L’inouï means ‘extraordinary, incredible, unheard of, unprecedented’ in French. True to it’s meaning, it defines the truly delicate art of making fine couverture chocolates. Unlike most other big commercial names in the market, this cute little chocolate patisserie goes a long way in doing the right thing – no vegetable oil, additives or preservatives; just pure cocoa butter!

Anusha A Chowdaiah, the Founder & CEO of L’inouï was at one point having a Hot Chocolate at a cafe in Brugge, Belgium and that one glass of hot chocolate just got her into what I’d call a food coma! In her own words, it was unlike anything she had seen back home in Bangalore. That very moment, in her mind, L’inouï was born! She did 2 years of research into the chocolate industry in Europe and all that experience shows when you have a candid conversation with her 🙂

Trust me you when I say that the Chocolate Truffle that I had here is beyond comparison. For those of you, who don’t know what a Chocolate Truffle is, it’s probably the purest form of chocolate, made with just 3 ingredients; rich dark chocolate, heavy creme rolled onto cocoa powder. After having this, I knew that this place isn’t something that needs to be taken seriously. And by the way, there’s a way to eat the Truffle and little did I know that I was under their keen eyes, silenty being put to test. I still remember the sigh of relief I saw on Anusha’s face when I took the first bite of the Truffle. She said, that’s how you eat the truffle 🙂 You use your thumb and index finger to pick up a truffle and see if’t moist, hard, smooth and then smell it before you take a decent bite of the truffle to see if it’s tempered well (do not gulp the whole thing into your mouth!). Let that sit on your tongue for a bit and press to your palate. For me, I felt the cocoa rub was a bit too much. But, I think it’s just the way it’s supposed to be 🙂 This is by far the best I’ve had in India. There aren’t too many places who make this anyway. Also, their White chocolate was gooey and not too sweet, just the way I like it. Their Rum n Raisin is potent AF. You should definitely get your hands on some of these little bastards 🙂

I visited their Cunningham outlet that’s ever so beautiful, a good 100ft away from the main road, which cuts out all the noise from the traffic. They share this space with a boutique and is very peaceful. I sat inside with the founders themselves and had a great conversation for about 3 hours and I couldn’t have been more happier. It’s just so hard to have a meaningful conversation these days!

While I was having a few of their couverture chocolates, I was sipping on some fine Pure Dark hot Chocolate. The art of dipping chocolate into hot milk, wasn’t something that was heard of in India a couple of years ago. I happened to try it only a few months ago in a cafe called Flying Squirrel. Mind you, this place opened a good 3 years ago and they had this on their menu ever since! After having spent an hour clicking picture of the hot chocolate, I let the temperature of the milk dip a little, which was a sin! But, Anusha was happy to add some more piping hot milk when I was done, to cleanse off that beautiful dark chocolate 🙂

What I find pleasing is their strive to be ethical and not employ incorrect means to sell sub-standard chocolates to masses. They’d be more than happy making high quality chocolate with ingredients sourced from Europe to a select few patrons who understand what they’re eating. Although I’m sure with more and more people going on international trips, where they get to have premium quality chocolate, they’re soon going to want to have something similar back home. This is why, I believe L’inouï is in the right space, and almost at the right time as well. 2018 is definitely going to be big for them!

I tried their Almond Carrot pastry, which was spectacular. Belgian chocolate with fresh orange and almond meal (much coarser and with skin). Dark chocolate ganache on top was fabulous. This cake is dipped in freshly squeezed orange juice, no Tropicana, no Real juices!

I then tried what is a game changer in their opinion, but sadly it didn’t do anything for me; Cold Chocolate Pie. I felt the almonds were overpowering and they quickly felt that I’d like something else if I didn’t like this one. If it’s not meant for me, I’m sure this would be liked by many others 🙂 I have a weird taste!

And you know what, what I had next was simply outstanding; German Mud Cake; Dense Belgium with a layer of nougat in the center. I thought the nougat had oats and my guess was confirmed by them.

So, it takes a bit of time to understand what you yourself like and dislike and what made me happy was that they helped me discover myself a bit more 🙂

Here are a few gifts that I received in kind from L’inouï, because ‘Duh! I couldn’t have possibly eaten everything they had at one stretch.

The Dragees in almonds, were something everyone in my family loved.
The Macarons were light, not sticky to my palate and quite delicious. I was so happy I didn’t delay in having them. I had it on the very evening I went back home. Otherwise they get soggy!

Having said that, I believe you’ll have to make several visits to this place to try out everything they have to offer. I’d end by saying that “Chocolate is not a simple thing, but these wonderful people will make it simpler for you”.

Read more about them here : https://www.linoui.in