Detours. A French expat’s insider's guide to exclusive food, chocolate and travel experiences in Sydney, Australia.

Paris is calling! To cook like a MasterChef cooks, travel where a MasterChef travels!

Have you ever dreamt of waking up in Paris, starting your day with freshly baked croissants and a ‘café au lait’, sitting at the terrace of a sidewalk café in vibrant Saint-Germain-des-Prés? Are you an enthusiastic gourmet with a passion for cooking, fresh food markets, fine dining and chocolate? Do you know your Ladurée from your Pierre Hermé macarons? Are you longing for a once-in-a-lifetime indulgent escape to France, immersing yourself in the delights of ‘la vie Parisienne’?

Then take your tastebuds on a honeymoon, embark on a once-in-a-lifetime culinary extravaganza and join us on the Ultimate Paris Gourmet Experience! 

We’ve spared no expense to bring you this 5-star experience. We’ve handpicked the very best of what Paris has to offer and we’re serving it to you daily, freshly squeezed. 

From Michelin-star veterans to finger-licking eateries and the latest hotspots of ‘bistronomy’ – you'll get it all. And because we’ve done all the legwork for you, all you need to do is sit tight, grab your fork and enjoy. 

For 7 nights and 8 days, you’ll be meandering the streets of Paris with like-minded connoisseurs and Mytinerary’s founder and managing director, Myriam Thibault. As a Parisian born and bred, Myriam has her finger on the city’s pulse and has carefully curated a selection of iconic and lesser-known gourmet hotspots for you to enjoy. 

From a glamorous High Tea at the Four Seasons Hotel to a macaron degustation at world-renowned Ladurée – your exclusive itinerary has it all. You'll even get to visit the fabulous President Wilson fresh food market, where the MasterChef aspiring chefs got to shop in the mind-blowing Paris episode. Expect to go from good to great… to exceptional!

Follow in the footsteps of culinary icon Julia Child and master the art of French cooking. Put on your apron, brush up on your French and cook up a storm at popular cooking school ‘L’Atelier des Chefs’ – learning essential techniques of French cuisine along the way. 

And can you smell that melting chocolate? Your Ultimate Paris Gourmet Experience even includes a private masterclass at prestigious ‘La Maison du Chocolat’ near the Champs Elysées, where a master chocolatier will tell you everything you need to know about the fascinating world of truffles and pralines. 

Dates: June 2011 (dates to be announced soon).

Sign up to our FREE newsletter on the Mytinerary homepage to know more about the Ultimate Paris Gourmet Experience - and get one step closer to your Paris escape.

The Champs Elysées of chocolate in Bayonne, France

I recently got to spend some time in the French Basque Country with my family and I have to say: it was chocolate heaven! (and shhhh, I'm keeping it hush hush, but I'll be bringing some of these goodies to Sydney for my '7 Wonders of Basque Cuisine' special event on 5 Feb 2011).

The chocolate fanatic in me couldn't believe her luck: gorgeous, century-old chocolate stores at every corner; more pralines, truffles, rochers and chocolate bars than you could ever eat; beautiful antique décors and window displays; the most delicate boxes and packaging; and a rich, driving-you-mad, mouth-watering scent of chocolate wafting up and down the famous 'rue du Pont Neuf', the Champs-Elysées of chocolate in Bayonne, with fabulous chocolate stores galore - such as Daranatz, Cazenave, Pariès and l'Atelier du Chocolat.

Actually, did you know that Bayonne is where chocolate all began in France?

Chocolate was introduced in Europe through Spain at the beginning of the 16th century, after Spanish explorer - and chocolate addict - Hernán Cortés brought back cocoa beans from Mexico. Then under the reign of famous catholic monarchs Isabella of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon, skilled Jewish artisans got expelled from Spain, and later on from Portugal. 

