I have previously made the bold statement that Jacques Torres is overrated. This may be slightly true for the hot chocolate, which is excellent but which is a bit unfairly considered the best in the city by many. However, it is far more true for things like their bon bons.
For my birthday, I received in the mail a package of BLU Boy-brand bonbons from a chocolatier in Bloomington, Indiana. Maybe they are famous in Bloomington, but their fame has not made it to NYC. I also received a box of bonbons from Jacques Torres, which is famous worldwide and extremely beloved in NYC.
The Jacques Torres bonbons were delicious. They were chocolate bonbons. But the BLU Boy bonbons were clearly multiple tiers better. This was true both of the pure chocolate ones and the flavored ones.
They were even prettier! Which is not to say I did not eat and enjoy the Jacques Torres ones:
It's just that I don't quite get the hype.
Bottom Line: Here at Chocolate NYC, we love chocolate from NYC. But sometimes New Yorkers overrate things from New York because they are from New York. Jacques Torres is a classic example. Bonbons sound fancy, but it's something that a random chocolatier in the Midwest is capable of doing, and doing well. This is a lesson in keeping an open mind.
I am not very into Jacques Torres, really at all, even though he himself is a lovely man. I suspect that's because I work across the street, though, so JT no longer feels "special" to me.
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