Chocolates in C-U: Marie Belle, L. A. Burdick, Bonnat

Champaign-Urbana, IL is becoming something of a chocolate town. We already had Rubens, Flesor's and Moonstruck; now the Art Mart in downtown Urbana has recently started carrying some new types of chocolates in addition to the Godiva and Schmidt chocolates they were selling, neither of which I care for.

Marie Belle (I think that's the name) chocolates are made by an artisan chocolatier in New York. They have several unusual flavors, such as Cardamon and Saffron, though nothing as strange as at Vosges or The Chocolate Box. (I wasn't able to try either of those flavors, though: Art Mart only sells Marie Belle in prepacked boxes, and the content of these boxes appears to be random.) The chocolates are imprinted with attractive, "girlish" designs that don't seem to bear much relationship to their flavors (similar to those sold at Ethel's Chocolate Lounge). They're good, also expensive: prices range from $7.50 for a box of two to $23 for a box of nine, and they're small. But for an occasional change from Rubens, they're nice to have around.

L. A. Burdick are also artisan chocolates, made in more "classic" flavors, and also only sold by by the box. They're tiny, and also very expensive: the 1-lb. box cost about $50, iirc. I'd have to say they're probably better than Rubens, but in terms of value for money Rubens is the better deal.

I'm not sure whether Bonnat is new at the Art Mart, or whether I just hadn't noticed it before (having recently gained some fame as the chocolate that Noka repackages and sells at a 1000% markup). Art Mart sells their chocolate bars, which are pure chocolate: no nuts, raisins or other add-ins. They sell several types of dark chocolate bars, differentiated by the source of their cacao beans; also a milk chocolate bar and a 100% cacao bar. My chocolate-tasting palate may not be refined enough for me to be a good judge of these, but for what it's worth, I think they're very good (I haven't tried the 100% bar): good enough for me to be willing to pay the considerable premium over Lindt bars (the Bonnat bars cost $7 for 3.5 oz.), whereas I wasn't willing to pay the lesser premiums for Valrhona, Schaffenberger, etc.