Midweek Mugging: Rousseau Chocolatier
Posted Aug 15, 2018 03:44:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
This week’s midweek mugging recipient is Nathalie Morin, co-owner and operator of Rousseau Chocolatier.
Located at 5151 South St., Rousseau brings a little bit of French charm to the city as it serves up artisanal chocolates, croissants, brownies, and other treats.
“It’s really just a true, European-style chocolate shop and cafe,” Morin said.
The store specializes in small handmade chocolates filled with an assortment of creams, caramel and ganache.
Morin said her favourite flavour is feuilletine, made with whipped hazelnut praline and thin layers of wafer.
“So it gives it that very subtle crunch, it’s really nice,” she said.
Morin runs the store with her husband Julien Rousseau-Dumarcet, who has worked as a chocolatier for the past 15 years.
“When we met, he told me, ‘My dream is to become a full-time chocolatier, that’s what I love to do,’” Morin said. “And so it was kind of just a joke at first, that we would own a chocolate shop one day.”
The store recently moved from its previous location on Hollis St. to offer a more cafe-style setting, giving guests a chance to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee.
“Being on this particular corner…draws in so many more people, there’s lots more foot traffic,” Morin said.
The move has also provided more space behind the scenes, as all of the treats are made in-house, Morin said.
One of the store’s most sought-after treats is the French macaron, which comes in a variety of rotating flavours such as coconut, chocolate and raspberry. Rousseau has also recently added soft-serve ice cream to its menu, which Morin said has been a popular choice this summer.
“We always use real fruits, real ingredients,” she said. “There’s no artificial flavouring, no preservatives, so that makes a big difference in the quality and in the taste.”
Morin said they often use locally-sourced ingredients, such as rose petals from FD Wild Foods, a Nova-Scotia based forager, and lavender from the Seafoam Lavender Farm.
“We try to get involved as much as we can and utilized as many ingredients locally as we can,” she said.
