A Visit to Fouquet Chocolate & Confections

69 comments -
Pin105
Share
105 Shares

 

 

Fouquet is one of my favorite shops in Paris. I’m absolutely addicted to the thin crisps of spice bread enrobed in dark chocolate as well as to the house-made pâtes de fruits and the coconut-filled rectangles cloaked in chocolate. And, of course, the caramelized almonds, too.

It’s rare to find a shop still making candies the old-fashioned way and I thought it would be fun to share it with you, along with meeting Fréderic Chambeau, whose family has owned the shop for several generations.

Fouquet
36, rue Laffitte (9th)
Tél: 01 47 70 85 00
(Second shop at 23 rue François 1er, 8th.)

[Video by Flow Films.]

Related Posts and Links

Fouquet (My Previous Visit)

A Visit to Patrick Roger (Video)

Ready for Dessert (Video)

Pin105
Share
105 Shares

You might also like

Categories: Chocolate & Pastry Shops Paris Videos

Tags:

69 comments

    • J. T.

    Man Lebovitz, your videos are so well done and you don’t try to push your personality into the product. You give voice to the product and its producers. Very well done. Your website and your perspective really adds to my enjoyment of life. Joie de vivre!

    • David
    David Lebovitz

    Thanks! I find these people, and what they’re doing, so interesting. Am happy to share & glad you enjoyed it.

    btw: For viewers who wish to watch in a larger format, you can click on the title of the video and you can watch at the Vimeo page.

    • mamabigdog

    Love the video- wish you would do these more, but I know it’s not so simple. I haven’t had those thin almond spice cookies in ages- used to get them in CA. Never had them enrobed, I’m sure they are delicious that way.

    • Julie

    This was lovely David. Looking forward to more videos like this! You crack me up!

    • flavia

    beautiful. you always make me wanna visit france (and meet the french, and eat french food) when i watch these videos. pls keep them coming :)

    • annie

    Just loved this! I’m so happy that you can share so much with us that is “behind the scenes”… The shops and confections are so wonderful, and even more so when we can watch how they are made, and hear from the people who make them. Just fascinating. Your access is such a wonderful gift to all of us, thank you!

    • Chez Loulou

    Oh god, those toasted, chocolate covered almonds look sublime. And the candied ones too. wow!

    • angela

    Great video and you make a great presenter, sharing what you know and find and love!

    • Mei @ Libertine Eats

    I’m so happy you made another video… totally loving the insider’s view to these shops. Thanks David.

    • Elaine

    David:

    You are the MAN. Loved the question about French Revolutionaries being hyped up on sugar, loved the commentary on the linguistics of déception, and loved the commentary on the French v. American reaction of eating food.

    • Mary Claire

    David, you have the best job in the entire world. Seriously. Love the video! Two comments, 1) Frederic is adorable, and 2) how on earth do you stay so slim?

    • J.

    Wow. I love your videos and the way you present chocolate shops … it makes me really happy to watch these candies being made by hand individually! It’s like I’m right there and like I can smell all those sweet scents.

    • Leigh

    Fantastic. More please.

    • Helena

    Please keep doing those beautiful videos, love them! Also, I would love some chocolate covered almonds now :D

    • Cheila

    oh David Lebovitz. what a treat to watch this! also the description “coconut cloaked in chocolate” was perfect and i loved the notion of simple satisfaction rather than the fireworks. you’re so great and i thank you for this video.

    • Diane

    Wonderful! Thank you for sharing!

    • Melissa

    I absolutely loved this video. How on earth do I get the privilege of a similar job? Seriously

    • Ruth

    Fab video! Love it! I, too would relish more of these if you get the chance!

    • The Quest For Zest

    I can’t tell you how much I love these movies David. You are inspiring me to do my own.

    • beth vlasich pav

    David,
    Super video! Beautifully simple, informative & lush…you’re a natural. Looking forward to more.

    • Susan

    How fortunate to find a merchant that would let you film them. How fortunate for us! Thank you, David.
    .
    I recognize those flat almond cookies. My late Mother-in-law’s hairdresser used to give a ribboned bag of them as a Christmas gift to all her clients. They were so good and compared to the thick, chewy cookies everyone professes to prefer, her shop had annual clients that made a December appointment because they knew those cookies would be gifted at that time of year, or so she said. I don’t know what those cookies are called or I’d be making them myself, they are so good. She just called them Ice Box Cookies and wouldn’t share the recipe. I can’t fault her for that!

    • The Celiac Husband

    You weren’t joking about the basement.
    That was very interesting to see that this company does small batch preserving.
    The Cherries looked very interesting.

    Great video. Great presenter.

    • parisbreakfast

    Terrific video and what an authentic place.
    They still do things the old way.
    His comment that they used to have 45 times more products makes you wonder…

    • Felechia

    I watched this while eating my oatmeal this morning…I never knew you were so slim! Perhaps you follow the “one bite only” rule. This video made a wonderful start to my day. Thank you.

