Gourmandises Avenue Chocolaterie

Gourmandises Avenue is a French-owned artisan chocolaterie at 1249 Cole Harbour Road in Dartmouth, run by professional chocolatiers Jean-Pierre Gallois and Yseult Bertic, who have been making chocolate in Nova Scotia since 2003. For more than two decades this small shop has been the place locals drive across the harbour for when a box of truffles needs to be genuinely good, and its unblemished 5.0 Google rating suggests they drive home happy. It is an easy stop on any exploration of Dartmouth, and a deserving one.

French Couverture, Nova Scotia Flavour

The couple's training shows in the raw material: the chocolates are made with French couverture, the high-cocoa-butter chocolate that professional chocolatiers work with, and contain no preservatives or artificial flavours. What makes the shop distinctly Nova Scotian is the infusion list. Icewine, port, berries, sea salt, maple, honey, apples, and even seaweed all find their way into the case, tying classic French technique to flavours that could only come from this province. Read as a menu, the list is close to a tour of the provincial pantry: orchard apples, maple sugar, Annapolis Valley berries, and coastal salt in place of the vanilla-and-hazelnut defaults of most chocolate counters.

The signature pieces are the ones regulars come back for: Nova Scotia Icewine Truffles, Berry Chocolate Bark, and the Cremeux des Salins, a sea-salted cream chocolate that has become the shop's calling card. Around them sit ice creams and sorbets in season, plus French pastries and cakes. Nothing here is made in a distant factory; it is produced in the shop by the two people whose work fills the window.

The Shop and the Saturday Market

The Dartmouth shop keeps deliberately short hours: Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., year-round. That limited schedule is worth planning around, and there is a second way in: the same chocolates travel to the Wolfville Farmers' Market every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., a boon for anyone touring the Annapolis Valley who wants the truffles without the drive back across the harbour. Arrive late on a Saturday and the popular pieces can be gone; call ahead if you are chasing something specific for a gift or a dinner party. The shop's chocolates keep well for the drive home, which makes them one of the better edible souvenirs the region offers.

Gourmandises Avenue is a Taste of Nova Scotia member, and it belongs on the same itinerary as the producers gathered in our culinary trails guide. For a full Dartmouth food day, pair the shop with the taproom and kitchen at North Brewing Company a few minutes east on the same side of the city.

Planning a Visit

Address & Location — 1249 Cole Harbour Road, Dartmouth, on the city's east side, an easy stop between downtown Dartmouth and the Cole Harbour heritage district.

Hours — Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., year-round; Wolfville Farmers' Market Saturdays 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Contact — Call 902-406-2266. The shop has no standalone website at present; follow Gourmandises Avenue Chocolaterie on Facebook for seasonal specialties and market news.

Prices — Chocolates and truffles are sold by the piece and by the box; pastries and ice creams are priced individually. Expect artisan pricing that reflects hand-made production in small batches.

A box from Gourmandises Avenue is the sort of souvenir that disappears before you get it home, which is, of course, the point. For more of what to eat and drink around the region, browse our Halifax dining listings.