Godiva Teams Up With Chuao

I recently had the absolute pleasure of attending an event at Godiva’s 5th Avenue location announcing their new partnership with Chuao, a small chocolatier out of San Diego, bringing savory chocolates to Godiva locations all over!

Though this photo only shows two kinds, we were able to sample all five different “Spice&Nut Chocolates” that Chuao creates that are now being offered via Godiva.

Salted Caramel Spice (salt butter caramel, rosemary) was surprisingly not my favorite; well, not too surprising if you know of my love/hate affair with rosemary. Too much rosemary turns me, and this was definitely too much for me.

Spiced Napa Valley Fondue (Napa Valley Cabernet caramel, California raisin fondue, cayenne pepper): interesting and complex, but definitely not my favorite.

Salted Chocolate Crunch (toasted panko, olive oil ganache, sea salt): oh, my- so much texture and crunch going on here, with such a rich, creamy ganache and the salinity combined to give my mouth the happiest it was all night. Well, almost all night. That was some fantastic chocolate bites there.

Nut & Honeylicious (sweet honey, almond hazelnut praline): another favorite, with texture and slightly floral notes from the honey, fantastic. I love crunch.

Firecracker Fudge (caramel fudge, chipotle chile, popping candy): while this one was also complex, with a lot going on, I just couldn’t get behind it. Savory chocolate is one thing, but downright spicy kind of threw me off, though I can’t say I didn’t like it – it would be my third favorite of the new collection – just that it wouldn’t be my first pick.

Okay, that’s not my hand, if you’re an astute reader. Sarah (who was gracious enough to invite me to join her!) kindly modeled the insides of these fantastic truffles. (You don’t go to an event at Godiva and only eat a few pieces of chocolate…)  The strawberry truffle was alright, but the chocolate lava cake truffle was fantastic. It was literally like eating a small, self-contained lava cake – and I know plenty of people who absolutely love those that this will be a great gift when the time comes.  Rich, moist cake, enrobed in dark chocolate making the overall sensation just creamy, without being overwhelming, and not too sweet… I really enjoyed that bite.

We had a chance to listen to Chef Antonorsi talk about his chocolates and his inspiration, and he was so incredibly passionate about what he’s doing, it was hard not to get caught up. They also announced a new product called Breakfast in Bed that I want so, so badly – look at it! Look how lovely it is! Maple bacon chocolate! Ahem. In any case, I’m excited to see more from Chuao as Godiva continues to work with them and work with other smaller chocolatiers in the future as well!

Please note I attended this event courtesy of Godiva’s PR and received no monetary compensation to post about it, positively or negatively, and do so freely. I did receive an awesome bar of “potato chip chocolate” that Chuao makes and am eager to eat it all… Thank you again for inviting me and being such gracious hosts!!!