Month: February 2006


So glad to see this on boingboing. Gerard and his partner have been producing fantastic chocolate in Lower Sloane St for a few years and deserve to be known as the best chocolate makers in the world, seriously. When we were living in London around 2001-2, we lived in Pimlico, just down the road, and saw them open up. We were some of their first customers, back when they made the most amazing cakes as well as their chocolates. We told everyone and some of them believed us. We went to Brussels to try to find better, and failed. Pierre Marcolini comes closest (small, densely flavoured fillings) but isn’t as good. (Gerard used to work there.)

Try the salted chocolate caramels, absolutely fantastic. If you go at Easter, they might have their chocolate bunny in-store: that is, a female mannequin in a bunny suit, made of chocolate. During winter, they have the best hot chocolate you’ve ever tasted, for half price if you can make it to Borough markets.

If you can, go. If you can’t go, try the site: http://www.artisanduchocolat.com/

Sometimes, you just need to sacrifice a tree. If you have a library nearby, check their catalogue and see if they have “The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the World” from Lonely Planet. It’s completely wonderful: an atlas-sized double-page spread on every country on the planet, plus several interesting territories. Great photography, things you didn’t know. Hey, if you trust me enough to go buy it, just pick it up from Amazon — it’s in paperback now.

Use your choice of referral URL so someone else gets some cash from it, too. (That one’s me for Amazon UK, if you want to use it. I really don’t expect to ever earn anything from it, so use someone else’s if you wish.)