Chocolat Encuentro, Chocolatier and chocolate shop in Lille, France
Chocolat Encuentro is a chocolatier and chocolate shop at 62 Grand'Place in central Lille, making chocolate entirely from bean to bar on its own premises. The retail shop sits on the busy main square, while the production workshop is located nearby in Saint-André-lez-Lille, where cacao beans are roasted and processed into bars, spreads, and filled chocolates.
The project began in 2012 when founders Candice and Antoine started making chocolate in Punta Cana after discovering cacao during time spent in the Dominican Republic. They later had to leave the country, opened a small workshop in Paris, and eventually settled in Lille, the city they chose as their home.
The chocolates at Encuentro come from over 14 countries, and each bar reflects the flavor of a specific growing region. The founders visit the cacao farmers directly and select only beans grown without pesticides, which shapes both the taste and the spirit of the shop.
The shop is on the Grand'Place, the main square in the city center, and easy to reach on foot from most parts of the historic district. It is open Tuesday through Saturday during the day and on Sunday from early afternoon; checking the website before visiting is a good idea for workshop visits or special events.
Encuentro is part of a very small group of chocolatiers in France that handles every step in-house, from roasting raw beans to wrapping the finished bar, without using any outside producer. The name itself comes from the Spanish word for encounter, a reference to the founders' first meeting with cacao in the Dominican Republic.
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