When a chocolatier lists L’Ecole Lenotre, L’Ecole du Grand Chocolate Valrhona, and Academy du Chocolat Barry-Callebaut on his résumé, you pay attention. Oliver Kita is thoroughly versed in the art of classic French chocolate, as illustrated by the eye-catching bon bons above. A few weeks ago I received a box of his sumptuously crafted Studio Collection for review.
A mixture of the very traditional (palets abound) and of-the-moment combinations (matcha, espresso, lavender, and blood orange make appearances). The craftsmanship is gorgeous, the presentation casual sophistication (luster dust and cocoa butter transfers mixed with slightly rough-hewn forms.
Some of my favorite flavors:
Marzipan Grand Marnier (top row, second from left): very smooth and elegant marzipan with a true, robust almond flavor.
Palet d’Argent (second row, first from left): my favorite pure chocolate of the selection. Very nice and smooth, with a long, dark finish.
Cognac Creme Brulee (third row, last from left): wonderful layering of flavors, from the first tang of cognac to the swirl of caramel and vanilla notes. I usually don’t like too many competing flavors in a chocolate but this was a very successful combination for me.
Trois Pretres (fourth row, second from left): The name means three priests, and you get three incredibly fragrant caramelized almonds enrobed in creamy dark chocolate – a hard combination to beat.
Palet d’Oliver (second row, third from left): His signature chocolate boasts an intense black currant filling. I have a deep fondness for anything black currant so this was an easy winner for me.
Head on over to his site to see some of his other collections, including some adorable chocolate Easter bunnies. If you’re looking for jewel-box-chocolates, Oliver Kita won’t disappoint.
Anita Chu, also known as pastrygirl, is a baker, writer, and photographer with a passion for pastry. She trained at Tante Marie's Cooking School and is the author of Field Guide to Cookies, Field Guide to Candy, and Lollipop Love. Anita lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughter, and dog Max. 
Wow! Those chocolates! I know that my hand would hover over them for quite a while before deciding what to choose – but I know that I could eat them all pretty quickly!
The new website is lovely, and I will change the name in my blogroll right after leaving this comment.
These are absolutely gorgeous. And, while I appreciate knowing about Oliver Kita’s work, I do miss seeing some of your own on here. It seems that as of late, this blog has been dedicated to the promotion of other folks’ work other then your own. I’m not complaining (because it’s nice to be kept in “the know”), but like I said, I miss seeing some of your own pastry handiwork on here and receiving the recipes to try out at home.
Hi Christy,
Thanks for your comment! I appreciate your observations and I completely agree. As you can see the move from my old site to this one has taken up a huge amount of my time, and I very much miss baking regularly. My list of recipes to do and write up is dauntingly long! I promise that I will get back to posting recipes more regularly on this site. Part of my site revamp also includes adding more baking-related reviews, which will have their own section (as you can see) so that you can easily go for the recipes if that’s what you’re interested in. Thanks for bearing with me through this transtition!
I’m new to your site and so I’m going from post to post backwards and loving what I’m reading and also what I’m seeing. Great photo’s…who ever took them. Sharon