Boutique Chocolate for the Masses
I was delighted and surprised when I discovered that my local Wegmans was carrying Vosges chocolate bars. Vosges is one of Chicago’s most exclusive chocolatiers. That is until they participated in the Fancy Foods Show, which introduces retailers from around the world to gourmet "artisan" goodies. Stacy’s Pita Chips, Bear Naked Granola, Pom drink, you name it, if a food item begins popping up on local shelves everywhere you go, you can bet it was discovered at the Fancy Food Show.
And we should be grateful. My mother, a helpless chocoholic, certainly couldn’t find high quality chocolate at the supermarket when I was a kid, especially one flavored with sea salt and hickory smoked almonds like Vosges’ Barcelona Bar. Wegmans also carries my favorite Vosges bar (and their biggest seller), the Red Fire Bar which features milky chocolate enhanced by Ceylon cinnamon and ancho and chipotle chilies. The selection at Wegmans is limited, but with their status as a major retailer means that they have tremendous buying power and can sell them for only $5.50 each, a great deal considering that some retailers sell them for $8. Wegmans’ desire to appeal to the masses means that they don’t carry, for example, Vosges Black Pearl bar of dark chocolate, black sesame seeds, wasabi and ginger, or the d’Oliva bar of white chocolate and kalamata olives. These bars can be found, along with many of Vosges’ Exotic Bar collection, at Premier Gourmet. Their bars cost somewhere around $7.
Before you scrunch up your nose at the thought of some of the more wild combinations, let me remind you again, that eating is an adventure. It’s also an art, according to the Vosges website where you can learn not only how to care for your fine chocolate, but also how to taste it, as if it were a fine wine. And for those who already know this and find chocolate to be an experience rather than a snack, check out their Sensory Collection. Styled like similar kits for oenephiles, this set provides the lucky user with vials containing the essences of the company's many concoctions along with bars of their delicious chocolate which allows for a session of heightened tasting.
Thanks to reader (and serious chocolate connoisseur), Lacy Abbott for pointing out that Vosges is originally from Chicago, a fact I incorrectly stated in the first version of this post.
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vgs
Another winner Christa. I have mail ordered or stopped by Chicago to get Vosges for quite some time. Terrific stuff and great gifts. I was hoping the Chocolate Bar was going to be something similar...NOT.
Any lover of real quality will dig Vosges, but if you if you think Hershey's is chocolate than this might be over your head.
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jfab
Yum...these bars sound so good. I have heard that they make a bar with bacon....anybody know what I am talking about? I wonder if Premier sells it...
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ChristaSeychew
jfab,
I have, it's called Mo's Bacon Bar. Writer Lauren Newkirk Maynard recently wrote it up for Buffalo Buffet. It's a great read:
http://buffalobuffet.wordpress.com/2007/11/11/gimme-mo-vosges-bacon-chocolate/
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leadi
I hope Wegman's picks up the entire line - it is worth trying everything from Vosges Haute Chocolat! Want to send a really cool gift? They have some of the best gift sets for the chocolate lover! Be warned - they don't ship during the summer months unless you pay for overnight shipping and dry ice packaging. Best to order during cold months.
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jfab
Thanks Christa! (not only for answering me, but for all of the great writing that you do). I read Buffalo Buffet regularly, but must have missed that post somehow. Thanks again...Julie
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JAramini
Even though it's pricier at Premier, they have frequent tastings where you can sample the more exotic varieties without having to shell out the cash for a full bar. That's the only way I know that their curry-laced bar is actually quite tasty and that the white chocolate and kalamata olive bar isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
:::Looks about shiftily::: sorry about falling off the face of the earth. I'd love to be contributing, but my real job has gotten in the way. Maybe in the future if I haven't totally let you down...
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ChristaSeychew
Jfab,
It's my pleasure!! Please keep reading and commenting! I love it when people take the time to tell me what they think or to ask a question. I even love the hecklers! Keep letting us know what we can do at YUM to help you enjoy eating in Buffalo. Thank you for being so engaged.
JAramini,
I don't think that you could let me down if you tried. I'm so happy for you that you've found a job you're happy with. I'd still like to send you in search of another perfect something- you did a fantastic job with the cannoli. When you're up for it, shoot me an email. Happy New Year!
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Hoss
Have you tried Jacques Torres Chocolate in NYC. Talk about yummy. He also makes an ancho/chipotle chilli bar as well as a hot-cocoa version. Gauranteed warmth. The Brooklyn location is great because you can nibble while watching the sultry treats being created in the "factory".
