This Valentine’s Day, spoil your partner (or yourself) with a luxury box of San Diego-made Denouement chocolate

Kensington chocolatier Barbarella Fokos crafts luxurious bonbons for a fine meal’s grand finale

Biting into a box of Denouement chocolate bonbons is a journey.

In eating the luxurious box of sweets, you’ll traverse the globe through the unique combinations of flavors and ingredients artfully combined by San Diego writer and chocolatier Barbarella Fokos.

Fly to Thailand through tasting the Pantai Thai Tea-infused white chocolate. Walk along the cobblestone streets of Austria with the Ischler Törtchen filled with raspberry jam and toasted hazelnuts. Climb the steps of Teotihuacán outside Mexico City with the Spicy Mayan dark chocolate bonbon infused with cinnamon, vanilla and cayenne pepper.

Visit the green hills of Ireland while snacking on the Bailey’s Irish Cream and white chocolate filling. And bask on Caribbean beaches with the Smith & Cross Jamaican rum, pineapple puree and coconut-filled Piña Colada in a Belgian white chocolate shell.

While the collection is pricey — a box of nine bonbons is $75 and chocolate bars are $25 — the level of care that goes into workshopping and creating each item makes it worthy of the higher cost.

This is an excerpt from my newest food writing project, San Diego Tides & Tacos. Visit this article on Substack to read more about Denouement chocolates, and please consider subscribing to receive the newsletter when it's published each week.