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- Dark, Milk, White?
- Dark
- Most memorable chocolate experience:
- Lugging my first heavy blocks of Valrhona home for experimentation.
- My favorite chocolate is:
- Umm...somewhere between Amano and Amedei.
I'm the owner/chocolatier of la tene chocolatier in Arlington, MA. My focus is on delicate, fresh bonbons balancing the flavors of excellent couvertures with infused flavors. I think that outstanding chocolate should be distinctive, delicious, ethical and whimsical. Whenever possible I source ingredients from local suppliers and other dedicated artisans--like Atomic Cafe, whose fresh roasted Kenya peaberry I've begun to eat right out of the bag.
I've opted not to compromise on anything--there are already lots of pretty good chocolate products, locally and nationally. So pretty good is not enough. Every time I make a batch of anything I reconsider the smallest details, fine tuning the recipes to create multi-layered, subtle flavor profiles. It means doing everything the long way, by hand, and taking nothing for granted. But spending time with chocolate is its own reward.
I've opted not to compromise on anything--there are already lots of pretty good chocolate products, locally and nationally. So pretty good is not enough. Every time I make a batch of anything I reconsider the smallest details, fine tuning the recipes to create multi-layered, subtle flavor profiles. It means doing everything the long way, by hand, and taking nothing for granted. But spending time with chocolate is its own reward.
Brendan's Blog
Not-so-trivial trivia
Here's a question for any seriously informed chocolate people. What's the story with the Smith (aka W.C. Smith) company? The used enrober market is peppered with Smith machines, and a quick search turns up enrober patents listed under a W Smith & Sons Inc. My search for info on the company that makes/made these machines has been fruitless, however. Are they closed? Were they bought out? Is the Smith line currently made/supported by another company? Is it some kind of national secret?…
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Posted on February 21st, 2008 at 5:59pm —
2 Comments
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Standing Up for the Fondeur - a Missive
I've noticed a trend that disturbs me. There are enough misconceptions and unjustified biases in the chocolate world already; it's time this one was laid to rest. I've seen it time and again, in news features and in company literature. I saw it just now. As interest in fine chocolate rises and the number of domestic bean-to-bar manufacturers rises (thank goodness), I see it more often.
"We don't just melt other people's chocolates."
The sentiment is a fair one, but it's so of… Continue
"We don't just melt other people's chocolates."
The sentiment is a fair one, but it's so of… Continue
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I hope that things are going well for you. I am apparently chocolate-life-illiterate, because I can't figure out how to send you a private message. I just wanted to ask you where you had seen people badmouthing chocolatiers as mentioned in your post here:
http://www.thechocolatelife.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1978963%3ABlogPost%3A3361
Of course, I didn't want to ask you to mention any names publicly, so I was hoping to send a private message, but since I can't figure it out, maybe you could just send me a private message back.
Best,
Alan
P.S. I look forward to trying those peanut butter cups again!
Welcome to The Chocolate Life. Thanks for jumping right in with your comments and photos. We look forward to your future contributions. -- Clay