In the 17th century, these immigrants - whose many skills included fabricating chocolate into drinkable form - settled in Bayonne, on the French side of the Spanish border. From there, chocolate became the darling beverage of kings and queens throughout Europe, and Bayonne the capital of chocolate in France. 

Two of my favourite chocolate stores in Bayonne would have to be Daranatz and Cazenave.

Established in 1890, Daranatz has some of the best - and most beautiful - chocolate bars I've ever tasted in my life, with up to 20 different flavours. Of course, all the classics are there, dark and milk chocolate, with hazelnuts or almonds, but you'll also find spicier bars featuring cinnamon, four spices and vanilla, as well as more contemporary flavours such as coffee and red chili from Espelette in the Basque Country. And even single origin grands crus from Java and the Caribbeans. Their chocolate bonbons are fabulous as well, with no less than 50 different flavours.

Just up the street on Rue du Pont-Neuf is Cazenave, which was founded in 1854. That's right, 150 years of chocolate history for you... Their chocolate bars (or tablettes as we say in French) are also exceptionally good - and good looking. And Cazenave has a most beautiful heritage tea room where you can sit down for a cup of hot chocolate and sweet treats. I'd definitely recommend stopping by!

So tell me dear reader, when comes to chocolate, do you prefer the more classic options of plain dark / milk chocolate, or do you fancy nuts & spices as well?

Daranatz: 15 rue du Pont-Neuf, 64100 Bayonne. www.chocolat-bayonne-daranatz.fr

Cazenave: 19 rue du Pont-Neuf, 64100 Bayonne.

10 things you'll love about my Ultimate Sydney Chocolate Tour

Explore the world of “haut-chocolate” and join me on an exclusive luxury journey to discover Sydney’s hidden chocolate gems. 

Now let me warn you, my friend, this is not your usual tour, so be prepared for a gourmet experience like no other. Here are some of things that make the Mytinerary 'Ultimate Sydney Chocolate Tour' and 'Round-the-World Chocolate Tour' stand out:

1. Discover Sydney like you've never seen before, as we reveal some of Sydney's hidden gems and best kept secrets. Travel in style to some of our most iconic precincts - from The Rocks to Kirribilli and Darlinghurst - and soak in their vibrant village atmosphere.

2. Your private guide and passionate foodie - aka 'moi' - has the local knowledge and insider access to bring you an authentic, unforgettable cultural experience.

3. Treat yourself to a truly indulgent experience - and the only luxury gourmet experience of its kind in Sydney. We've taken the headache out of planning so sit back, relax, forget the hustle and bustle of everyday life and let the good times roll.

4. The Ultimate Sydney Chocolate Tour is not "just" about food... It's also an enriching cultural journey which takes you from Mexico to Sydney by way of Paris, Brussels, Edinburgh and even the Philippines. And we're talking music, art and business along the way!

5. Discover rare and exquisite flavours. Taste a sumptuous selection of artisan chocolate ganaches, truffles, pralines and macarons. Enjoy some of Sydney's creamiest, most decadent hot chocolates. 

6. Just to get you salivating, some of the edible gems you taste on the day include milk chocolate and passionfruit macarons, dark chocolates with Filipino lime, banana and salted caramel truffles, dark hot chocolate with rose and black pepper, milk chocolate bars with pinenuts and sea-salt caramel, single-origin dark chocolate from Madagascar and the Caribbeans, water ganache with Thai basil - and so much more. 

7. Interact with some of the most passionate, generous, creative and talented chocolate artisans you've ever met. 

8. Learn about the chocolate-making process and fascinating world of 'single origin' chocolates, the 'creme de la creme' of chocolates.

9. Get credits in your karma bank thanks to generous social initiatives, so you can feast on chocolate guilt-free!

10. Gorgeous gift certificates are available. So now's the best time to spoil yourself and your loved ones with a Christmas, birthday or anniversary gift idea that stands out. Just contact us on [email protected] to organise.

To make a booking on one of the next chocolate tours, call 1300 951 138 or visit our event page.

