MARY Chocolatier Confiseur
Flagship Store - Rue Royale 73, 1000 Brussels (Tel: 02 217 45 00)
Uccle - Rue Edith Cavell 195, 1180 Uccle (Tel: 02 375 58 48)
Factory at the Arsenal - Chaussée de Wavre 950, 1040 Etterbeek (Tel: 02 737 72 44)
Tours: Monday-Friday (9:00-16:00) Call ahead for reservations and fees
URL: http://www.MARYchoc.com Email: visit@mary.be
The first lady of Belgian chocolates is Madame Marie Delluc who founded MARY Chocolatier Confiseur in 1919. In those early days, chocolate was still associated with pharmacies for its medicinal qualities. Madame Delluc changed the status of chocolate and made her chocolates a luxury item. She opened her shop strategically between the Brussels Palace and the Laeken Palace on Rue Royale and decorated it with the trendy style of the day–Rococo and Louis XV. Soon MARY Chocolaterie became the shop of choice of the Belgian elite.
In 1942, MARY Chocolaterie was the honored recipient of a Belgian Royal Warrant by King Leopold II. The prestigious Belgian Royal Warrant is bestowed by the King to a select group of businesses recognized for their excellence in quality. MARY Chocolaterie has held this honor for 60 years. In Belgium, a country which boasts of more than 2000 chocolate shops, only 4 chocolatiers are awarded this honor. MARY’s is part of this exclusive group, along with Galler Chocolatiers, Godiva, Neuhaus, and Pâtisserie Wittamer.
MARY has changed ownership several times over the past 90 years, but her recipes and high standards of excellence remain the same. In 1950, Madame Marie Delluc retired and turned the shop over to her original sales-lady, Madame Hélèn Landrain. Thirty-one years later in 1981, the ownership went from Madame Landrain to Monsieur and Madame Lamberty. Seventeen years later, their great nephew Michel Boey and his wife Sarah Maertens took over the business.
MARY’s is best known for its dark chocolates, having specialized in dark chocolate long before it became fashionable. The recipes for the dark chocolate pralines developed by Madame Delluc in 1919 are the same recipes used today. MARY’s keeps mainly to the traditional flavors and only started making white chocolate, for example, a few years ago at the request of Monsieur Boey’s wife.
The original MARY’s was located at Rue Royale 180. In 1990, the shop moved down the street to its current location at Rue Royale 73. When Michel Boey took over MARY, there was only the one shop on Rue Royale. Boey’s vision has been to expand MARY’s locally and globally. In Brussels, MARY’s now has three locations: the flagship store on Rue Royale, a retail shop in Uccle, and a brand new artisan factory in Etterbeek.
An artisan factory or workshop is something completely different than a manufacturing plant or commercial factory. At an artisan chocolate factory workshop, few machines are used in the production of the chocolates other than the machines for mixing and preparing the raw chocolate. People make the chocolates by hand: the chocolates are hand dipped, hand decorated, and hand packaged. The process is precise and labor intensive, but the quality of the finished product is in a different league than commercially produced chocolates. In fact, fine chocolates are often equated to fine wines.
MARY’s new artisan factory not only expands its production capability, but also has designated space for tours and events. MARY’s will begin offering tours in mid-April for both small and large groups. MARY’s will offer three types of tours: 1) a guided tour of the factory (approximately 45 minutes); 2) a guided tour plus a demonstration (approximately 1 hour); and 3) a hands-on workshop on making chocolate (2 hours). All visits will include a multi-media presentation on how chocolate is grown and produced, the history of MARY Chocolaterie, and the remarkable craftsmanship involved in producing Belgian artisan chocolate. This brand new space has a glass wall that lets the visitor see the entire workshop areas. And, of course, all tours end with a tasting.
Getting to the factory is easy, not only is there plenty of parking, but the factory is public transportation accessible. It is at the Arsenal stop for Tram lines 23, 24, and 25 and a few blocks from the Pétillon Stop on the new Metro Line 5 towards Hermann-Debroux. Don’t forget to call ahead for reservations.
MARY’s chocolate is now found the world over. There are MARY stores in the UK, Norway and Portugal. To distinguish sales outlets located outside of the EU, the name “Madame Delluc” (after the founder) is used. Madame Delluc Chocolate is available in China, Japan, South Africa, and even UAE. No matter whether it’s MARY or Madame Delluc, all the chocolates are made in Brussels and then shipped.
MARY’s is also available for purchase online. If you want to send MARY’s to family or friends in the USA, you can order the chocolates online and have them shipped directly from Belgium to its destination.
Next time you have guests come to visit and you want to show them a bit of “insider’s” Brussels, take them on a tour of MARY’s artisan chocolate factory. There is nothing more Belgian than tasting fine chocolate.
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Artistry in Patisserie & Confectionery
45 Chambers Road
St Leonards on Sea
East Sussex
TN38 9HY
Artisan Chocolate Workshop
Mobile Chocolate Workshop
Artisan Chocolate Workshop
The Artisan Chocolate Workshop provides chocolate training courses and products to help would be and existing chocolatiers plus the advice and ability to produce high quality handmade chocolates.
We come to you – With our fully equipped mobile catering workshop, there’s no mess or fuss in your kitchen. Our chocolate workshops are hands-on, where you will learn all the techniques needed to become an artisan chocolatier.
Visit the Artisan Chocolate Workshop website >>