Walking the Street of Chocolate Dreams:
A Yummy Dilemma!

By Sandra Scott

Where is the chocolatest street in the world? It is in Bariloche, Argentina, located in the southwestern part of Argentina near the Chilean border. Bariloche is the holiday capital of Patagonia and a favorite destination for skiers and those looking for outdoor adventures. But not for me! When I hear someone mention Bariloche I think chocolate!

Austrians and Germans looking for a better life settled the area in the late 1800’s. These immigrants sought a place that reminded them of their Bavarian homeland, and they found it in a beautiful, fertile valley nestled in the Andes. Bariloche's chocolate history began after World War II, when some of the European immigrants began making chocolates at home. Some of Bariloche's chocolates are still handmade but most are prepared by a combination of machines and handcrafting.

Now Mitre Street, Bariloche’s main street, is a “Street of Chocolate Dreams.” It is lined with stores selling chocolates and tourists trying to decide which store offers the best chocolate. It is a yummy dilemma!

There is only one solution to the dilemma. Do what my husband and I did. Visit all the stores and try chocolate from all the chocolatiers!

We started with a sample of milk chocolate at Franton’s small candy shop with a corner candy store ambiance and continued to Del Turista, a chocolate department store. People sitting at café tables were dining on chocolate in all forms. Others were browsing the displays trying to decide what chocolate and chocolate-related items to purchase. It was the chef creating Mousse de Chocolate that fascinated my husband and me. We watched as he spread the smooth creamy chocolate on the marble counter, waited a few minutes, then peeled off strips which he curled and crowded the mousse. It looked so easy–and yummy!

Next stop was Fenoglio, a bit of the Black Forest in Bariloche. They claim it is the place where chocolate dreams become reality! Fenoglio is the original Chocolate factory of San Carlos de Bariloche, where it all started more than 50 years ago. With a little bag of mint chocolates we walked to the next store.

At Boniface Chocolates, a small and friendly family story, they insisted we try one of their specialties–chocolate liquor. Truth be told it didn’t take much persuading. Chocolate with a little kick. We liked that!

La Mexicana Chocolates was one of our favorites. The saleslady, Martha, extolled the virtues of La Mexicana chocolates, “The company is still run the Hubert Otto Ritter family.  They use all natural ingredients and the best cocoa beans from Mexico, hence the name. Mexico has the best cocoa beans, you know.” She offered us a sample of their dark chocolate, and John, my chocoholic husband agreed. “Excellent deep rich flavor and velvety texture. We’ll take a half-pound of the dark chocolate. It’s healthy, you know!”

Next stop, grandmother’s! Abuela Goye is another family brand of chocolate. (Abuela is “grandmother” in Spanish). It is easy to find because of the life-size figure of “grandmother” stands outside the store enticing customers to enter and try the chocolate from “grandmother’s” own recipe. It was my turn to pick–caramel-covered chocolate.  To die for!

I was most intrigued with the huge matryoshka nesting doll display above the entrance to the Mamuschka Chocolate store. “Why a Russian name for a chocolate store in Argentina?” I asked the store manager.  “No special reason except the owner loves the Russian nesting dolls.” We do, too, and agreed it made for an eye-catching display. In a Russian-thinking mode we had chocolate filled with liquor. We were thinking vodka but it was filled with Bailey’s.

The final store was another Chocolatier with a catchy name, Rapa Nui, which is the Polynesian name for Easter Island. Easter Island is part of Chile, not Argentina; but again, it was just a favorite of the owner. We caught Maria Luz delivering a fresh batch of bonbons so, of course, we had to try them.

My husband and I headed to Bariloche’s picturesque main plaza, gazed out over the tranquil lake and had our lunch of chocolate. Which chocolatier produced the best chocolate? We just couldn’t agree. Instead we agreed to return the next day do a more scientific study of the chocolatiers on the “Street of Chocolate Dreams”

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