Brought up in an environment surrounded with bonne

chère, the imaginative epicure, Érico (Éric Normand), has

always had a sweet tooth. As a child, he would sneak into

the cold storage room at his parents' inn, succumbing to

the temptation of the succulent pastries created by the

different pastry chefs who worked there over the years.

 

By observing his father, Érico learned to be a versatile, 

independent learner, obtaining the skills required to start

his own business. 

 

In the mid-eighties, while staying in Banff, a friend offered Érico an assortment of fine Belgian chocolates. As he devoured them, he believed he had discovered paradise! He had yet to realize the importance this moment would have on his destiny. In 1987, Érico decided to start a business. His plan was to open a small fudge factory which he would later develop into a confectionery and gourmet ice cream shop. In the fall, he was trained by a French pastry chef also specialized in chocolates, Mister Bernar Laloi. Fascinated by the unlimited creative potential it provided, Érico fell in love with chocolate and developed his own recipes for fine chocolates.

 

A few months later, the Chocolaterie Érico was open for business in the Faubourg Saint-Jean, in Quebec City. 

 

The following summer, the shop moved into a larger space to combine the factory and the chocolaterie, and to accommodate the addition of Érico’s new products: cookies, brownies, gourmet ice cream and sherbets.   Since then, the chocolatier has been working restlessly, exploring the diverse properties of chocolate to make the Chocolaterie Érico a mecca of artisan chocolate in Quebec.

 

Chocolate and its mysterious qualities fascinate  and fill people with wonder. It was to share this magic that, twelve years after founding the Chocolaterie, Érico combined the chocolate shop with a chocolate museum under the guidance of two museologists.

 

Today, Érico is fortunate to be surrounded with passionate chocolatiers/pastry chefs. Their creative input can be savoured in the ever expanding selection of Érico products.

 

Chocolate making as a true art form, such is the mission that Érico, the most chocolate-obsessed chocolatier, has set for himself.