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Travel

A sweet tour of Montreal, Canada’s chocolate capital

Why Montreal deserves to be ranked among the great dessert cities of the world alongside Paris, Brussels and Zurich

  • Published May 31, 2016
  • Updated Oct 07, 2022
  • 710 words
  • 3 minutes
Handmade chocolates at Chocolats Andrée, one of many craft chocolatiers helping to build Montreal's reputation as the dessert capital of Canada Expand Image
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Walking into the Chocolate Academy in east-end Montreal is like stepping into Willy Wonka’s factory. The air smells of icing sugar, the walls are lined with bags of cocoa beans from every corner of the Earth, and fanciful candy sculptures tower on the tabletops, daring your inner Augustus Gloop to break off a handful of chocolate and indulge on the sly.

In the Academy’s atelier, industrial-sized mixers churn night and day to keep vats of molten chocolate the perfect temperature and consistency, and the cupboards are stocked with a vast array of tools for moulding, shaping, filling and even painting chocolate. Amateur chocolatiers and master chefs alike gather here to learn from some of the greatest chocolate scientists in the world.

For chocolate is a science. Fail to accurately measure each ingredient and time each step, and the whole product suffers. It’s a lot of pain for one brief moment of sublime snacking pleasure, but done right, chocolate is a feast for all five senses.

The Academy — the only facility of its kind in the country — is the sweet centre of a burgeoning chocolate and pastry scene that should see Montreal ranked among the great dessert capitals of the world alongside Paris, Brussels and Zurich. Each February, the city plays host to a chocolate trade show that attracts upwards of 12,000 visitors over the course of three days, and luminaries of French pastry like Christophe Morel and Roland Del Monte have chosen to practice their art in Montreal.

Whether you like your chocolate pure and bitter as midnight coffee, poured warm and glistening over waffles, or mashed in between the two delicate halves of a macaron, Montreal has a chocolatier or pâtisserie to cater to your every craving. Here are five of the best places to indulge.

Chocolats Privilège

Chocolatemaker Ludovico Fresse with a bag of Chocolats Privilège's premium "Soconusco" baking chocolate. (Photo: Alexandra Pope/Canadian Geographic)
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Chocolate purists will find much to love about Chocolats Privilège, Montreal’s only bean-to-bar chocolatier. Whereas most chocolatiers melt down pre-made chocolate from another manufacturer, bean-to-bar means every step of the chocolate-making process is performed in-house, from roasting and shelling the cocoa beans to blending, heating and moulding the finished product. Curious chocolate fans can find production in progress two to three days a week at Privilège’s Atwater Market location.

Chocolats Andrée

The story behind the success of this Park Avenue fixture is as sweet as their handmade chocolates. Sisters Madeleine Daigneault and Juliette Farand started their chocolate-making business in 1940 as a way to provide for their families during the Second World War. Sugar was hard to come by, but clients would donate their own rations to ensure the store could continue providing sweets for their celebrations. Today, Chocolats Andrée is run by Daigneault’s granddaughter, Stéphanie Saint-Denis, and their chocolates are still created, dipped and signed by hand.

Juliette et Chocolat

Dessert for dinner: Juliette et Chocolat's hot chocolate tasting flight comes with fresh house-made marshmallows, whipped cream and chocolate pearls. (Photo: Alexandra Pope/Canadian Geographic)
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Chocolate isn’t just a dessert at Juliette et Chocolat — it’s a fundamental ingredient in almost everything on their menu, from their hot and cold chocolate drinks to their chocolate-infused balsamic vinaigrette. And, if you haven’t had your fill of chocolate by the end of your meal, each of the seven Juliette et Chocolat locations around Montreal has a boutique and bakery counter where you can pick up brownies and boxed chocolates to go.

Suite 88 Chocolatier

Suite 88's cayenne pepper hot chocolate. (Photo: Alexandra Pope/Canadian Geographic)
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Suite 88 is a sweet escape from the bustle of Montreal’s Golden Square Mile. Famous for their hot chocolate (try the cayenne pepper hot chocolate – if you dare) and crisp, golden Belgian waffles, the store also offers a wide range of bite-sized candies. Try their alcoholic chocolate shooters, which come in party-pleasing flavours like Appletini, Tia Maria and Hypnotique.

Arhoma

Chocolatemaker Sabrina Aillerie fills moulds for Arhoma's signature chocolate bars. (Photo: Alexandra Pope/Canadian Geographic)
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Arhoma is primarily known as a bakery whose bread is served and sold in restaurants, hotels and delis across the city, but recently, they’ve branched out into chocolate. Their signature “72.7%” chocolate bars are made of a proprietary blend of — you guessed it — 72.7 per cent pure cocoa that will satisfy your dark side.

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