We don’t normally make endorsements, and never for money. There is a link on our home page to a guy who offers ultralight flights over Mont Saint-Michel (which we think are cool) and a post from a few years back about Saint-Malo crêpes (which we think are delicious). Not much else. But the following Instagram post caught our eye, so we’re going to share it. It’s about exquisite Italian chocolate, but more importantly, it’s about old school vs “new school,” artisanal craftsmanship vs. assembly-line production. We’re in the adventure business, and we’re great proponents of old-school personal development on beautiful traditional sailboats. Readers can connect the dots.

… You may know that great food and well made things and heritage, tradition and preserving craftsmanship are very dear to me. When we first settled here in Torino I heard about this legendary chocolate maker called Peyrano not far from where we live. Supposedly the finest of them all. I looked it up but the store was closed. Some financial difficulties it seemed. I was a little saddened but I also know this is the way of the world, nothing lasts forever, on top today, gone tomorrow. But I never forgot the idea of Peyrano, providers of chocolates to the Kings of Italy (don't forget that the Piedmontese unified Italy in the 19th century and Torino was the very first capital of this magnificent country).

Fast forward to last year, just before Christmas, Oddur and I were seated next to a very agreeable young man who was born in Torino but had studied in New York and worked there for years. It turned out we had many friends in common. It turned out we had many passions in common. It turned out he had decided to come home to Torino and rescue Peyrano - talk about a boy and his chocolates.

He rejuvenated the place, kept all the old staff, even kept all the old machines at a much greater cost than renewing them. Simply because, as it turns out, old school is still the best way to make chocolates [emphasis ours] and Torino is really the capital of Italian chocolate.

Peyrano is a project I really believe in, it's special. It's a a very small company, revived, people doing everything it takes to make the most beautiful pieces of chocolates. It's distinctively "Torinese".

We are working with @peyrano_torino in a small way, a little help with Instagram and such. But this is not a sponsored post. This is as heartfelt an endorsement as I will ever make.
I can't think of anything more special, more Italian, obscure, delicious and unique than a box of Peyrano chocolates this Christmas. It's the opposite of the chocolate you get at the duty free, it's the stuff from Santa's workshop! They ship worldwide :) #PeyranoTorino #italianchocolate #thebest

—Mimi Thorisson @mimithor

Postcard European, somewhat obscure, proudly traditional, and certainly special. That would be us.

*Disclaimer: We have never tasted Peyrano chocolates, so we cannot personally endorse them. But they get rave reviews online and we know from experience that artisanal products are frequently superior to factory-made products.