CocoaBella Announces Top Artisan Picks of 2006

A rosemary infused rainbow colored caramel from Kansas City, a chocolate-encased fig stuffed with an almond and a sliver of lemon from Italy, an almond praline chewy caramel from France, and a milk chocolate almond cluster from San Francisco were among the “Best of 2006” picked by Michael Freeman, owner of CocoaBella Chocolates in San Francisco.

Freeman reviewed more than 350 artisan chocolates for his “Greatest Box of Chocolates,” an assortment of 18 of the “best of the best” handcrafted chocolates from around the world.

“I travel throughout the world with the simple question: Who is making the greatest chocolate?” says Freeman. “Usually these chocolates come from artisans in home-based kitchens or small stores in never-heard-of-towns or villages. Each one is a gem.”

The chocolatiers making the cut included:
Christopher Elbow (Missouri) Working in small batches, Elbow meticulously sculpts tiny pieces of chocolate perfection into miniature works of art that look as exquisite as they taste.

Michel Cluizel (France) Cluizel’s chocolates are composed of cocoa beans from a single plantation.

Charles Chocolates (California) Charles Chocolates are composed of the finest chocolate, organic herbs, fruits and nuts, and cream and butter and handmade in very small.

CocoaBella offer more than 200 of the finest chocolates in the world—no mass produced, grocery store or standard bar offerings.

For those who can’t visit one of two stores in San Francisco, www.CocoaBella.com has an online “Build Your Own Custom Chocolate Box,” which allows customers to order a personal selection of chocolates by dragging and dropping choices into a virtual custom gift box that is immediately mailed with the fresh chocolates selected.

Edited by Patricia D. Sherman

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