The Art of Taste.
In every culture, some crafts transcend function and become art, dance, music, painting, sculpture. At Bartlett de Choc, chocolate making is treated with that same reverence. It’s a practice rooted in technique, emotion, and creativity. From the way ingredients are selected and balanced, to the sensory experience they create, each piece of chocolate is a quiet composition, crafted not just to be tasted, but to be experienced..
At Bartlett de Choc, the approach to chocolate is not transactional, it’s transformational. Here, a truffle is not just a confection but an installation. A bar is not just a sweet treat, it is a sculpture of scent, flavour, and form. Each piece is conceptualised with the same emotional intent and technical precision as a painter layering oils or a composer building a symphony. 
“We don’t see what we do as food production,” says the founder Tracy Bartlett, a classically trained pâtissière.. “We see it as storytelling. The medium just happens to be edible.”
For too long, white chocolate has been dismissed as a supporting act in the world of fine chocolate, a sweet, creamy background without the complexity of its darker cousins. Bartlett de Choc is changing that. They see white chocolate not as limited, but as limitless. A blank canvas, waiting for the right artist.
“It has nuance, delicacy, a purity that allows flavours to sing in a different key,” Tracy explains. “When paired right say, with Earl Grey tea and lemon, or Manderin and pannacotta—it becomes something transcendent. Like giving silk the voice of steel.”
And this is not a mere poetic metaphor. At the heart of Bartlett de Choc’s philosophy is an understanding of taste as a sensory and emotional experience. They map their creations not just on the tongue, but on the psyche. Much like an artist considers light and space, the team considers balance, memory, and mood.
Each collection is built with intention. The team begins by understanding the emotional journey they wish to evoke comfort, curiosity, nostalgia, adventure. Then comes the exploration of ingredients: their origin stories, aromatic layers, and unexpected pairings. This is followed by technique: tempering, infusing, balancing textures and temperatures with absolute precision.
“We want our chocolates to move people,” says co-founder Nicholas Bartlett, an acclaimed artist and designer. “Just like a photograph or a piece of music can shift your state of being, so can a bite of something perfectly made. There’s theatre in it. A kind of edible performance.”
The chocolates are presented not in mass produced boxes, but in objets d’art, packaging and displays as thoughtful as the pieces within. The boutique, soon to open in Hampshire, is being designed as a gallery space for the senses. Guests won’t just shop, they’ll witness, learn, taste, and feel.
Bartlett de Choc sees their mission as not just culinary, but cultural: elevating the conversation around chocolate and its possibilities. They collaborate with artists, musicians, and makers. They design seasonal menus that reflect nature’s cycles. They source their ingredients with the same reverence one might show a rare pigment or a vintage violin locally, when possible, or directly from regenerative farming where possible.
Flavour is the Medium. Memory is the Message.
To experience Bartlett de Choc is to step into a living art form. One that evolves, reacts, and surprises. One that celebrates complexity, sensuality, and above all—connection.
Because here, chocolate isn’t just something you eat. It's something to experience.
