RJ Chocolatier

I needed to scratch my dark chocolate itch and was led to RJ Chocolatier… best damn decision I’ve made all week!
Rick is absolutely amazing, a wealth of information and even though I went in close to closing time he was extremely patient and helpful. I had no idea he was «The Rick» initially. When I walked into the boutique style storefront located just next door to Saint Louis Bread Company and Pi Pizza he was there solo and in the middle of making a delicious looking batch of macaroons. Not wanting to interrupt the process I told myself just look around, grab a few pieces and jet. I was there nearly 20 minutes just talking to Rick about chocolate, the assembly line production, local businesses he whole sales to and process of placing custom orders.
Rick walked me through every piece of chocolate in the shop; describing the ingredients and making my mouth water lol… I could sense his intense passion for chocolate in every word. He also pointed out the several pieces of equipment used to make his chocolate which comes straight from the coffee bean by the way.
There was one truffle in particular I had to have (Dark Chocolate with Goat Cheese) I love all things goat cheese and all things dark chocolate so this was a definite must have. I also left with some dark chocolate with lavender, ginger, hazelnut and a cute little baggie of vanilla macaroons.
Interior has a beautifully chic yet simple décor. The lighting was especially nice.
I am so glad I chose to beat the buzzer on this one, it was an all around awesome experience.
Thanks RJ, Christy endorses you!

Such an original idea! Love this place! Any girlfriends would love his chocolate!

Unbelievably beautiful, delicious tiny chocolates. Each bite is a burst of interesting, tasty, memorable flavor. I have bought chocolates from many local chocolatiers in St. Louis, but Rick Jordan is by far the best — even better than Bissinger’s, my previous favorite. They are expensive. And so worth it! And the store? Like a trip into the future. Really.

AHHHHHHH everyone RJ’s hot cocoa is BACK! go and order a cup (or 6) right now!!! The BEST hot cocoa in the universe.

We stopped by on a whim. The store seemed a little out of place being in a stripmall.
There was but one person in the place and it turned out to be the Chocolatier himself. RJ was in and was more than willing to talk about his chocolate, the process behind his creations, and anything else we thought of. He definitely had a passion for what he did and his enthusiasm showed.
The chocolates both looked wonderful and smelled great! We decided to take a variety of them home — sorry don’t recall all the names.
We all enjoyed what we did get. It will be a stop again when we either need a special gift for an occasion or we just happen to swing by when they are open.

Third stop on the June 7 girlfriend food ramble through west St. Louis County.
This place always amazes me. Rick Jordan was in the creation room working intensely on something full of fabulosity, and he was quite focused. There’s a glass wall, so you can see the activity of the creation.
We were all entranced. And our greeter, also the check-​out girl, was incredibly knowledgeable of the offerings.
Some of these chocolates are so beautiful, you cannot even imagine eating them.
Everybody got something. It’s such an amazing place.
My expenditure was probably in the middle, at about $ 40. I got naked turtles, molasses chips, salted caramels and a 12-​piece box of chocolates of my choosing: I can’t remember what I got, but they were all dark chocolate and numerous fruits.
The sales receipt admonishes the purchaser not to refrigerate the chocolates, and to consume them within three weeks, as no preservatives are used.
That three-​week thing was not a problem for me.

I had RJ Chocolatier bookmarked for a long time but didn’t get out to Chesterfield. Tried to go once and they were closed due to a power outage. Second time was a charm! This place is hidden! It’s in a strip mall with Pi Pizza and a couple other businesses. I drove by twice before finding it.
You walk in and know it’s a high class place! It’s got a very interesting look, and is small but filled with chocolate. There is a glass window where you can watch things being made. The owner wasn’t there when I went, but a gal working took care of me.
I bought several chocolates and also a chocolate mousse for Mallory W, a mousse connoisseur. The mousse was tiny but then again, it’s so rich so it was probably a good portion. Her review for it was 5 stars. I wished I had gotten myself some — I will next time!
I bought a sample box of chocolates and shared at International Supper Club. Everyone raved about them. I tried several types of truffles, caramels and lord knows what! All I know was that they were gorgeous and tasty. I especially liked the honey filled chocolate. One awesome tidbit that I discovered when talking to the saleslady was that they have their own hives that they get their honey from! I even got the card of the beekeeper. Very cool. I am really into the fact that they use local ingredients when possible.
I’ll definitely be back for some WOW factor chocolates — and that mousse!

Simply delicious! You pay for what you get (high quality & great taste). The Crispearls cereal balls look like Whoppers, but taste totally different. Think Buncha Crunch (Nestle’s Crunch candy in free form) in a ball shape. The hazelnut-​almond chocolate & yuzu chocolate were very delish. The yuzu chocolate had a pâté de fruits inside. A layer of different textures in a small piece of chocolate. Quite cool! They mostly use dark chocolate, which is what I love. Small place, but rich in visual. If you are a chocoholic like me, then this is THE place for you. They also have macaroons, which looked good. But, maybe next time.

