I don’t think people realize how much chocolate can effect the emotions. I love chocolate because it provides me a quick visceral pleasure. I get the best rush from eating my favorite pieces of chocolate. Every time, it’s like returning to a familiar friend, someone who can comfort you in your time of need. I know it can seem weird to some who don’t have a passion for chocolate like I do, to imagine crying over lost chocolate, knowing that you may never get the chance to meet one of your long lost friends, knowing that for some reason the people you used to depend on for your chocolate have let you down. But that’s’ how I feel about losing Pierre Marcolini’s amazing chocolate.
I went into the Bourne Confections store (which actually used to just be the “Pierre Marcolini” store) on 59th st and Park Avenue. I was there looking for chocolate for my valentine's day chocolate party. I asked them were the Pierre Marcolini truffles were, and found out that they were not going to be selling them anymore.
Gone. I couldn't believe it. I think I went through the entire mourning process right there in front of the counter.
This store and the chocolate inside was one of the first places I fell in love with in New York. The chocolate and the decor were understated and the chocolate stood on it’s own without any fancy packaging or gimmicks. The tasting boxes were a great hit at my chocolate party, and I used them as discussion pieces to talk about how chocolate really works.
I discovered my favorite chocolate there, little raspberry hearts with soft white and milk chocolate centers. As soon as you bit into them the raspberry melted out onto your tongue and left it’s soft sting. I normally don’t like fruit and chocolate together, but this combination was amazing. I came back to this chocolate again and again. Every chocolate party I’ve had featured these hearts and some other kind of Pierre Marcolini chocolate. Because it has always been my favorite chocolate in the city.
This was the place I would tell everyone to go. The place I would always go to for tea and chocolate when the mood struck me. It’s a testament to what I thought would be it’s longitivtiy that I haven’t actually written much about it on my blog. You never believe that one day things will end. You never believe that one day your friend might not be there.
What happened is Nestle has a controlling amount of stock in the Pierre Marcolini brand. Effectively they own the company. After they installed a new CEO, the CEO pulled Pierre Marcolini’s chocolates from the Bourne Confections store (which always owned the store on 59th st). As the cashier explained it to me “they decided to go in a different direction.” And now Pierre Marcolini chocolates are no longer sold in the US. There will be a way to buy it online, but I have issues with buying online chocolate so I probably won’t be buying from them any time soon.
It’s funny, I’ve actually teared up and cried over this. People might think that’s strange. I mean it isn’t like anyone died right? But in a way this represents the end of an era. Other things are ending for me in my life too right now, so that might also be having some effect on my soul. But for me this is a really sad day in chocolate. I have what’s left of their last shipment. But when that’s gone, it’s gone forever.
All of this is to say, don’t take anything for granted.
Salutations Pierre, you’ll be missed!
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