Last year on February 11th I was in London to attend a tasting of Seventypercent.com with Art Pollard of Amano, which I enjoyed very much. This year on February 11th I was in Kortrijk to visit my chocolate friend Geert Vercruysse ( www.patisserievercruysse.be ).

I met Geert at a chocolate symposium for professionals arranged by Hidde de Brabander, a talented patissier/chocolatier in the Netherlands, May last year. I represented Original Beans (I am their ambassador). Geert was very enthusiastic and I was impressed by his tasting vocabulaire. It took a lot of months before I had the opportunity to visit him. But finally....

What a beautiful shop he has! Pastries, homemade chocolates and a fine selection of bars. Original Beans' had just arrived and were already displayed on the counter. First I had to taste some delicious pastries and chocolates. My favourite was a chocolate with a Pacari Raw ganache. Geert makes everything on his own, unbelievable! After that there was some work to do: making chocolate cakes with a mousse of Valrhona's Tanariva and a mousse of Amano's Madagascar, see photos below. Gorgeous!

At last I did some research in the shop. Could I find a bar I didn't taste so far? Yes! Bouga Cacao and the Heritage Limited Edition of El Ceibo.

February 14th is my birthday. I will treat my colleagues on Geert's fine chocolates. I'm sure they'll love it!

Thank you Geert for your warm welcome. I had a wonderful time!