Chocolate maker, Fabrice Gillotte, has gone to great lengths to let you share in the pleasures of an earthy realm and in one of its exceptional renderings.

Once upon a time in the heart of everlasting France, there was a region as famous for its wines as for the produce of its terroir. Products imbued with the colours and odours of this land of passage turned land of partaking in pleasures, where, throughout time, culinary arts have been a major point of attraction for travellers.

It is difficult to speak of Burgundy without evoking the caramelised coat of its famed gingerbread, the golden tint of its mustard, exported worldwide, the gentle greens of its fields and forests. Not forgetting the deep reds of the excellent wine and deep dark colour of the blackcurrent liqueur, nor the magic potion of the two combined into the internationally renowned Kir.

It seems however that the Good Fairies, who had guarded over the region over the centuries, forgot to include one of their fellow members, the favourite of all since the beginning of time, the Chocolate Fairy!

This latter bore no grudge. Quite the contrary. Solicited each year by thousands of men and women who relish in the peace and joy she invests in pleasing palates with well-balanced, age-old ingredients, she stopped one night in Dijon. This took place just 20 years ago, when the Good Fairy generously sprinkled talent dust over the cradle of barely born chocolate maker Fabrice Gillotte.

The Chocolate Fairy as Godmother.
We are not here to recount a fairy tale, but to tell a true story.

Imagine a century-old enterprise whose sign board fulfilled the dreams of generations of school children and their school teachers : an old fashion styled shop, the sorts of which can still be found in the medieval center of Dijon.

The original shop, specialized in the sale of candies and sugared almonds, was taken over in 1979 by Fabrice Gillotte’s parents who had owned a bakery and pastry shop in the Paris region : " Papa created a little laboratory for making a variety of chocolates and sweets…. He worked alone while my mother tended the store with a helper. ". During this time, Fabrice, a serious student with a natural sweet tooth, learned his profession by working under a number of great chocolate artisans, after completing his apprenticeship with a master pastry chef, at the ripe age of 16.

In 1985, he, owning to "a devouring, instinctive, creative passion for sweets and chocolates " took on the business at 21 years old, with the assistance of his wife Catherine who had initially been employed to help his mother in the shop. Catherine Gillotte, twenty years later, animated by the same passion as her husband’s, has manifested a true knack for decorating, as attested by the tasteful and tasty shop displays on rue du Bourg. There, one can admire the artful presentation of her husband’s latest creations, each one highly applauded, if not coveted by the regular customers. Needless to say, on certain days, the lines, not unlike those for purchasing front seat theater tickets, are quite long,

Fabrice Gillotte makes a remarkable début in the realm of sweet lovers!
It was at the start of the 90s that Fabrice Gillotte, by then crowned “Top Artisan of France Chocolate and Candy Maker, that the heads of true chocolate lovers began turning in his direction. This is when he and his wife completely took over and transformed the shop on rue du Bourg, all in keeping their regular clients entirely satisfied.
Acclaims began pouring in: The Parisian “Guide des Gourmands” awarded him supremely with the “Coq d’Or" for his fine quality chocolates. From 1995 on, the medals began to accumulate: ‘95 was the one year he took a Blue Ribbon at the International Chocolate and Candy Fair in Paris for his "Chocoboîtes" or “Chocoboxes” (You not only taste the chocolate but eat the wrapping!). He also won the " Excellence France " prize at the International Chocolate Festival of Auxerre.

Not only ranked in 2000 among the top 10 chocolate makers of France according the “Chocolat Guide” of Marie Dubosc, Fabrice Gillotte was recently appointed Member of the French Academy of Chocolate and Sweets. In 2002 his horizons broadened when well known Japanese culinary writer and critic Miho Saito recommended his delicacies in “Chocolat Speciality”. In 2004 he was classed as one of France’s best chocolate makers by the “Club des croqueurs de chocolat” (“Chocolate Crunchers Club”) a guide published by Lafond editions with a 4 -bar mention.
In spite of the accolades, Fabrice Gillotte keeps his feet on the ground, and remains loyal to his terroir where he intends to create an event that will make a stir in the world of chocolate making.

Fabrice Gillotte will be celebrating his twenty years in business with a top quality laboratory and a brand new shop on the outskirts of Dijon.

Today, a solid team of 14 people are daily employed in the spacious (1300 m2), ultra-modern workshop, adjoining the new store in Norges, a stone’s throw from Dijon. Answering to the demands of a man who knows what he’s worth and knows what he wants, this team of modern-day “alchemists” reinvents daily exquisite delicacies for tomorrow, by means of careful pouring, cutting and coating, with a sense of imagination and a high regard for tradition.

We are now far from the original little lab where five people were employed in the workshop on rue Lafayette, and where clients were admitted, no more than a few at a time, to taste the newest creations which already bore the magic taste of ganache.

Ganaches the true taste of “Terroirs de Bourgogne”: the fruit of success !
To be frank, Fabrice Gillotte has a thing for ganaches. The fruit ganaches have been the success of his " Terroirs de Bourgogne " candy boxes. An original creation, rendering all the red berry aromas of the hillsides around Dijon.

The recipes, elaborated according to the sensitivity and exigencies of a master, include only the most noble brands of primary elements: fresh cream, butter, chocolate coating, spices, fruit, herbs, all combined into a secret mixture to give birth to the famous ganache!
Beneath a lovely, clean, classic appearance, lies a fantastic fluid core offering a whole world of sweet, fruity if not spicy savours which titillate all five senses.

The art of this chocolate maker lies in the way he incorporates a fine layer of crystallized raspberry, black current, blackberry or the rare vine peach, the emblematic fruit of Burgundy.

Fine, perfected coatings, textures that melt in your mouth, nothing is quite so technically challenging as to place an inlay of fruit jelly between two layers of ganache. As for the alliance of fruit and chocolate, to arrive at such tender refinement is pure delight for the palate.

A tiny mouthful gives enormous satisfaction! An international success, as attested by the delight of Japanese over these fruit-jelly delicacies. Inevitably they would have discovered Fabrice Gillotte. For the transmission of savours and communion of values, a mission has been achieved in the realm of gourmets who will go to great lengths to experience the most delectable moment possible for themselves and for others.