For the past thirty years, the Maison Damyel has been offering a selection of vegan and desugared chocolates and sweets, made from seasonal ingredients in order to reveal its pure and delicate flavors.
The famed Parisian chocolaterie has chosen David Giroire as its press and public relations representative.
About the DAMYEL Chocolaterie
A chocolatier of virtue
Love of food: a guilty pleasure? Not in the eyes of David Uzan. The head of the Damyel chocolate maison is offering long-awaited redemption for gourmands. For this pioneer of vegan chocolate, devotion to food nowadays should be seen not as a sin, but as a quality to be carefully cultivated – that is when it is associated with beauty, pleasure, taste and conscience, as all his creations are.
Exquisite shapes, sleek lines, the feel of a perfect corner, the finest of coatings on a sweet, so as not to eat into the taste… In the maison’s new flagship store in the 17th arrondissement, customers can take in the entire range of products in a single gaze, displayed as they are on a long, white stone table standing in the centre of the room, like an exquisite dessert buffet. The sky blue of the packaging melts away against this mineral, minimalist décor, focusing all the attention on the product. Pure and powerful, the chocolate reigns supreme, instantly arousing the desire to indulge.
A vegan focus on flavour
The entire chocolate range has been totally vegan since it was created. Thirty years ago, the idea of developing a cream-free ganache was considered a daring experiment… Yet, as this avant-garde confectioner reminds us, “chocolate is by its very nature a plant”. The creams, milks and butters in his recipes are all 100% plant based.
His motto? Take out the sugar! Eat less but excessively well, that’s the continuing battle that David Uzan has been fighting since taking over the reins at Damyel. “When you take the sugar out, flavours become more subtle. It will take time, but we have a responsibility to promote natural flavours and reduce our sugar consumption”.
A meticulous eye and an innate taste for exploration
Comforting pralines and iconic house flavours, inspired ganaches, soft marzipans, candied orange peel, marrons glacés… Here, everything is created in-house. First there’s the chocolate, developed with cocoa beans from sources that have been specially selected for their distinctive qualities, to produce bars with specific character. Then, there are the pralines and marzipans, developed using the best hazelnuts and almonds and importantly, containing very little sugar.
Here, each product is precious, crafted with integrity and attention to every detail, whether it’s ZION, the praline with the caramelised sesame that harks back to the land of his youth, or ASANA – a nod to his love of yoga – a perfectly balanced ganache, infused with lemon verbena. “Traditionally, my father would make a very smooth praline. For me, it wasn’t about revolutionising age-old recipes but rather reinventing them with delicacy, subtlety and precision”, explains David Uzan, who took over the family confectionery founded in 1988 in 2010.
The result – iconic flavours that taste of excellence. In his laboratory, this vision of meticulous, perfectionist execution is realised with the help of cutting-edge techniques, designed to support a very contemporary development process but equally, to allow the skill of the artisan to shine. The markings and patinas are made on the moulded confections by hand, bringing to mind Japanese ceramic artwork.
A journey to the centre of dark chocolate
By injecting a personal sensibility into the confection of his unique creations, he ensures that every chocolate offers a different feel, a different kind of pleasure and a distinct individual, authentic and natural flavour. For example, the freshness of coriander combined with a Piedmont hazelnut praline, or the acidity of raspberry married with chocolate in a deliciously tangy, ruby-coloured baguette (KAORI). “We refine the taste but also the shape and texture, which is a large part of the tasting experience. The mouth-feel must be comforting, and the aromas must be expressed”, notes the chocolatier. A perfectionist through and through, he keeps a close eye on every detail to strike the right balance between intensity and simplicity.
5 Parisian shops
46, rue des Rosiers – 75004
229, Boulevard Voltaire – 75011
33, Avenue Raymond Poincaré – 75016
87, Avenue de Wagram – 75017
149, Rue Manin – 75019
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