Éclat Chocolate

Unusual mix of flavors I haven’t seen elsewhere. The quality is certainly superior. I was so happy to try and buy chocolate with thyme and another one with cardamom. The location is very nice in downtown the cozy town of West Chester, PA.

If you are looking for quality chocolate then you found it at Éclat. If you want to impress your boss, your girl, your business associate, your mom, etc. get them an assorted box of chocolate from here. The traditional truffle is my favorite. The owner is brilliant and the staff is really knowledgable and friendly. You can walk around the store and sample the chocolate bars and ask as many questions as you’d like and they will answer all of them. You won’t be able to sample the truffles, but for what goes into making them and their short shelf life (since they are manufactured in Europe, shipped here and have no preservatives in them), I understand why they don’t sample them out. They average $ 3 each and really are delicious. After eating chocolate from Hershey and Nestle, I break out all over my face. After eating chocolate from Éclat, I don’t break out and maintain my clear skin. This is the main reason I love this place. I am able to enjoy quality chocolate without the consequence of breaking out. The prices don’t allow for a regular indulgence, but it’s definitely a place to get the occasional treat.

I’m going to be honest, I hate gourmet chocolate. I’m a simple guy with simple tastes. I like Hershey and crap like that. So obviously, I didn’t really enjoy the chocolate I sampled here, and the prices felt ridiculously steep to me — $ 3 for like an ounce of chocolate? The truffles are cute and probably taste good, but I dunno. I don’t know how the chocolate economy works, maybe that’s cheap for such fancy chocolate! I wouldn’t know, I just popped it right around opening time because I spotted their truck while meandering around town and I figured I could see what they had
But the thing is, this shop isn’t meant to cater to people like me. So for the people it’s meant for, I’m sure it’s lovely. The set-​up was very nice and neat, and the people were very polite and super kind, even though I walked my punk-​vest wearing, nosey teenage ass right into that store like a minute after opening this morning, with not a clue how this store worked or what they sold. They had some samples set out, and as I tried some of them the nice lady behind the counter explained a bunch of stuff about each one, which was interesting and cool and also totally lost on me.
So, long story short: Cool store with nice staff, just expect it to be gourmet and fancy and probably out of your league unless you’re a chocolate snob, haha. Although I’m sure if the place isn’t too busy and you’re polite about it, you could ask the folks there to educate you!

Really disappointed in the chocolate bar I had. It was Peruvian Milk Chocolate with Cacao Nibs, made to benefit City Harvest NYC. I’m just glad my money went to City Harvest, that’s the only consolation I have.
Perhaps it is because it was milk chocolate, and perhaps it was because (according to the ingredients) there is so much added to this product, but the inherent flavor of the cacao is almost indistinguishable. The fact that this is from Peru and should taste unique is lost. The nibs were nice, but didn’t make up for it. It was, however, creamy, I will give them a star for that.
I’d be reluctant to buy this brand again. I’d be curious to see if they have any purer chocolates, though. (not so much «stuff» added in so that the flavor is purer)

Their Good and Evil Chocolate is amazing! Especially if you know what it is all about. Another thing that I love about the store is a hot chocolate stick that you can stir directly in a cup of hot chocolate. A great place for vegans to hang out (most of their chocolates are dairy/​egg-​free.

Super fancy and you’re going to pay for what you get.
Staff is so friendly though and throw samples at you.
Fun to look at browse.

I just received an early, perishable Valentine from Éclat and there was no way I could wait to try it’s contents upon arrival! Many of the usual suspects that I will save myself for, but I had to try the Hawaiian Tea Rose since I hadn’t had it before. I was not really pleased and almost had a taste like if you got a little face lotion near your mouth and ingested it… Just a little too flowery for me, but likely to knock the hats off of others. They still get 5 stars because everything else is JUST THAT GREAT and more than makes up for that.
Elcat has by far the most amazing truffles I have ever had! I am a better person after having discovered Éclat many years ago. You will likely leave the store happy and smiling. Ah the power of cacao, and Éclat :)

Wow, I went in looking for hot chocolate, and I found chocolate Nirvana! The chocolate is very special, and the entire staff is very knowledgeable about the source of the chocolate, the taste, and to my delight, whether or not it was gluten-​free. I came away with waaaay more than I intended to purchase, but was very pleased.

The best tasting, most creative chocolates! You definitely get what you pay for. These are something special! I get these chocolates for presents, special occasions and even for myself! I never tasted such flavors in chocolate. Lavender, rose, mint, passion fruit, champagne ! I want to attend the next pairing event!!!

Yes, this is not cheap chocolate. But trust me — just go there, buy one of their single malt whisky truffled and then prepare yourself to want to spend a LOT of money there. The sea salt caramels are also amazing, but my absolutely favorite might be the coffee chocolate bars they sell — I am definitely a happier person when I have a bar of that in my fridge and can break off a piece for a sweet snack each night.
PS. If you have kids, Éclat’s truffle boxes make awesome teacher gifts if you like giving actual gifts. Again, trust me on this — I’m a teacher and I get a lot of food gifts and this one NEVER gets shared with friends/​family members!

Wow… although the prices are a bit high — the taste is worth every penny. The caramel, red wine, beer truffles — all were great!