We're here to help so don't hesitate to contact us for more information. You can also see what others had to say about this tour (really yummy photos too!). 

So tell me, what would be your ultimate chocolate extravagance? What if I gave you Aladdin's magic lamp for a day, what kind of chocolate would you ask for?

Chocolate with good karma in Sydney, Darlinghurst

Welcome to Boon Chocolates, a boutique chocolate salon in the heart of Sydney's vibrant Darlinghurst - and one of my chocolate Holy Grails in town! 

Imagine a place where chocolates are genuine works of art.

A place where the ganaches, truffles and pralines compete with the finest from France and Belgium.

A place where East meets West on your tastebuds, celebrating the chocolatier's unique cultural background.

A place where you can chat contemporary art, jazz, opera and food science with the owner while flipping through rare art books and sipping out-of-this-world hot chocolate.

A place where eating good chocolate will also give you good karma points by helping fund micro-loans projects in the Philippines...

 

 

Now there's so much I could tell you about Boon and passionate owners Alex and Fanny Chan that I'll need to write a series of posts just on their chocolates! If you love chocolate, I strongly encourage you to join one of our Ultimate Chocolate Artisans Tours or 'Round-the-World' Chocolate tours, you won't be disappointed!

In the meantime, there's a specific part of their story I wanted to share with you, because I find these two generous souls particularly inspiring...

In addition to treating customers with delicious chocolates, Alex and Fanny are also giving back to the community by working with non-for-profit organisation Opportunity Australia International. Boon donates a percentage of their corporate sales to Opportunity's Trust Bank program in the Philippines (where they're originally from), providing women living in poverty with micro-loans to help them start a small business and work their way out of poverty.

 

 

 

 

"These small loans made available to entrepreneurial women in the Philippines are the best gift we can give back to the country who has given us so much," Alex and Fanny explain.

So tell me dear reader, if you had access to an unlimited stash of chocolate and could change the world one chocolate at a time, what would you do? To start with, I think I'd supply some of Boon's delicious chocolates to UN negotiation rooms - might help soften some of the die-hard negotiators involved in the world's trickiest conflicts!

Boon Chocolates:

251 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010.

Ph: 02 9356 8876. www.boonchocolates.com.au 

Chocolate baby bottle for grown-ups by Boon, Sydney

Seriously, how cool is this white and milk chocolate baby bottle from Boon Chocolates in Darlinghurst, Sydney?! Unleash your inner kid and treat yourself to this very stylish afternoon pick-me up. I mean, calories for calories, I'd rather feast on this baby than on a Mars bar...

www.boonchocolates.com.au

My chocolate tamagoshi by Kakawa, Sydney

Just how cute is this baby?!!  

As some of you probably know by now, I've developed a compulsive obsession for chocolate lately. One of the perks of my job is that, when others do "market research" by ordering some fancy Nielsen reports over the Internet, my own market research involves... going out and about sampling Sydney's best chocolates.

Now as you can imagine, every time I go on one of my "research" trips, I bring quite a number of chocolates back home. Some are pretty much gone within the hour (thank you boyfriend). Others I'm saving for later as a special treat. 

Occasionally, I find myself admiring the chocolates so much that I can't seem to be able to eat them. Pathetic, I know, but I can't help myself! I just want to take care of them, make sure they're not too hot or too cold, give them pet names and say hello in the morning. Please meet my "chocolate tamagoshi".

 

My latest obsession was this super-cute chocolate egg above, handmade by Kakawa, one of my favourite chocolate artisans in Sydney. I mean, who in their right mind wouldn't think twice before eating this piece of art?? I originally bought it for Easter but believe me, it took me a long while to eventually eat it. I just felt like Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians, so cruel... So tell me doctor, is it that bad??

In the mood for chocolate madeleines

Chocolate must be running through my veins by now... With all the chocolate research and tasting I've been doing for my Sydney chocolate tours, I bet if I went to the Red Cross today to donate blood, it would smell like a Ladurée tea party in there! [By the way, a very special group hug to my clients on last Saturday's chocolate tour, they were all nurses working for the Red Cross - pretty amazing women, I had a great time with them!]