If you want a good tip from Jacques on the best way to store your chocolate, watch this short little (1 minute) film. http://www.nycfilms.org/video/Jacques_Torres,_Chocolatier-v30.html
One thing I have found disappointing about Wegman's is that they often carry some neat stuff for a short while, but soon as they realize it's doing well, it seems like they take it off the shelves, and replace it with their own branded version. I don't know if this is their strategy, but I've noticed this on a few items for sure. Just happened today when I was looking for white truffle oil. Well, hopefully they will keep your chocolate on the shelves. I'll be sure to give it a whirl.
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viking
Christa -- what's your take on Wegmans displacing some of the local competitors for the selections you promote for them. I agree that Wegmans has excellent products and service but find it interesting that you as a spokesperson for BR advertise for a business that has been equated with Wal-mart in the past. Yep-- just stirring the pot a little.
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RisingDamp666
In a bar-to-bar taste test, Vosges beat out Dagoba and Scharffenberger, but uh oh, along came Valrhona. It doesn't matter, anything made with crillolo chocolate is tasty and Vosges has some trippy flavors that no one else is doing at their level. Indulge, get some Garam Masala ice cream and break off pieces of Vosges with the chilies into it, stir, and find your Choco Zen Chakra.
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BetterThanDetroit
BRO - hire RisingDamp666 instantly.
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girl16
I am so happy that someone mentioned Wegmans. That's great they carry all the gourmet stuff that we hear about, but, grrrrrrrrrr, I am so frustrated trying to buy the regular products that have now become private labeled by them. I'm tired of being forced to buy their products instead of the leading name brand everyday ones. I have no idea what the quality is. Great they have Vosges, but what about San Pelligrino? And, it seems they are out of stock with so many things lately too, artichokes, San Pelligrino, Hebrew National hot dogs, calamari. What's that about. Good thing they are keeping all the vidoes, candles, coconut shell bowls on the shelves. I even tried to write a comment card, but the pen was out of ink....
Wow, I'm glad I got that off my chest.
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girl16
What they'll do is test the market with Vosges, get people consistently buying, then knock off their recipe and knock them off the shelf.
It's so disappointing when a store that was so great goes in this direction.
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girl16
And........their packaging is so ugly, I feel like I am buying a no name or discount brand.
I never mentioned the chocolate though. The taste is fantastic and presentation impressive.
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ChristaSeychew
Viking,
Did you want to talk about whether or not Wegmans is like Wal*Mart or whether or not I am a spokesperson for them?
I have personally written 336 stories for Buffalo Rising.com since December of 2006. In those 336 stories, 2 focused on the new Mom & Pops Natural Foods Store, 10 on events and products at the Broadway Market, 4 on Guercio’s on Grant Street, 13 on the Lexington Co-op and 3 on Premier Gourmet. That does not include the number of stories that loosely reference any of these businesses or the ones that I have requested from writers that incorporate these businesses into their theme. Virtually all of Adam Fix’s Beer in the City stories reference Premier and there are scads more from our other contributors.
I have written three stories with any sort of “theme” that involved Wegmans without mentioning another area market as an additional resource. One was when they won an award for being the best supermarket in the country and the second was about rainbow swiss chard, a product that I love and could find nowhere else at the time (the Co-op now carries it when it's in season). The final story that could be construed as Wegmans-themed (and even that’s stretching it) is the recent story where we ask readers how they feel about the constant onsite chatter about Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.
You can “stir it up” any way you like, but the facts speak for themselves. Regarding whether or not Wegmans is like Wal*Mart- well, that’s a discussion for the City channel, in my opinion.
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Metropolis
Wegmans has wonderful foods that you can't find at a typical grocery store. I love chocolate but can't say that I would pay that much for these on a regular basis. Maybe more as a gift, as someone mentioned. Or for a girlfriend who has had a bad day. :)
For those of you engaging in "personal attacks" or even personal posts, don't you think it would be much more appropriate to message each other privately, instead of in the article? I think it kind of adds to the disappointment some of us feel when we want a focused discussion, not a place for people to reply to each and every personal comment or attack publicly. Logging on to BRO just to reply to people's personal comments and attacks just encourages the problem. And makes you look bad. Please - keep personal comments off the message boards.
This includes BRO writers.
