Atrium in The Tannery, Christchurch, New Zealand

Savouring sweet moments at Bonbon

Bonbon Chocolate Cafe was a boutique cafe located within TheTannery shopping precinct, a fully restored 1800s tannery. Bonbon sat proudly under the impressive glass atrium that dominated the entire length of the tannery building. The cafe and chocolate shop was compacts but open, as it had no glass frontage. It offered  a small number of tables in the central area of the atrium for customers to sit. This was not the cafe to visit for lunch, but what it did offer was a delectable range of chocolate. One particular product that was fascinating to learn about was the vegan chocolate locally produced by Mind Your Temper. 

Mind your temper, it's plant based!

Mind Your Temper is such a clever name! Why? Because tempering chocolate is a significant part of chocolate production; and chocolate surely is the perfect antidote to quell a bad temper!  These chocolates appear so perfect. They're smooth, shiny and perfectly round. It was hard to choose which one to try. Perhaps cost played a hand here, as I wanted to make sure I didn't make a bad decision. At the time of purchase, each individual bonbon cost NZD 5.00. 

In the image above the flavours of the bonbons are listed to the right. But these flavours are the tip of the iceberg as the range includes many innovative flavours such as; 

• Miso caramel and hazelnut
  
• Apple tarte tatin
  
• Thai milk tea
  
• Citrus earl grey and cookie
  
• Banoffee pie
  

Mind Your Temper have become renowned in New Zealand for their indulgent award-winning handmade chocolates. They are made using fair trade organic cacao beans sourced from the Dominican Republic and Peru. I was really keen to try this chocolate, but more so because they are plant based and dairy free. A true, high quality vegan chocolate. I tried the hazelnut trio and the salted caramel. Both were delicious, and when I bit into the chocolate it gave a definitive snap, the chocolate was smooth and the centres sweet and full of flavour. If I had not known that these chocolates were vegan before tasting I would have been none the wiser.

Locally crafted chocolate in New Zealand

New Zealand had a number of local producers creating wonderful chocolate products. All these producers below supplied chocolate to Bonbon. You will find the website information for each of the suppliers, as well as some definitions in the Teacher Resource section at the end of the article.

MIND YOUR TEMPER  

Cleverly marketed, Mind Your Temper have created beautiful silky; dairy free mylk chocolate. They promote their brand as the answer for when we have grumpy days. They have created a range of decadent dairy free chocolates designed to sweeten even the sourest of moods. 

HONEST CHOCOLAT

Honest Chocolat pride themselves on their brand and honesty. It starts with using ethical suppliers that share their values of sustainability, quality, and transparency. They select the finest single origin couverture and combine it with bold flavours to create a chocolate that is full of flavour, and devoid of fillers, preservatives and artificial enhancers.  

SHE UNIVERSE CHOCOLATE 

She Universe create unique hand crafted chocolates using organic, real ingredients. They craft their own chocolate, as well as working with the fine full bean chocolate, crafted for them by Trade Aid in Christchurch. Their product is becoming famous for their organic loose chocolate 'moments' product that can be found in organics shops, refilleries and many other fine retail establishments in New Zealand.

HOGARTH CHOCOLATE MAKERS

Hogarth source the highest quality cacao beans from around the world to create small batches of chocolate using traditional techniques. Their small factory is located in Nelson, New Zealand where they sort, roast, crush and classify, winnow, grind and conche, age, melt, temper, mould, and wrap all by hand.

Bonbon Cafe, full of chocolate and charm

Bon Bon Chocolate Cafe offered a simple selection of sweet treats, such as tarts, but the emphasis clearly was on chocolate with a far wider choice on offer. It was clearly the place to go for chocoholics to get their fix. Menus were not required as diners could select hot drinks from the  blackboard and food from the cabinet display. The cafe had no kitchen, so all products for sale were delivered in and there was a double group head espresso machine.  All customers order at the counter, but coffee and food is delivered to the table. I ordered a pear and almond flan and a flat white, I always tend to order a single shot flat white as my go to coffee as  this allowed me to compare different coffees and blends that I had tried. The coffee presentation was different, being served in small handless pottery cups. The service at the Cafe was personable and friendly, such a small cafe only required a single operator. 

Stephen's Take

Unit of Competency Mapping

Please note; the purpose of this article is to introduce current hospitality trends. The content broadly applies to the units of competency listed. It is not intended that all content in this article maps directly to all performance evidence and knowledge evidence in the unit of competency.

Article and photos original by Stephen Duncan