Martine Leventer, President and Founder of Martine’s Chocolates, used to be a Senior Business Editor for Le Point (the French equivalent of Newsweek). She started her chocolate business in New York 1992, and successfully managed it to this day. If you want to be amazed by her refined European elegance (as I was), which she successfully combines with her American warmth, visit one of her shops, and you will most probably find her around, working closely to her employees. She will happily introduce you to the chocolate making world, as the shops are designed with open chocolate kitchens.
CZ: Martine, you were a successful Senior Business Editor for Le Point, in France, before you decided to get into the chocolate business. What made you change your career?
Martine: The truth is that I was a business journalist because I couldn't be a business woman in France when I wanted to be. So writing about business was my second choice. When I finally had the opportunity to build a business, and a business that I liked, I did it.
CZ: Why chocolate?
Martine: Because my late husband was in the chocolate business most of his life, so we were talking about chocolate all the time. And we decided to create the business together. But nobody needed just another chocolate shop, so we chose to create something completely different. That's how we created Martine's Chocolates, where chocolates are handmade fresh daily right in front of customers.
CZ: Why did you choose NY?
Martine: I always loved NY and the US. As a journalist, I managed to come here on assignment at least once a year. And my husband was American. So even though we lived in France, and worked on the concept while over there, we decided to create it in New York first. We chose a place where we knew we'd have both the interest in creating something innovative, and the traffic.
CZ: Back then, NY was not one of the big chocolate cities of the world. It was your intuition that's going to become one?
Martine: Actually, I just wanted to introduce the New Yorkers to something that was totally different. If we had done it in France, it would have been the same concept. We wanted to bring the fresh European style chocolate here, not just milk chocolate. In those days, before tasting the chocolate people were asking what's the difference with Godiva. That was the only reference those days. It was the only European chocolate they had in mind. But the minute you taste our chocolate, you know the difference. Because Martine's chocolates are purely artisanal-made by hand, fresh, no preservatives. But back in 1992 people here didn't know as much as they do today about chocolate. Now it's a totally different world.
CZ: What's unique about your products?
Martine: The whole concept is unique. What we are doing is making the chocolates on premises right in front of you. You can see that whipped cream is really whipped cream, and French butter is exactly what it should be. The quality of the ingredients, the freshness, the fact that we're not using any preservatives at all, the shapes, the way we display the chocolates-all of this is part of the uniqueness. And we're making molded chocolates. The new chocolates that you can see on the market, the new artisan chocolates, most of them are not molded. They are ganaches dipped or enrobed, and flavored. It's a totally different technique. It does not allow to make centers, especially with double layers, the way we do. Also, the fact that we've always sold our chocolates by the piece, and let the customers create their own assortment in a gift box, is part of the concept. And I designed the box with that in mind. So the fact that people can customize their chocolates, their freshness, the top quality, all of these attract our customers. And the fact that they're coming back is an answer in itself. It's not only that they enjoy having our chocolates, but they want their friends to taste them too. Word of mouth has been very important in the way my business has expanded.
CZ: Are you trying to follow the trends in the industry?
Martine: There are always different trends, which are trends of the moment. It reminds me what Nouvelle Cuisine was in France a while ago, when people liked to experiment with a lot of things, and then they came back to something more traditional. In the everyday life, people don't want to experiment all the time. Even those who like to experiment come back to their comfort zone. And I would say that my chocolates are in the comfort zone. It's a choice, but it's a lasting choice.
CZ: How many flavors do you have?
Martine: All together we have over 30 chocolates. This means that if you choose our 36-piece box, all of them will be different if that's what you want. And it's not only a question of flavor, but of texture, of the way you execute a recipe. All the recipes are mine. Of course, a "chocolate mousse" will always be a "chocolate mousse". The way we create it is different. It's all about interpretation, about taking chocolate to a different level.
CZ: How many shops do you have right now and where are they located?
Martine: The main shop is on the 6th floor at Bloomingdale's (the one on 59th street and Lexington Avenue); that's where we started. And then we have the shop at 400 East 82nd street. And in 1999 I launched the website, www.martineschocolates.com, which is still just informational, because the product is more complex than it looks like. Don't forget that we have all this line called "Creations", which are figurines of solid chocolate, many with colors, which one can personalize the way they want. You can place names, dates, messages on a piece of chocolate, customize it the way you want. How long it takes depends on how involved is an order. If for instance one orders a chocolate city for a wedding, with different buildings, and Central Park in the middle, and all kinds of details, then it takes 3 weeks before you know it. What I like most about this is that we make people think out of the box. I like to give them advice on what they can do different.
CZ: In the end, you have to tell me what your favorite chocolate is.
Martine: That's an easy answer. When I was a child, and we used to get boxes of chocolate at Christmas time, there was only one chocolate I'd really like in there. It was the cherry marinated in brandy. So now I make it, and I try to explain people what is so special about this one. I was always fighting with my brother over it. Obviously, I don't have to fight anymore, and when I splurge, that's what I splurge on.
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