melbourne
Bibelot, South Melbourne
The chocolate (or bonbon) range at Bibelot, made in-house by two full-time chocolatiers using a mix of Valrhona, Felchlin and Cacao Barry couverture, is truly gorgeous to behold and runs to about 18 flavours at any given time, from classic caramel through to coriander, peanut butter and celery, and tonka bean and mandarin.
Bibelot, South Melbourne
Bibelot, South Melbourne
Bibelot encompasses a gelataria, retail space, a lengthy glass, brass and marble dispaly case bright with intricately crafed cakes, raibow-hued macarons and jewel-like chocolates, a sleek café area and glassed-in chocolate kitchen.
Burch & Purchese, South Yarra
Burch & Purchese, South Yarra
It’s hard to avoid the Willy Wonka comparisons at Burch & Purchese. It’s not just a regular shop; it’s a “sweet studio”.
Burch & Purchese, South Yarra
Burch & Purchese, South Yarra
Burch & Purchese is not just a chocolate shop – it also deals in choc-free desserts and cakes.
Burch & Purchese, South Yarra
Burch & Purchese, South Yarra
The exterior to the theatrical “sweet studio” at Burch & Purchese.
Burch & Purchese, South Yarra
Burch & Purchese, South Yarra
The glass cases running the length of the shop are full of almost impossibly vibrantly coloured sweet stuff, set amongst a colour scheme that leans towards saccharine pinks, yellows and whites.
Cioccolato Lombardo, South Yarra
Cioccolato Lombardo, South Yarra
The Cioccolato Lombardo chocolate range has extended to include cakes and decadent brownies.
Cioccolato Lombardo, South Yarra
Cioccolato Lombardo, South Yarra
Chocolatier, Lombardo, creates a remarkable range of chocolate, in terms of both variety and the quality of the chocolate he uses. He regularly has 10 to 14 varieties of flavoured chocolate.
Cioccolato Lombardo, South Yarra
Cioccolato Lombardo, South Yarra
Late 2015, Cioccolato Lombardo doubled in size (but it’s still probably the smallest chocoalte shop in town), incorporating a separate kitchen and retail space. The renovation has allowed Lombardo to extend his range, and means he is now able to serve hot chocolate, made from granulated chocolate.
Cioccolato Lombardo, South Yarra
Cioccolato Lombardo, South Yarra
New Jersey native Tad Lombardo started his working life as an engineer with a side interest in chocolate-making which, after a contract to make Ben Shewry’s signature salted caramel-centred pukeko eggs at Attica, has turned full time.
Monsieur Truffe, Brunswick East
Monsieur Truffe, Brunswick East
At Monsieur Truffe, artisan (and often organic) couverture chocolate is used. Owner, Thibault Fregoni, also has the machinery and skills to be able to produce “bean to bar” chocolate bars in his Lygon Street factory-showroom-café.
Monsieur Truffe, Brunswick East
Monsieur Truffe, Brunswick East
Melbourne loves cafés and retail spaces with an industrial aesthetic and Monsieur Truffe delivers all the right white-tiled, concrete-floored, second-hand timber-shelved, exposed-brick moves flawlessly.
Monsieur Truffe, Brunswick East
Monsieur Truffe, Brunswick East
Brian Edwards (left) and Ugo Cocchis of Monsieur Truffe.
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