Good chocolate friendly staff

Walking around Dean & DeLuca in SoHo, we came across the chocolate section and decided to try the Good & Evil Chocolate Bar by Christopher Curtin, Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert.
The chocolate was smooth, bold, bitter and packed with cacao nibs. A lot of attention was put into the packaging. First thing we noticed was how light and thin this chocolate bar was compared to other dark chocolate bars we have tasted. Though it was thinner, the flavors were still all there.
So what’s so good about this bar? It has a clean and rich chocolate flavor. Die hard chocolate lovers will enjoy themselves. What’s evil about this bar? The price! A bar will set you back $ 18. I appreciate the flavor of these rare Peruvian cacao beans, but do you guys really have to charge that much for this bar?
Regardless, I’m glad we got to try it.

Love the caramel truffles and the red wine version. Expensive! Splurge on then.

We just moved to Pennsylvania and stumbled on this place. Left spending quite a bit on chocolate. There were so many unusually awesome combinations… red wine, or my favorite pepper corns. There is a reason this place has been written up in some of the best food magazines.

OK, two points need to be made, and each are equally important!
Chocolate — We walked out of the shop with an embarrassing amount of chocolate. They claim their Carmel is world famous and excellent, that is an understatement. Their chocolates satisfy every type of taste imaginable. Aleppo Pepper? Got it. Lavender? Got it. Red Wine? Got it. Whiskey? Got it. Old school milk chocolate? Got it. I wish I could give them 6 stars for quality.
Staff — A young lady came out of the kitchen to help, it was apparent she was working diligently all day because the bight sun seemed to bother her eyes. To be perfectly honest, she was college age and I was hoping for the owner/​full time person to walk us through the selections. In fact, Emily, the college student, educated me on chocolate in a way that I would have paid for it! She answered every question in vivid detail with authority and passion. She clearly communicated the mission statement of the Chocolatier’s vision… that of great chocolate, education and charity. I really love that they put the corresponding airport code on the product to recognize where the chocolate comes from… give love and get love. I wish I could give them 6 stars for staff as well.

Okay so… I have to admit that I normally don’t like giving five stars when I have to shell out the amount of money that I inevitably have to spend if I want chocolate from this place, but it’s just worth it. There’s really no other way to put it.
I have to warn you, if you are a college student some of the workers here will give you suspicious glances when you walk in and look around, because they probably think you’re just there for the samples (guilty as charged the first time I went there!), but if you can swallow your pride and look past the occasional thumbed-​up nose, it’s definitely worth the money to buy some chocolate here.
This is easily the best chocolatier I’ve been to personally and your friends and family will go absolutely gaga for the stuff if you buy them some chocolate for presents. I especially love coming here around christmas time. Their hot chocolate stirrers make great stocking stuffers and are sometimes on sale for a reasonable price. I personally like to buy small sample boxes of truffles for good friends, because it only sets me back a couple of bucks and if it’s for anyone around here (or if they know ANYTHING about chocolate) they’ll love it… even if you only buy them four godforsaken pieces of candy. seriously.
just try not to eat the chocolate before giving it away. I know it’ll be hard. I have faith in you.
CONCLUSION:
BANGIN chocolate
quality: outstanding
price: meh… expensive, but worth it.

Éclat, you set the bar high for me. That thing they say about chocolate creating memories is true. Okay, I may have made that up, but you’re the sweetness lingering on my tongue after the happy birthday is over.
Spouses, significant others, happily singles, this is what you wanna splurge on for special occasions, getting out of hot messes, or defunkifying happy hours. Éclat chocolate will cure all ills and bring a smile to your face.
Godiva, Hershey, Willy Wonka, eat your heart out — Chocolatier Curtin has you beat by a mile and then some.

The chocolate is absolutely divine, period. The flavors are unique and decadent, and I love exploring the new tastes. Without a doubt, the best chocolate I’ve ever had. If you don’t know what to buy as a present to someone, or if you really owe a favor, this is a great option.
It’s on the pricey side, but I treat myself to a piece every now and then.

Confessions of a Chocoholic
I love dark single source chocolates so when I read about Éclat chocolates in a travel magazine, the mendiants really caught my attention.
It’s been 6 – 7 months and I finally broke down this week and ordered 5 different kinds of mediants and 1 box of truffles using the website.
It’s not easy shipping that much chocolate from PA to CA especially to Sacramento where summers are ~ 90 degrees in Folsom. Now looking back, why did I wait so long? I could have enjoyed them in much cooler weather in January!!!
Éclat shipped my chocolates quickly and today when I opened them (2 days later), the ice pack was still cold. My chocolates didn’t melt as I envisioned even though my UPS guy shows up after 5pm (just my luck).
I opened the Madagascar mendiant tube today and it was delicious. Not too sweet, but lots of vanilla and the cocao was really good, dark and complex yet a slight hints of berries. It just melts in your mouth… Great texture… I had 4 pieces… I had to tell myself to stop eating before going to bed.
I am a fan! I know I’ll love all the other flavors too.

Nationally recognized by Food & Wine, Vogue, etc for its chocolates and especially the Caramel.
Not cheap, but I love the caramel with fleur de sel
They sometimes have a booth at the Phoenixville farmers market as well.