    • David
    David Lebovitz

    Susan: They’re actually quite similar to these Pain d’amande cookies and you could slice them super-thin they after baked, dip them in chocolate. The only problem is that I think you’d have a lot around the house and if you’re anything like me, you’d eat them all!

    • Scott–DFW

    Love the video tours of Parisian chocolatiers. Keep’em coming.

    • Chrissy

    I would have been tempted to pull a Lucy and Ethel with that chocolate conveyor belt!

    • Katie Laughlin

    Hi David!

    I just wanted to say I love your blog! My husband and I went to Paris on our honeymoon last September. I wrote down so many of your suggestions and great places to go. You really helped us make the most of our trip.

    Katie

    • Wild Dingo

    I loved it. You do everything with style. Very well done. oh and the chocolates weren’t bad either. ;-) toasted almonds with chocolate. there’s no better combination. except dark chocolate and raspberry. that’s pretty amazing too. .

    i think americans are looking for fireworks because their lives are so busy they need complexity for them to take notice. I’ve never felt my sense come so alive as I have recently moving here to CH. But especially my sense of taste. I feel like it woke up when i moved here. French and Italian food and sweets. It doesn’t get better than that!

    • Wendy Kromer

    David,
    Thank you for doing what you do! Your visit to Fouquet takes me back to the ’80’s when I lived in Paris. Only then, I could not indulge in all the treats, like I can now! If only I thought to embark on my pastry career then, rather than wait another 10 years. Anyway…your mini-films, photos & blog are a daily 10 minute “vacation” for me.

    • Kathryn

    Thank you for the video! Very enjoyable to watch! I like hearing you translate some of the french words you are using, as well as hearing the pronunciation of the words. I shared your book, The Sweet Life In Paris, with the French class I am taking. I told them what a fun and informative read it is. Our last class is next week and we will be having a fête. We are all asked to bring a typical french dish, any suggestions?

    • Katie K

    I thought the reverse was true– that Americans like food, such as dessert, simply prepared, while the French go over the top with fancy arrangements.

    • Cyndy

    I am still reeling from your visit to Patrick Roget, and up comes the next wonderful place, in video no less! Just when I got Roget’s chocolate-covered ginger pieces out of my mind. It’s a good (bad, bad!) thing we don’t live there anymore.

    I have heard those words, like your example, “deception,” called faux amis. You think you understand what the word means, but you don’t really. I’ve also heard them referred to as faux mots.

    @ Mary Claire, I too think Frederic is adorable!

    • Dave at Wineopeners

    David:
    The walk into the basement is so typical of your sharing with us a behind-the-scenes look at the people you visit and their lives.
    And the comment about Americans wanting “fireworks” when they eat sounds so true with the way Americans view dining in general. It also runs over into the way the American wine palate is changing the world view of winemaking.
    Marvelous.
    Grazie mille.
    Dave.

    • Joy

    Sounds great! I love all your videos!

    • Dorette

    bonjour david! i liked hearing you talk about how americans seem more enamored with “sizzle.” coming into play, perhaps, is also the vast histoire of french cuisine and its culture, coupled with a reverance for the culinary arts, that satisfies a frenchman’s (and woman’s) appreciation of nuance and subtlety. i have witnessed too that the french are more satisified by one excellent Fouquet caramelized chocolate enrobed almond; whereas (and this is generalizing of course) americans tend to want more before they swallow what they have. merci!

    • Caroline & Gido

    Hi David, my husband and I are in Paris at this moment and were very happily surprised to see you in Fouquet when we were passing by there today. Apart from chocolate you seem to like a good cup of coffee. There is a tiny italian serving great coffee and pastas in Passage de la Madeleine. I forgot the exact name, I think it’s Pozetto. I’ll check it and will let you know if you want.

    • Maia Brindley Nilsson

    LOVED your example of ‘deception.’ Hilarious.

    • Jessica

    Wonderful video – so fun to watch the delicate process of candy making. Thank you for sharing.

    • Betsy

    Lovely video David! I hope you do more of these! Now I’m off to rummage through the kitchen for some chocolate :)

    • Rosa

    About the sesame oil tweet–don’t know where else to respond since I don’t tweet. My experience has been that solids form in the oil when I store it in the refrigerator. They melt once it warms up and it all goes back to normal. Perhaps that’s what the warning is getting at…or maybe it’s something far more ominous!

    • Andy Strote

    David, we are over there in 3 weeks. Can’t wait! This is on our list, along with The Sweet Life in Paris book on the iPad. Could be the Chocolate Tour de Paris.

    • Lina

    Very cool, thanks for posting it. I really enjoy the videos that you do!

    • Gavrielle

    Wow, that was fascinating – the fan was a real eye-opener. So that’s how they get the chocolate so delicously thin – I never would have guessed a fan in a million years! I was also interested in the “fireworks” comparison between American and French food – I think the exact same thing applies to our New Zealand white wines. They are explosions of flavour compared to the much more subtle French whites – neither are intrinsically better, it’s just a totally different approach.