So my wife is the type of person to eat at one place and then grab dessert at another place.
I’m the type of person to say yes. If it’s not a weeknight. I mean c’mon. We need to go to bed!
RJ Chocolatier is one of those places we’d stop at to get desert… but before dinner. Or after lunch. Why? Unfortunately they close at 7pm.
So aside from awesome chocolates there are two things we’d pick up here for dessert: mousse (dark or milk chocolate) and macaroons. They are pretty amazing.
I’m pretty confident that only Bonne Bouchee is the other place in town that makes macaroons. Rue Lafayette actually imports those suckers. The macaroons at RJ, though not as great a variety as Bonne Bouchee, but are equally wonderfully delicate and are hard to pass up.
The mousse (dark is awesome… but frequently sold out) comes in a convenient single serving thing that the wife tends to finish in the car before we get to whatever destination. It’s pretty annoying. You’d think I’d learn and get two… but no we haven’t.
I’d also like to point out that this place is probably the only place in town that does plain cocoa powder dusted truffles. They’re awesome. I prefer them over harder shelled truffles. Before we’d get them here, we’d actually be getting the stuff at Maison du Chocolat at Manhattan. Now that’s saying something.

I really waffled between 3 and 4 stars for my first trip to RJ Chocolatier, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. To be honest, I was bummed by my first experience. Was the chocolate delcious? Yes. I don’t even need to go further than to say this chocolate is fantastic. But the experience in the store was well, not at all the exciting experience others seemed to have had.
1) Rick Jordan wasn’t there. Perhaps he really does just make his tiny boutique sing with excitement and passion.
2) When I say tiny, I mean tiny. Perhaps it was because it was crowded — an employee and 6 – 7 shoppers does make for a tight squeeze given that more than half the shop is taken up by the «lab». And perhaps I wouldn’t have minded if that other half was seeing some action. NO one was making chocolate. And to add an even sadder note, the AC supposedly had broken a couple days before, and some of the pieces had melted (tragic!).
3) The employee that was there seemed knowledgeable enough, but I didn’t really feel she understood the whole customer service atmosphere. My husband and I were practically ignored until the people she was dealing with first left. I don’t expect her to drop them like a bad habit, but a «Hi, Welcome» and a quick explanation would have been appropriate and not rude to her other clients. She also only shared an available sample with us AFTER we checked out. Ummm… if you gave that to me BEFORE I purchased, you probably would have sold some.
I hope to have better future experiences at RJ Chocolatier that can make me feel more confident in giving them the 4^th star. Unfortunately, after the first trip, I won’t exactly be rushing back to give them another try. :-/

As a fan of both chocolate and boutique shopping, I am pleased to report that RJ Chocolatier combines the best of both worlds. Upon stepping into the store, I felt almost transported from the strip mall in which this location is situated. The individual chocolates look like little works of art – almost too good to eat – with the bonus lying in the ability to pick and choose from among the offerings to customize one’s own package (take that, Godiva). The glass window provides a behind-​the-​scenes view of this laboratory of the delectable. When I visited, I saw that a full-​scale chocolate sculpture was in progress. My envy for whoever was on the receiving end of such an elaborate sculpture was tempered by the need to sample some of RJ’s smaller-​scale, though no less elaborate, confections.
After some deliberation, my mom and I settled on the individual mousses (excellent, with bonus points given for an innovative presentation, in small squared-​off cups and with the thoughtful addition of tiny plastic spoons). These were the perfect addition to adding to our alfresco dining (last concert of the season at Faust Park). For later, we also opted for four individual chocolates – the whiskey, the ganache, an orange and chocolate combo, and one bearing the intriguing name Cobra. To be sure, these are chocolates to be savored. I do not use the adjective innovative lightly, and I look forward to sampling the treats on offer and seeing what other innovations in chocolate the proprieter has in store.

Walking into RJ Chocolatier is like walking into a stylish art gallery of chocolate. All of the products were meticulously displayed and visually stunning. The display counters were illuminated and mimic the shape of the RJ logo. The flow and color scheme appeared to be thoughtful deliberate.
Then Rick came out and walked us through all of the options. I am vegan and he suggested several options for me, and put together a package for my parents too. He was very friendly and disarming. You can tell this place is really an extension of a passionate artist who happens to work with chocolate.
He even sent us away with storage instructions. But we barely made it home with enough to store. The flavors were as complex and sophisticated as you would expect from such a display.
This would be a great place to take a lady after dinner on a date.