It all starts in 1960...
Maurice Vandenbouhede takes over a bakery/patisserie together with his wife Rachel in Koningin Astridlaan.
During his apprenticeship in Brussels, he not only made bread and pastries but also developed his love for chocolate. As one of the first bakers in Ghent, he started working with large quantities of chocolate to create pralines and hollow figures.
He passed on his love for the craft to his 2 sons, Janique and Wim.
From 1982 onwards... Janique assisted his father in the workshop and took over the production completely in 1984. He worked in the workshop, his mother in the shop. Father Maurice would come to the workshop every day to have a look and approve of his son's work.
In 1990, Janique took over the business completely with his wife Nancy.
With the establishment of a separate chocolate workshop on the first floor, Janique's dream came true. The chocolate sales continued to grow. After all, chocolate was Janique's great passion.
Nearly 30 years later, in 2019, Janique and Nancy closed the business. They planned to take it easy.
But their love for chocolate had different plans after a while.
Their son Stijn used to spend a lot of time in the chocolate workshop as a little boy, later operating the machines during holidays.
Something unexpected happened. Stijn, who had completed hotel school by then, came up with the idea of starting a chocolate shop together.
Stijn had dreams for the future, Janique had the passion. There was not much time to think about it, the decision was made.
They found the perfect location on Mageleinstraat, just as they had envisioned. An open workshop where you can see the production in their basement workshop from both the street and the shop. Moreover, this basement floor is also accessible for visitors, so you can be in the middle of the production while being completely shielded.
The knowledge he gained and still receives from his father, combined with the chocolate courses he attended, likely make Stijn (19 at the start of the business) one of the youngest chocolatiers with his own shop in Belgium.
