Brussels Sprouts

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ou don’t have any almond rocks?" It’s an incredulous question that Vrinda Rambhia fields from customers several times a day—those, that is, who haven’t tasted Leonidas chocolates before. Belgium’s most famous chocolaterie opened its only Indian store in July in Mumbai, and here it’s the hazelnut that has pride of place, not the knobbly pieces of chocolate-coated almond that are a staple in every confectionery. Leonidas’ chocolates mean cocoa-bean decadence, and store manager Vrinda is happy to let customers taste their way to a better understanding of real chocolate—dark ganaches, creamy pralines, liqueur-drenched nibbles, toffee-size nougats. Our favourites: Mystere (pistachio cream enveloped in dark chocolate); orangettes and citronettes (candied lemon and orange peel bathed in chocolate); cerisette a queue et a Noyau (dark chocolate bursting with cherry liqueur and cherries, stalk and pit included); and the "without added sugar" range, flavoured only by the natural sweetness of the cocoa bean. At Rs 450 for 100 grams, this is not cheap—but if you’re not counting calories or pennies, there’s no better way for chocaholics to indulge their cravings.