After making my first bar, I went to a chocolate class at Maison du Chocolat in New York. Pascal LeGac came from Paris to give the class and let us taste his truffles. He spoke only French, so Nora Hovaresian translated for him. I enjoyed it and asked many questions. After the class I showed him my chocolate bar. He tasted it and was very surprised. He wanted to know how I did it. We took pictures together. As I left the store, Pascal and everyone working there gave me a round of applause. I felt wonderful and was so glad that I decided not give up.
A few weeks later I got a call from Maison du Chocolat. They said that Robert Linxe was visiting from Paris and that he wanted to meet me. At first I was a little nervous because people say he is the world's greatest chocolatier. But I met him and he was very nice to me. He kissed me on both cheeks. He spoke mostly French and someone translated again. I gave him one of my chocolate bars and he sat down and tasted it. It took him a while. When he was done, he said "Extraordinaire - This is very fruity and smooth. You must have had a factory help you make this." I said no, I made it in my kitchen. He laughed and thought that was very funny. He wanted to know what dreams I had for the future. He told me that I would be able to do great things someday if I continued to have passion. He told me about all the years he worked on chocolate as an apprentice and how hard he worked and how he started Maison du Chocolat. He said that the most important thing was to have passion for what you do. I am proud to say that we are now friends and that we continue to write to each other.
