Sans Souci - The small gift for great tastes

The Prussians built a summer palace called Sans Souci (‘without worries, or carefree’ in French) that was meant to be a retreat for them in the midst of all the battles and wars they had going with the neighboring countries. It was an oasis of color and beauty, and why not sumptuousness, where the king and his court would rest and be carefree. The artisanal chocolatier and confectioner bearing the same name serves a similar purpose: to allow you enjoy the taste of a perfectly divine chocolate without worrying about your waistline. Sans Souci differentiates itself from the crowd by advocating the bittersweet chocolate for its sophisticated flavor and its low sugar content and some unusual choices like salt butter caramel.

Sans Souci was started in 2002 under the name of Claire’s Confections, and then reborn in October 2004 under the current name. Its founders are Angela Fields and Laure de Montebello, two moms from the suburbs who thought that the demand for exquisite gourmet chocolate was not being met where they lived, so they decided to make it happen.

Laure de Montebello, the chef, created her own confections from fresh, natural produce in the home kitchen and they began selling at a small organic farm. The demand for their chocolates skyrocketed and they had to open a small retail store in Port Jefferson, Long Island. But the real kicker was an appearance on Martha Stewart’s show where Montebello and Stewart made together the Mocha Fudge Marquis Bars, which further increased the interest for their unique sweets.

Their product line consisting of toffees and brownies has grown to European-style truffles, that is, irregularly shaped and with a thin dip of dark chocolate, ganache-layered (smooth mixture of chopped chocolate and heavy cream) brownies, nut-toffees, salt butter caramels and dark chocolate barks. Everything is made by hand from pure ingredients, such as fruit purees, Madagascar vanilla beans, creams and butter, many of which are flown in from France.

Angela Fields, one of the co-founders told us, "Every product is carefully inspected and packaged by hand. We believe that the aesthetic of the packaging is just as important as the quality and taste of the product inside, so we spend a lot of time and effort in perfecting our packaging. We package our products by hand as each individual order comes in with care and perfection." Also, they make everything in small batches so they control the quality of each piece. I’ll say that’s dedication and souci for the final outcome.

This propensity for high standards brought the company twelve wholesale accounts across the country so far, in addition to a high volume of sales online. Most of their accounts consist of small boutique shops/ wine stores, and they also make an exclusive Fleur de Sel Salt Butter Caramel for O&CO, which they sell across the U.S. in their stores. Moreover, Sans Souci fills in some chocolate boxes over at the Bergdorf.

Sans Souci Gourmet Confections is now in the process of moving its facilities to the Poughkeepsie area of New York (Dutchess County) where they are building out a 2000sqft space to fit the current needs and the demand of their products, meaning the extraordinary chocolate is preparing to attack. We will be led into submission in no time.