LA MAISON DU CHOCOLAT X PARIS CHEZ SHARON Our éclairs in LA MAISON DU CHOCOLAT shops in Paris!

 

 

Well, I don’t know how to tell you but there’s an éclair named after PARIS CHEZ SHARON! Two éclairs, to be precise, and as for today, they are found in the prestigious chocolate shops of LA MAISON DU CHOCOLAT in Paris. I can’t even begin to describe the feelings and sensationsimmersing me throughout this project, which started a year ago when I received a call from the communication department of LA MAISON DU CHOCOLAT. “We want to offer you a unique and first kind of collaboration” David told me. “We want to ask you to create with Nicolas a new éclair that will be sold in our shops during summer 2019.””OUI!” I replied with a big smile, and the project got underway.

 

Among the first launch events I attended, I remember being invited by LA MAISON DU CHOCOLAT to the launching of their Christmas collection brand, an event that took place at their famous shop near Place de la Madeleine.This is where I first met one of the world leading Chocolate Master, chocolatier Nicolas Cloiseau from LA MAISON DU CHOCOLAT, and their PR team headed by Sandrine Huguet. We all bonded at first sight and I’ve been accompanying their work ever since. They have held some of the most impressive events in the business, and the way they pay attention to every media day always impresses me again and again.  

In addition to my deep appreciation for the brand, I maintain a special friendship relation with Nicolas Cloiseau, who has been awarded with the MOF title (best craftsman in his field). Cloiseau is the maître chocolatier of LA MAISON DU CHOCOLAT, the one responsible for all the products development of the brand, and the creative spirit of new collections and more. Cloiseau is one of the best chocolatiers in France and his devotion and seriousness is highly appreciated. From time to time, I love to visit him in his creation laboratory while watching him work in person; I particularly like to visit the marble room where dozens of kilograms of ganache in different flavors are spilled over large and leveled marble tables, further turning into ganache slabs before being cut and coated with chocolate.

Every time we meet, I tell Cloiseau that I dream to see him make a chocolate yummy filled with a pecan praliné. This dream has become an ongoing joke by now, and Sharon’s bonbon item comes up at every launch event. Jokes aside, you know that, for me, dreams come true. When David and I ended the call, and I started jumping with enthusiasm, I realized that this was high time to make the sweet dream turn real and I knew, for certain, that our éclair will have pecan praliné in it.

During our brainstorming with LA MAISON DU CHOCOLAT team we brought up ideas for special combinations of flavors that could fit our project. Since the idea was to sell the éclairs on summer time, we paid attention to flavors that would be appropriate for warm climates. In addition, Cloiseau wanted us to share with him some tastes of our own childhood, characteristic Israeli flavors and our favorite materials. A lot of ideas went on back and forth; some of the raw materials mentioned were lemon, lime, nana, mint, peppermint, basil, lemon grass, thyme and more. Meanwhile, it was obvious to all involved that it was time to bring out to life the pecan praliné dream (even though it’s not a summer flavor) and  to probably make more than one éclair.

Cloiseau took a lot of notes in his notebook and even built a questionnaire that bought into focus the meaning of tastes for me, my childhood memories, my inspiration sources, even my favorite colors. Equipped with all this information, he took some creation time, and after a few weeks, he invited me to a personal secret meeting for tasting the éclairs he created. Words cannot describe the feeling of having one of France’s top chocolatiers making creations according to my taste, according to how he sees me, according to my preferences and my passions. What can be more exciting?

 

 

Together we tasted quite a few éclairs, and discussed each at length – the flavors, the textures, its suitability to the project and my connection to it. Finally we chose two wonderful and very different éclairs, each of them unique, interesting and super delicious. The first was an éclair filled with Creme Patissiere/pastry cream based on green and yellow lemons fresh juice, and a heart of bitter chocolate ganache bar with basil and lemon. The combination of lemon, chocolate and basil was great; on the one hand, the lemon delicate sourness and the freshness of the basil and on the other hand the flavor of chocolate which gives the dessert sweetness and depth. The second éclair was my dream coming true: an éclair filled with Creme Patissiere /pastry cream, cocoa nibs and pecan praliné, embracing a crunchy pecan praliné bar. I think it’s the best éclair I have ever tasted; the textures combination of the delicate choux pastry, the soft cream and the cracking layer of pecan praliné is wonderful, and the taste is magic.

While flavors and tastes were set up, it was time for decoration, and this was for me a stunning surprise. LA MAISON DU CHOCOLAT decided to collaborate all the way long and suggested to brand the éclair with the lovely logo that Riki Tavor had designed for me. Tavor designed the logo after I gave her and her husband a tour in Paris. “I already have an idea” she told me and a few days later she sent me the logo. I fell in love with it at first sight and so did our lovely global community. LA MAISON DU CHOCOLAT inserted the logo as part of our joint project and suggested to include it in the éclair’s decoration. And this is how two éclairs were born: one with my glasses from the logo and the other with our logo printed on bitter chocolate discs.

 

The next mandatory stage was photoshooting and preparing a press kit. Cloiseau made dozens of éclairs for the photos and together with Gali we built a small studio at LA MAISON DU CHOCOLAT headquarters. A photographer was invited to photograph Cloiseau and me and to take publicity shots of the éclairs. The press kit is being edited as I’m writing these lines, and I still can’t believe this is happening. MOF is creating with us éclairs that will be sold in the shops of one of the most famous chocolate brands in the world, INSANE!

When everything is ready, there’s a need to tell everybody about the new collection: and how do you do it in Paris? You organize a launching event, of course! The date was set for May 16th in the evening; a publicity event in the brand’s flagship store. A launching event includes the invitation of all the relevant journalists, bloggers, influencers, colleagues and personal guests. It’s hard to describe the excitement before the event; hard to fathom that instead of being invited to the event to cover it, like we usually are – we are now part of the event itself.

 

The launching event was followed by a most important part – The éclairs distribution to the shops. So, as for today, our éclairs are sold in LA MAISON DU CHOCOLAT shops in Paris. It is a limited edition available until mid-September, and we couldn’t be more excited; I wonder how it would feel like to visit one of the shops with my guided tours. Wow.

And here is the video of the project you can find in the shops

Sometimes, there are other dreams coming true

Yours,

Sharon