Chocolates with A Sense of Place
The confections at Luis Moro Chocolate of Scotts Valley are annointed with the names of cities, regions and countries from around the world, reflecting the provenance of their ingredients, and proprietor Luis Ellisos Dinos Moro’s love of travel.
Born in Madrid, Moro was once a travel agent. But a trip with his wife to a chocolate boutique and lavender farm in France changed his life. After training at the Notter School of Pastry Arts in Orlando and with Jean Pierre Wybauw at the French Pastry School in Chicago, he set out to make chocolates with plants, herbs, and fruit.
A four-piece box is $10; an eight-piece box is $18; and a 16-piece box is $35.
I’ll use my patented scale of 1 to 10 lip-smackers, with 1 being the “Bleh, save your money” far end of the spectrum; 5 being the “I’m not sure I’d buy it, but if it was just there, I might nibble some” middle-of-the-road response; and 10 being the “My gawd, I could die now and never be happier, because this is the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth” supreme ranking.
Luis Moro Chocolate: Elegance and finesse are two words that come to mind immediately when seeing these bonbons. The “Valencia” is a rectangular confection of dark chocolate and orange, topped with slivers of candied peel. It’s a customer favorite and it’s easy to see why. The bittersweet citrus marries beautifully with the rich, deep chocolate. The “India” is a paisley-printed milk chocolate square that has huge hit of floral flavor. It’s like sipping a fine cup of jasmine tea. The bonbons have nice, thin shells, and very smooth fillings. Rating: 9 lip-smackers.
wow! another new chocolatier I’ve not heard about. Where can we buy his chocolates?
Ann, if you click on the hyperlink above for Luis Moro Chocolates, you will find an email address and phone number to order the chocolates. Hope you get a chance to try them. They are truly special.
Those sound fantastic! I love the look of chocolate transfers. And I’m always interested in things that are floral or fruity.
I’m almost embarrassed to tell you this, but there was a time in my life when I didn’t care for chocolate. No, I didn’t dislike it. I was just indifferent. I thought, meh, chocolate. And then I tried some chocolates that were small-batch, hand-made, light-years-better-than-that-Godiva-wax–and I never went back. I love knowing about these sorts of artisinal craftspeople. Listen, I just read a whole article on a business site about how “small is the new big.” Well, hooray for everyone trying to do small things wonderfully!
These chocolates ARE truly every bit as delicious as they look, we know, we are customers!
We attended the Chocolate Festival fundraiser the other day where this company as well as numerous others gave out tastes, let’s just say that their booth was a very popular one.
All I can say about these chocolates is YUM!
Jane Parks-McKay
I love these chocolates. My favorites are the pomegranate and green tea, but I have never had a flavor I disliked. Getting a variety box the first time you order is the way to go so you can figure out your personal favorites.