Chocofin Chocolatier — Restaurant in Fountain Hills

Recently moved to Phoenix and am a chocolate snob extraordinaire. Chocofin is only one of three chocolatiers I could locate in the entire metropolitan area (the other two being Godiva, which doesn't count, and Julia Baker). I found it to be the best Phoenix has to offer, and while not in my personal top 10 list it's unquestionably worlds better than anything else on offer in Phoenix (See's Candies and Lindt, ugh).

My personal preference is for rich dark chocolate in the 70-85% range, rather than sweet milk chocolate. I also very much enjoy single origin chocolate for it's more complex flavour experience. This will definitely colour my review :)

While there I had long and very pleasant chat with Denise, one of the owners and a former pastry chef. Nice lady, and a pleasure to speak with :)

Firstly, I am VERY impressed by the fact that they conch their own single origin chocolate on site. I sampled the Ecuador (I think... I threw out the wrapper), and it is a quality product - certainly on a par with larger commercial chocolatiers. However, I did find it too sweet to hit my tastebuds' sweet spot (yes, terrible pun, sorry). This sweetness seems to be the local preference, as Julia Baker's confections were also very sugary (decidedly more so than Chocofin's). I was told Chocofin generally uses Valrhona for their truffles and chocolates, which I find to generally be a decent enough standard chocolate but lacking much in the way of subtler flavours (I'm terribly fussy about such thanks to my penchant for single origin chocolate).

Their signature offering is a raspberry coulee(?) filled chocolate - and it is exquisite. I would highly recommend this to anyone across the board, regardless of general taste preference. The flavours burst in a delightful wave of raspberry in my mouth, with the chocolate providing a nice complementary taste at the fruity finish. The other chocolates were good but not particularly noteworthy other than the salted whiskey caramel (yum, nicely balanced flavours) and the passion fruit blood orange (which was too strong for my taste, and the filling had a jam like consistency that didn't appeal to me). Surprisingly the more generic "Onyx" ganache beat out the Valrhona Manjari ganache for me - perhaps because it was 73% dark, and Manjari is something like 65% I believe. The truffles trod a very fine line with the amount of cream/fat in terms of texture, but managed to come down on the winning side for all the ones I sampled.

Certainly worth a trip out to Fountain Hills, and without question the best chocolatier in Phoenix that I've been...

My husband tried to buy me chocolates from Chocofin. He was running about 5 minutes late and called the store to see if there was any way they could stay open (we live in Queen Creek so a bit of a drive). My husband talked to the owner. My husband explained the situation and asked if he could let them know the specific truffles over the phone and even pay for it over the phone if someone could keep the doors open for a few minutes after closing. The owner was extremely unhelpful. It was apparent he didn't want to be bothered. He said he couldn't stay but maybe his wife might be there?? My husband went ahead and got to the shop a few minutes after closing. All the lights were on and the open sign was still on the door but it was locked. He knocked a while but no one came to the door. Don't know if the owner even told his wife about it. I expect this level of service from a teenage employee who just wants to punch the clock. I expect something much higher from an owner who is invested in his shop and values customers. Even if they were not able to stay then let my husband know and he could turn around and make arrangements for another day. Very unimpressed. Definitely don't want to be supporting a business that treats...

**Back to this amazing shop for our favorite Lemon Tart and another box of chocolates, a dark chocolate macaroon, mousse cake and peanut butter chocolate bar. What can I say.. we're addicted!

Drove out to Fountain Hills to try the handmade chocolates and they did not disappoint. Excellent quality, fabulous flavors, decadent treats! We ate several before taking the picture and each one has been amazing. We also grabbed one of the lemon tarts and it was phenomenal. The tart shell was light, flaky and melts in your mouth. The lemon was smooth with a beautiful tart flavor. A must have treat we will definitely go back for along with the luscious chocolates. Worth...