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 The Book of Chocolate
Flammarion
1996
"At the forefront is Fran Bigelow. Today, she is the country's best all around chocolate maker, and the taste of her creations is invariably pleasing without being overwhelming."
Can you suggest some sweet treats to give as a gift?
In Style Magazine
May 2007
"Chocolate is always good, but be inventive: Calista Flockhart gave Harrison Ford chocolate-covered caramels with sea salt from Fran's Chocolates."
Chocolates for your sweet: Dandy Candy
Consumer Reports
Feb 2007
"Our tasters identified eight of the most delectable gift-boxed confections you'll find. For traditionalists: Fran's Assorted Truffles Collection."
Sweet Temptations
Forbes Life
Dec 2006
"A Rich Selection: Fran's Gray and Smoked Salt Caramels. The most refined."
How to Ensure a Sincere Thank You
The New York Times
Dec 2006
"For the sake of science, I opened the box, sniffed the caramels and then bit into one. It tasted unimaginably delicious in a way that was totally unexpected – a salty, deeply browned sugar way – and I was naturally prompted to eat a second piece. Just to confirm my first impression.
As someone with a long history of giving bad gifts, I am always searching for no-fail gifts that I can buy online to send to anyone and everyone. Now that I knew the caramels existed, I decided to buy them and send them to everyone I know." The Way We Eat: Salt With a Deadly Weapon
The New York Times Magazine
Nov 2006
Leave it to the Americans to take such destruction one step further, by pairing it with chocolate. In 2001, Fran Bigelow, a chocolate maker in Seattle, was looking for a new garnish for her chocolate-covered caramels when she tried some of the gray salt she had been seeing in restaurants. "The salt pushes the flavors forward, giving it more depth," she told me. Once people experience it, they rarely go back.
The O List: Salt of the Earth
Oprah Magazine
May 2006
"I can't decide whether I prefer the milk chocolate caramels with a sprinkling of smoked salt or the dark chocolate caramels with a pinch of gray sea salt. All I know is that a little bit of salt brings out the sweet in both."
Good Living: Gifts
Gourmet Magazine
Oct 2005
"Mingling dark chocolate with flashes of salty and sweet, the gray sea-salt caramels from Fran's Chocolates disappear quickly. Almost too pretty to open, each box is sealed with a delicate satin bow, making this gift a feast for the eyes as well."
The Very Best Cookbooks of 2004
Food & Wine
Dec 2004
"Fran Bigelow has owned the celebrated Fran's Chocolates in Seattle for 20 years, but this is her first cookbook. A self-described purist, she says she pares away sugar and other ingredients that might 'distract' from 'the pure, clean flavor of chocolate' in desserts that range from soft, chewy Pure Chocolate Chunk Cookies to an insanely rich Princess Pudding made with semisweet chocolate and topped with Cappuccino Whipped Cream."
Pure Chocolate: Divine Desserts and Sweets from the Creator of Fran's Chocolates
People Magazine
Nov 2004
"Could any reader resist this book's blowsy charms? Created by the chocolatier who blazed a trail in Seattle in 1982 by opening her European-style Fran's Chocolate boutique, these wickedly rich recipes are accompanied by food-porn style shots of pots de crème, Triple Chocolate Pyramids and White-Chocolate Crème Citron Tarts. The level of difficulty ranges from kid-simple to challenging, but there's something here for every cook."
For Your Valentine
For Your Valentine
Feb 2003
"Here is a selection of sweets by the box for your loved ones. These domestic and imported chocolates and truffles come in styles that are understated and artistic, but they all share a common bond: flavors that are subtle and sophisticated. Details matter to these chocolates."
Editor's Pick: Crunch Time
Food & Wine
Feb 2003
"[Fran's] latest confection, Fran's Spiced Macadamia Nuts, will surely spawn imitators as well. Inspired by her love of Spanish spices, Bigelow caramelized macadamia nuts, coats them with hot smoked paprika, chili powder and salt, then dips them in dark chocolate before dusting them with cocoa powder."
Good Living: Seaside Sweets
Gourmet Magazine
Aug 2002
"We've all had our share of chocolate-covered caramels, but when Fran's Gray Salt Caramel creations showed up at the office one day, it was as though nobody had seen the things before. Unlike other caramels topped with sea salt (they're all the rage in France), Fran's – smothered in dark chocolate and graced with a few delicate sprinkles hand-picked from the coast of Brittany – taste of fresh butter and the sea. Now we've been spoiled for life."
Best New Chocolate Drinks
Food and Wine
Dec 2001
"Fran Bigelow of Fran's Chocolates in Seattle chips tiny morsels directly from blocks of high-quality dark Belgian chocolate for her Premium Shave Chocolate. Mixed with hot milk, it produces a rich and velvety bittersweet drink that's a giant step up from instant cocoa."
Ten of our Favorite Artisan Chocolatiers
Chocolatier
March, 2001
"According to most chocolate artisans, 18 years ago master chocolatier Fran Bigelow single-handedly stirred up an American chocolate revolution by creating small batches of handmade, hand-piped, and hand-trimmed chocolates that elevated our national taste-consciousness to new heights."
Cooking with… Fran Bigelow
Seattle Homes and Lifestyles
Jan/Feb 1997
"Willy Wonka has nothing on Fran Bigelow, whose Capitol Hill 'Laboratoire du Chocolate' is the grown-up version of author Roald Dahl's chocolate lover's dream.
At Fran's, the combination of craftsmanship and high-quality ingredients has turned what was once a tiny two-person shop into a nationally renowned chocolate company whose founder has been heralded – in the Book of Chocolate – as 'the best overall Chocolatier in the United States.'" Building a Business with Bars of Gold
The New York Times
Aug 1996
"It's 10 A.M., and Fran Bigelow, the owner of Fran's Chocolates in Seattle, knows where her caramel is. As it is every weekday morning, the fragrant, thick, amber nut-studded mixture is about to be poured from its copper caldron onto a vast worktable, where it will be scored and, once cool, cut into tiny bricks. The caramel, enrobed in chocolate, is the heart of Fran's Gold Bars, the little candy bars that have become the company's most popular confection."
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© 2008 Fran's Chocolates. All rights reserved.
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