    • sofia

    Hi David, thanks for that video! It was really fun to get an inside look at Fouquet. I love your blog and I used to work at Nopa too! On another note, I was wondering if you had any suggestions as to where to eat in Prague or specialties to try (as I’m going there next week!). I really appreciate it!

    • Mary Sanavia

    Excellent! I hope to see many more of your videos.

    • Skippy

    If there was a live feed streaming from that shop, I probably would watch it a shameful amount of hours a day.

    • Candela

    Thanks David for this excellent video! I fall in love with shops that still make wonderful things old-fashioned way & I can be there for hours … :)

    • Tuti

    How lovely to see your enthousiasm for something in person! Thanks for making this great video!

    • Suzy

    I am really enjoying the addition of videos to your blog. Your writing is wonderful but it’s also nice to poke about in these fantastic places and see things I would normally never have access to.

    • Beth Anderson

    Hi David! I met you on Saturday. I just wanted to let you know I followed many of your recos including one for NYC recently (City Bakery).

    • Lauren

    This video makes me hungry! Not just for food, but also travel, thanks for another great post!

    • Lia

    Love your videos :)

    • Tom @ Tall Clover Farm

    I have one solid copper candy pot; it has remained on the top shelf for too long. Time to make your amazing maple creams in honor of this engaging video and 5-minute vacation to Paris. Merci.

    • Paul

    I always remember having one of the best fondue meals in Paris when I was there several years ago with my sister. Sadly, I can’t remember the name, seeing we stumbled upon it one evening. I do remember it was near Sacre Coeur.

    • Bernadette

    I love when you post videos, I think you can see from most replies, we all do! Do so more often! Good stuff.

    • marti

    Great video, David. You offered a lot of interesting insights from this chocolatier. It was beautifully shot and produced. Great job on camera and behind the scenes.

    But truly stunning to see that you do not weigh four hundred pounds!

    • Delia Salazar

    What a delicious video, David! I wish there was a way to taste everything with you (well, obviously I could buy a ticket to France and stalk you until you went there, but I meant from the comfort of my own home). Thanks for taking us along with you.

    • Maureen

    I loved that we could hear the crunch of the almonds when you bit into them. Not sure why, really, it was a yummy sound. :)

    • Caffettiera

    It was all so charming, the shop owner, the old fashioned equipment, the obvious quality and simplicity of the food, the basement with the dusty jars. I loved the question about the basement production being legal, and this is one of the reasons why I love France so much: it would not be legal in many other places..

    Great video, in a nutshell.

    • Judy

    I love your videos – always so interesting and well edited. I not only follow your blog stories avidly but re-read many of them for inspiration or just to travel with you if just in my mind!

    • Jess

    Great video, David! Gah, Frederic is so cute. :)

    • Frederic

    Thank you David, I am happy to see that your videos are a real success. It’s always a pleasure to welcome you in Fouquet.
    Next time not only I will show you the basement but we will taste the homemade “punch à Sidonie” which is macerating in there.
    Fred

    You can follow Fouquet on facebook and twitter (@fouquetchocolat)

    • Caroline & Gido

    Hi David,

    We visited Fouquet the day after you were there. A perfect end of our visit to Paris: owner Frederic made us taste some of Fouquet’s delicious delicacies, among others chocolate covered ginger; not too sweet, a bit peppery and oh so tasty.

    The name and address of the tiny italian (for an -in our opinion- very beautiful espresso) I mentioned earlier on is: Caffé Corto, 11 Rue Tronchet, 8ième.

    • homegrown countrygirl

    What a great movie! It was so well done and I really enjoyed watching it!

    • laura

    I visited the Fouquet near Ave. Montaigne on May 5th with my 2 daughters. My older daughter, age 13, and I had been before. We love the store and always approach the saleslady with a cheery, “Bonjour,” but she refuses to try any English. Maybe she really doesn’t know any! We love their candies, especially their candy-coated toffee, which tastes like candy-coated caramel.

    Thank you for all of your Paris food advice! I have a Bernachon bar that I’m about to devour. I’m trying very hard to wait for my family to get home so we can share it. According to Denise Acabo, I purchased one of your favorites!

    • Stephanie

    David,

    My husband just brought me a sample of Fouquet’s chocolate and I remembered that you posted a video (that I did not have time to watch at the time) so now I am enjoying the chocolate all the more!

    As an American living among the French for several years, I applaud your attempt at humor with them. I have all but given up and usually keep my comments to myself but you just throw yourself out there and that is lovely to see.

    • Mrs D

    Wonderful! Thank you so much for another video. I really echo your first commenter’s comments. Bravo!

    • Melanie Testa

    You make me want to emigrate, to find a reason to uproot, just to be able to eat. Wonderful video.

A

Get David's newsletter sent right to your Inbox!

15987

Sign up for my newsletter and get my FREE guidebook to the best bakeries and pastry shops in Paris...