Richart
Impact
More aspirational than actual. Richart conceptualizes so many categories in the layout of its store design, + brochures in florid language as if theory trumps taste, correctly stating it’s not a sophisticated act but an appreciation. Too much slippery-slick wrapped in lab-white couture aura; too little that’s meritorious.
Presentation 5 / 5
museum-level detail & visual appeal
Aromas 5 / 5
chocolate positive
Textures/Melt 8.2 / 10
| Shells: | paper thin, yielding shells |
| Centers: | feels soft yet seems close to 1:1 |
Flavor 40.3 / 50
defying the aromatics, far more forward than before, betraying legendary French subtlety, creating opposing imbalances; nut ganaches hold best though still secondary to top-tier makers
Quality 23.2 / 30
Premium on ultra purity & clarity but, with rare exceptions, pieces often highlight 1 element which segregates at the expense of others, missing true chocolate fusion.
Selections
| Couverture: | in-house |
New Guinea Cocoa Ganache – coconut & banana leaf accents, along w/ pure cane sugar, create an atypical PNG origin, i.e., ordinary
Kalamanzi - brighter than lime, almost to a zest of rind, completely dominates even thru the finish when soy-milk ganache meets cocoa - bean-on-bean - for screeching metallic ending; overbearing
Tomato – an ever-more prevalent combination, here w/ basil cream ganache whipping up pesto molé sauce; salted savory elements, each hiding behind & enhancing the other for a sum greater than its parts; outstanding FXs
Hazelnut Praliné - fine, thick paste... clarified in Milk Choc base
Kalamanzi - brighter than lime, almost to a zest of rind, completely dominates even thru the finish when soy-milk ganache meets cocoa - bean-on-bean - for screeching metallic ending; overbearing
Tomato – an ever-more prevalent combination, here w/ basil cream ganache whipping up pesto molé sauce; salted savory elements, each hiding behind & enhancing the other for a sum greater than its parts; outstanding FXs
Hazelnut Praliné - fine, thick paste... clarified in Milk Choc base