Haute Chocolate: Oriol Balaguer

I discovered this amazing chocolatier in Spain called Oriol Balaguer. He's one of the most respected chocolate artisans, multi-award winning and also an alumni of El Bulli. We paid a visit to his little shop in Madrid, where we were transported into a space-age like boutique of the finest chocolate and "sweet haute cuisine". I have deep respect for a person who pays a lot of attention to details in his craft - Oriol Balaguer does it well in mixing different ingredients, textures, tastes.

These are the wall panels displaying the chocolate just like a boutique selling luxury accessories. I struggled to choose which one to take home, as I simply wanted to try them all!

"Technology can also excite us" - a true artist and innovator producing such a beautiful box of chocolate! I ended up buying a Collection box (sampler) which included such interesting flavours such as Yuzu, 7 Spices, Earl Grey, Ethiopian Coffee, and Salted Caramel.

The "Bola bola" is not the same as the Filipino one (local meatball dish), Oriol Balaguer's treats are bite sized pieces of biscuits and truffles.

Along with the boxed treats, there were also delicious freshly baked pastries - oh there were just too many tempting goodies at this store.

We had a lovely breakfast at the shop after all the chocolate shopping. They served really good coffee and have some baked pastries like croissants too. I would definitely come back and want to see what artistic creations he will come up with next!