ASHEVILLE - French Broad Chocolates has something new for guests to sink their teeth into, reimagining a classic French recipe as treats that scream "Asheville."
Come this fall, French Broad Chocolates' revamped and rebranded Macaron & Gift Boutique will offer freshly made items, including ice cream macarons, multi-flavored mini macarons, and the double-stuffed Fatcarons.
Spearheading the sweets movement is Head Pastry Chef Jess West, who has returned to the Asheville-founded company after nearly 12 years, better than ever and a master at macarons.
"Macarons specifically are really fun to look at, so it's fun to see the end result," West said. "Chocolate chip cookies, I love to eat. Macarons, I love to make them and then see them. They're difficult
to make, but it's nice to accomplish at the end of that."
West will lead the company's pastry development, including favorites customers have come to know, and will create new desserts for customers to love at the Chocolate Lounge downtown and the Chocolate Factory on Riverside Drive.
In October, French Broad Chocolates Macaron & Gift Boutique will open at 10 S. Pack Square, next to its Chocolate Lounge, with the hours of operation 12 p.m.-8 p.m. daily.
The former boutique, which closed following Hurricane Helene in fall 2024, offered items such as cookies, brownies, ice cream, and a full coffee service. The revamped menu is pared down to let the macarons and coffee program stand on their own. Guests can find other sweets in the Chocolate Lounge.
On the retail market side, customers can find goods and gifts by local makers, including East Fork Pottery, Spicewalla and Hickory Nut Gap Meats.
West operated the micro-bakery she co-founded, Beeswax & Butter, for nine years, a time during which she said she honed her macaron-making craft. This fall, she will bring them where her career began.
"Having the established location in downtown, I think people are going to be excited to be able to get macarons all the time instead of having to wait for the farmers markets," West said.
French Broad Chocolates' new macaron menu
The art of making one of French Broad Chocolates' classic and signature macarons and other products begins with quality ingredients.
Hand-painted vanilla bean buttercream-filled macarons are decorated with artistic depictions of wildflowers and mushrooms. She uses organic vegetable powders for the colorful palette of paints, including purple sweet potato, blue spirulina, green spirulina, charcoal and beet powders, which are also used to tint the macaron shells.
West said she sought organic color alternatives to avoid using standard food dyes.
The macarons are not made with gluten, though they are made in a kitchen where gluten is used.
"It's the commitment to using good, well-sourced ingredients, and finding the way to do things that look the way we want them to look but using the ingredients that we want to use," West said.
She uses fine-tipped brushes to make the stem strokes, fan brushes to press the whimsical blooms onto the hand-painted flowers and mushrooms, and blending to create a rainbow effect. With a gentle shake of the brushes, the macarons are finished with colorful speckles.
There will be seven classic macaron flavors, with more featured in the specialty items.
Raspberry macarons filled with local raspberry jam buttercream from Imladris Farms.
Fatcarons, a dessert that originated in South Korea, usually feature larger macaron shells and two or three fillings. French Broad Chocolates Macaron & Gift Boutique will debut a version made with cocoa shells and a brownie-and-Swiss-meringue-buttercream filling. Scratch-made black cocoa cookies will be baked, then mixed with buttercream to make the cookies-and-cream filling, which will be sprinkled on top.
Large macaron ice cream sandwiches will begin with double vanilla bean ice cream and sprinkles, made with ice cream at the company's creamery.
"We'll start with one flavor, then go from there," West said.
Other items include the mini macarons, which will be about a third of a regular-size macaron and served in cups in nine flavors: raspberry, cookies and cream, London fog, sugar cookie, pistachio, salted caramel, pumpkin spice, Nibby milk chocolate, and the hand-painted vanilla macarons.
"They were my business's best seller, and I have a suspicion that they're going to be the bestseller here. They're so cute," West said.
Paving a way through pastries
In 2006, Jael Skeffington and Dan Rattigan co-founded French Broad Chocolates, which has become a local staple and national brand, even being selected for Oprah’s Favorite Things list in 2024, showcasing ideal gifts recommended by media mogul Oprah Winfrey.
The company's inventory has greatly expanded in its 20 years, including bonbons, chocolate bars and hot cocoa lines.
West's first job was at French Broad Chocolate in 2009, after graduating from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College's pastry program in 2008.
"I baked with my aunt growing up, and it seemed like a fun way to be artistic and make food," she said.
French Broad Chocolates was also where West met her husband, Crawford Rizor, who was a barista there before becoming its first chocolate maker and later Head Chocolate Maker.
In 2014, West left the company, and in 2018, the couple launched Beeswax & Butter, selling products at local farmers markets and cafes wholesale.
Though she left to pave her own way, West maintained a connection and respect for French Broach Chocolates, even using its chocolate chips in her bakery's cookies.
She said she admired that it made its chocolate in-house rather than sourcing it from other companies.
"Working at French Broad Chocolates the first time around inspired me to care about the ingredients I was using, and I took that into my business, and I'm happy to still be able to do that working here. Not every bakery sources with such integrity," West said.
West brings a wealth of knowledge and self-taught skills back to where it all began, as evidenced by details like macaron decorating. Though the end of the era for Beeswax & Butter, West said she was ready for something new and looked forward to interacting and sharing her knowledge with other pastry chefs.
"It feels like it's full circle," West said.
French Broad Chocolates Macaron & Gift Boutique
Where: 10 S. Pack Square, downtown.
Opening: October 2026.
Hours: 12 p.m.-8 p.m. daily.
Info: For more, visit frenchbroadchocolates.com and follow @frenchbroadchocolate on Instagram.
Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Co., covering the food and beverage industry, including the James Beard Awards, Michelin Awards, restaurant openings, closings and other hospitality industry news and events. Tips, comments, questions? Email tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow @PrincessOfPage on Instagram. Sign up for AVL Bites and Brews, our weekly food and drink newsletter here.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Your golden ticket to the French Broad Chocolates kitchen in Asheville