Anyway, the other day I bought the most amazing single origin chocolate (Valrhona Grand Cru single origin Manjari) from Coco Chocolate, one of my favourite chocolate stores in Sydney, and I was wondering what to do with it.

Then I came across this fantastic recipe of dark chocolate madeleines from La Tartine Gourmande, of my favourite food blogs in the US (Bea, a French expat who lives in Boston, is so talented it's not funny).

Et voila! The madeleines are very easy to make and so delicious, soft and spongy with the incredible raspberry notes of the Valrhona Manjari coming through...

So tell me dear reader, have you ever tried single origin chocolate? What did you think? It obviously takes a bit of time to educate one's palate to this sort of chocolate (just like wine or single origin coffee, really), but it's definitely worth a try! Tell me where you live, I'd be happy to recommend places where you can find single origin chocolate in your area.

New dates added - Mytinerary's deluxe chocolate tours in Sydney

You know what, there's no right or wrong time to enjoy chocolate, so even though Easter is actually behind us, we can still treat ourselves to good chocolate every now and then!! 

Following the launch of Mytinerary's artisan chocolate tours for the Easter long weekend, I've had requests for more tours so I've added more dates in June, July and August - what's not to love about a decadent hot chocolate in winter?!

Visit our event page to see our calendar and make bookings! Tours are available in French as well.

Loving David Lebovitz' 'The Great Book of Chocolate'

David Lebovitz is one of my all-time favourite food bloggers and cookbook authors. A former pastry chef from the famous Chez Panisse in San Francisco, David is now based in Paris and spends his time creating delicious recipes, blogging (do read his blog, David is as talented as a pastry chef as he is funny as a writer), hosting culinary tours and scouring the city in search of the ultimate chocolate treat.

As I was doing some research for my own Deluxe Chocolate Tours here in Sydney, I came across his book "The Great Book of Chocolate" and I'm absolutely loving it, it's a fantastic read!! Lots of engaging stories and anecdotes about chocolate, interesting food for thought on the latest chocolate trends including organic and Fair Trade chocolate, and a carefully curated selection of recipes you're going to love. 

So to all the chocoholics out there, what are your favourite (cook)books about chocolate?!

Top-10 bakeries for pains au chocolat in Paris

Any foodie heading to Paris soon? I am, woo hoo!! I'm currently doing some research for Mytinerary's Ultimate Paris Gourmet Experience (Sept 20-27 2010, more info soon) and I came across this list of the Top-10 Parisian bakeries for pains au chocolat. The list was voted by famous pastry chefs and the influential food critics at 'Le Figaro' national newspaper.

One of my favourite things to do whenever I go back home is to start the day sitting in a nice cafe, sipping at an espresso, reading the newspaper and eating a delicious pain au chocolat fresh out of the oven. Enjoy!

1. Boulangerie Julien (Paris 1 - NB: for those not familiar with Paris, the city has 20 districts called "arrondissements", numbered 1 to 20, see Google map below for location of each bakery).
2. Boulangerie Secco (Paris 7)
3. Blé Sucré (Paris 12)
4. Boulangerie Laurent Duchêne (Paris 13)
5. Pierre Hermé Patisserie (Paris 6) - yes, the same place where you can get the world-famous macarons!
6. Dalloyau (Paris 8)
7. Boulangerie Eric Kayser (Paris 5)
8. Fauchon (Paris 8). They have the most amazing chocolate eclairs as well.
9. Boulangerie Stohrer (Paris 2)
10. Boulangerie Malineau (Paris 4)

Obviously, there are many more great bakeries in Paris, but this is a good start! So tell me dear reader, are you more "team croissant" or "team pain au chocolat"??

View Top-10 bakeries for pains au chocolat in Paris in a larger map