Laurent Gerbaud Chocolatier

Laurent Gerbaud makes chocolate in Brussels, with a shop, tea room and workshop next to the Palais des Beaux-Arts and a second shop near the Manneken Pis, on the rue de l'Étuve.

Who he is

Laurent Gerbaud is a Belgian chocolatier who has been on the rue Ravenstein for more than ten years. Before that he lived for two years in China, where he discovered a less sweet cuisine, and on his return he began to mix chocolate with fruits, spices and savoury ingredients: Shanghai orange, Madagascar pepper, Smyrna fig or black Taggia olive. The Chinese seal in his logo, which hides his initials, comes from that time. In 2021 the Gault&Millau guide named him Brussels chocolatier of the year.

His chocolate contains no butter, alcohol, preservatives, soy lecithin or artificial flavourings, and adds sugar only when there is no alternative. For years he has worked with Domori chocolate, from Piedmont, and since 2020 with the Dane Mikkel Friis-Holm, who prepares a 70 per cent dark and a 55 per cent milk chocolate for him with beans from a cooperative in Nicaragua. Among the bestsellers are the Mondrian box, inspired by the painter's paintings, and the Gare aux Noisettes hazelnut pralines, also as a spread, in a vegan dark version or with milk.

The workshop and the class

Everything is made by hand in the rue Ravenstein workshop, which you can see through glass from the shop, with a team of three chocolatiers. On Saturdays Laurent Gerbaud himself gives a beginners' workshop: it starts with a tasting of cocoa beans of different origins and goes on to making your own pralines, which you take home. You buy your place in his online shop, where you can see the time, the price and the free places; the website does not publish the duration, minimum age or language, so ask by email. For companies he organises tailor-made workshops.

The tea room

On the rue Ravenstein they serve 72 per cent hot chocolate and coffee accompanied by a praline chosen at the counter, with pastries from the Brian Joyeux bakery on the rue du Congrès.

Hours and contact

The shop and tea room at rue Ravenstein 2D open Tuesday to Sunday from 12:00 to 18:00; the shop at rue de l'Étuve 19, Tuesday to Sunday from 11:30 to 19:30. Both are closed on Mondays. Telephone, +32 2 511 16 02; email, [email protected]. The website is in French, Dutch and English.