Just my thoughts. This is one reason i visit BRO much less lately. See QE's most recent post on ... well... posting.
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viking
Christa --- my comment had only to do with irony that BR seems to dislike Wal-Mart but endorses Wegmans, both businesses have multiple selection attraction, large displays, private branding and bigger than life presence. Both Wegmans and Wal-Mart have been characterized as having displaced local operations offering similar products and services, have large up front parking and don't blend to their respective neighbors. I hope you realize I value the service that BR offers and like to play the Devils advocate. As to your writing, I like the range of topics, get valuable information and find interesting your reviews but reserve a prerogative to disagree when subjective opinion is offered. That's a New Year Kiss
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ChristaSeychew
I didn't really take it personally, Viking, I just wouldn't want anyone to think that we spend more time in YUM writing about the major corporations than the little guys. To tell you the truth, I was surprised that such a suggestion would come from you, a devoted and involved YUM reader.
And what are you doing online today, anyway? Don't you have a slew of lobsters to wrangle for the big night? ;) New Year's is a crazy one in your business, and I imagine that with your sea dwelling specialty, even more so. Good luck, and Happy New Year to you too.
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snotnose
I believe, since Wegman's was birthed in Rochester, it can be considered local - a local that made good. So, when they get big, Viking compares them to WalMart. Jeesh. I thank the foodie gods for Wegmans and find their personal brands of high quality. I think girl16 has had too much chocolate, she seems to be writing faster than her hands can type - SUGAR RUSH!
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RisingDamp666
I think YUM should focus more on articles about TGI Fridays, Applebees, Landry's, The Olive Garden, and Bennigan's .-you know, the places that really matter. Why not incorporate a whole panel about Darden restaurants and all the wonderful flavors coming out of their test kitchens, like Cajun-blackened Teriyaki Shrimp in tobacco sauce, or Siriacha Sauced Farm-Raised Salmon with Tuscan Dumplings? It's an incredible culinary journey with Darden,and International Flavorings of New Jersey.
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viking
There you go again Damp-- the whole purpose of the blog is to promote, home grown, with in city limits business connections, news and events, At least that's what I thought I heard, but you may be right. I shop at Wegmans and will probably shop at Bass Pro, I do sometimes go to the places you mentioned, because I feel comfortable with knowing I can get recognizable and familiar food. I cheated, went outside the city and bought a battery for my car at Wal-Mart because the price and warrantee was the best available. By the way the interesting items of food you indicated, remind me of some of the things mentioned as being produced by some of our local talent.
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RisingDamp666
Sarcasm just blows over your head like the jet stream in October, doesn't it, Viking? Rest assured, I have never tread in any of those chain nightmares without thinking of long lost loved ones, like the little favorite taco stand, the corner deli, or your sense of humor.
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viking
Come on Damp--- sure glad that was just wind, from the jet steam---I thought my humorist postings were getting better though , almost professional.
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AtwaterLouse
The comparison of Wegmans to Wal-Mart is perfectly apt. Anybody who refuses to shop Wal-Mart but happily shops Wegmans is using situational ethics. For the record, I think both are fine and both serve the greater good, but if I opposed one then to be consistent I'd have to oppsoe both. So what if Wegmans happened to start in Rochester and Wal-Mart happened to start in Arkansas? They've both spread far from where they started, although Wegmans obviously hasn't had the level of success WM has had. But they're both pursuing profits where they can find them and in the process serving much greater numbers of customers than had they stayed put in their home towns.
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whisperoutoftime
Christa, thanks for the props on the Vosges bacon bar... it was fun to write about.
In slightly related news, I've repeatedly asked the Amherst St. Wegman's Nature's Marketplace staff (well-meaning and helpful folks, all) to stock Kettle Chips in that exotic NY Cheddar flavor, to no avail. Will keep trying, as the addiction must be fed. Ooops, just heard Tops has them, gotta go... -LNM
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BuffedOut
I have been shopping at Wegman's in Amherst since they opened there in the late 70's. Does anyone here remember that? It serves a huge senior citizen population in that suburban area with great focus on their needs. So why is there so much complaining about this supermarket?
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RisingDamp666
Why, BuffedOut? Because it serves a huge senior citizen population in that suburban area with great focus on their needs. You go to supermarkets to pick up chicks in the bagged organic baby greens section, not to see an endless swath of flabby old bag ladies juggling Metamucil and a ten pound sack of potatoes.
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