A sumptuous time was had by all 17 people who attended May’s Roving Refinery at Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut, 623 Broughton Street.
Our gracious hosts for the event were store manager Brad Potentier, and our very own DRA member Carey Froese. Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut is an upscale gift store that people visit to buy extraordinary gifts of chocolate. The chocolate originates from Barry Callebaut chocolate of Belgium, but while that factory makes 7,000 grades of chocolate, Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut only buys the top 1% of the chocolate they make. “If you’re giving a gift, and you want to wow people, this is the place to come”, says Brad. However, he jokingly forewarns, think carefully before you give your first gift of Bernard Callebaut chocolates, because once you do, you’ve set a level of gift giving that not everyone wants to maintain.
The expansive showcase currently displays an incredible 48 unique chocolate creations, including Brad’s favourite, “Rhum”, which he first sampled in 1984, and ultimately persuaded him to become a retailer of Bernard Callebaut chocolates. The store also sells a variety of dark and milk chocolate, baking chocolate, chocolate bars for everyday consumption, and even cocoa nibs which among other uses, can be sprinkled on your morning cereal to add the goodness of cocoa, a chocolate flavour, and extra crunch.
In addition to eating our fill, we all learned about the making of chocolate, and each received parting gifts of chocolate and a beautiful Gerbera donated by Flowers On Top. Three lucky guests, Hugh, Susan, and Nicholas, each won a $25 gift certificate to Bernard Callebaut, and a total of 10 lbs of food and $55 cash for Our Place was donated by the generous attendees.
The next time you’re in the 600 block of Broughton Street, drop in and introduce yourself to Carey or Brad, and sample some of the finest chocolate the world has to offer.