Jean-Marie Auboine Chocolatier

It’s said we taste first with our eyes. Former Review-Journal restaurant critic Heidi Knapp Rinella says that’s fortunate in the case of Jean-Marie Auboine Chocolatier, because “the treats created by the French-born master chocolatier– who trained with culinary lion Alain Ducasse and is a former executive pastry chef at Bellagio – are as strikingly beautiful as they are almost unbelievably delicious. No wonder they were featured in the Forbes 2022 Valentine gift guide.”

Auboine offers his chocolates – some graced only with a sprinkle of sea salt or swirl of color, while others are glossy shapes in jewel-like colors – in various collections. The Ultimate Collection is 100 pieces of the various types. But there also are 20- and 40-piece all-colorful collections, an 18-piece chocolate truffle box and collections of all dark chocolate, all milk chocolate or all passion fruit. There also are boxes of double sea-salted caramels, extolled by the New York Times.

Plus there are soft caramels, nougats, truffles and chocolate-covered fruits, nuts and cereals (including Cocoa Puffs in milk chocolate) and bars in numerous varieties (some sugar-free).

In addition to Rinella, over a half dozen other experts recommended this off-Strip gem, including Thrillist’s Rob Kachelriess and KVVU-TV’s Mike Davis.