I had a feeling this would be my kind of place when I saw the name, and I was right. The chocolate is hand crafted and amazing. They hold themselves to such high standards, they were giving salted caramel away that weren't pretty off. I thought they looked fine and tasted even better. And then there's the wildflower collection. The violet and clover honey were my favorites, but the lavender, dandelion wine, and rise were great, too. And so pretty. The shop is bright and welcoming. Service is excellent. You can even make your own selection for gift boxes in different sizes. For now on, this is a must visit when I'm in town. They also serve their own small batch ice cream next door. read more

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Surprise ice cream is the best ice cream. I had an ice cream craving the last time I was in Rochester visiting my mom. She said "we have ice cream at home" and we did. A perfectly normal cardboard carton of vanilla ice cream from Wegmans. I said "no, let's get real ice cream", typed "ice cream" into google maps, and was led here. Hedonist ice cream, my friends, is not Wegmans. And I'm not knocking Wegmans - it's perfectly normal ice cream with a ton of ingredients I can't pronounce for purposes of preservation. Hedonist ice cream is so much more than a cardboard carton of ice cream. They have a rotating menu of flavors, all made fresh and in-house with no preservatives. I have never met a cookies n cream ice cream I didn't love, so I went with that. Mom had a salted caramel ice cream that was fabulous. I paid for both of us since the ice cream was my idea. She was shocked at the 12 dollar total for both of us. "That's three things of ice cream at Wegmans!" But at Hedonist, it's absolutely quality over quantity. Even my mom admitted it tasted better. She wouldn't go back there, and I may not because I live 400 miles away from there, but if I was in town again and I was screaming for ice cream, I'd happily make my way over there again. read more

Lovely shop in the south wedge featuring artisanal chocolates and homemade ice cream. The person who helped as at the front counter was very knowledgeable about the products and helped us to narrow down our choices. The truffles display was so eye catching and enticing. I picked a lavender truffle and two salted caramels. I loved the hand drawn designs on the truffles. The shop looked lovely decorated for fall. Absolutely loved our selections and think this would be a great spot to shop for gifts or special occasions. We will need to come back for ice cream as well. read more

Hedonist Artisan Chocolates - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Rochester, New York

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Four years ago I wrote my review of Hedonist, and all of what I wrote still holds true today. But after another great experience hand picking truffles for custom Valentine's day gift boxes, I had to write a short update. Stopped by today to snag my box of Chris-Charles-Moon-Rabbit-Press-designed 'love birds' salted caramel truffles, and couldn't leave without a new tin of chipotle hot cocoa, a half-price small bag of raspberry truffles from the discount basket, and a 10-piece custom truffle box. I may have gone a little overboard, but I mean, it's CHOCOLATE...is too much ever a bad thing?? This year in particular, I am digging all the inventive truffle flavors, and once again, love supporting local, and especially local small businesses who support the artists in our community! So my advice to you, on this gray, dreary, mid-winters day, is to head over and get some goodies for your valentine, or for yourself, or both...no judgement! read more

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Purchased a gift certificate for a coworker's birthday. Great service and I purchased a delicious treat for myself. Will return. Thank you!

I've only bought one thing from here and it was the spring botanical collection, but I am definitely going to be a repeat customer because of it! $36 for 20 chocolates, four of each variety: -Clover honey -Violet -Dandelion wine -Lavender -Rosebud I bought them all for myself and I am savoring every bite. They are delightfully, not overpowering, floral, and they look as good as they taste! I will consider coming here for gifts in the future and of course I can't wait to try the ice cream! read more

Hedonist Artisan Chocolates - Look at these beautiful botanical babes! Worth every penny of the $36 - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Rochester, New York

Ordered my mom some delicious chocolate from Hedonist for Mother's Day and was, as usual, far from disappointed! They have streamlined their process very well during this pandemic, and ordering online was so easy. I placed an order for both chocolate and ice cream, noted in the special instructions I would pick up on Saturday, and waited until it was time! Com Saturday, I pulled right up to their South Ave storefront, called, and an employee brought all components of my order right out to their outside table. I got my mom a 10 pack and a quart of salted caramel ice cream for what I feel is a very reasonable price for such high quality treats. Their bark around Christmas time is varied and excellent - I am normally not a white chocolate person, but their fruit barks with white chocolate and pistachio?! Goodbye. Overall, I am obviously waiting until the day I can shop in the storefront and pickup gifts for friends, but this solution in the meantime is a-okay. Support this amazing local business today! read more

Hedonist Artisan Chocolates - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Rochester, New York

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This is a very small storefront with chocolates on one side and ice cream on the other. They do not have bean to bar chocolate, which is what I was hoping for. Rather, they have truffles and bar with mix in items. Definitely curated and creative items if that's what you are looking for. Located in a strip of walkable shops. read more

Went to the hedonist actually for ice cream and got some free chocolate samples. They were amazing! Also the staff there was wonderful. I knew they were popular because of their chocolate but wow, definitely a nice treat! read more

Wow! I've heard great things about their chocolates but had never tried them until recently, which is honestly a travesty that I've been missing out on these chocolates for all these years. I'm extremely impressed and have already become a repeat customer. Their packaging is beautiful making this such an excellent gift item. You can custom select a box of truffles and they have a beautiful card that they include in the box that identifies each chocolate. Each truffle was delicious and tasted fresh. They have some unique flavors like Earl grey which is fun. My favorite was the orange peel, just a great combination of sweet, sugary orangeness with savory chocolate. 100% recommend. read more

Hedonist Artisan Chocolates - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Rochester, New York

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I was surprised at how small the shop was. There seems to be an abundance of dark chocolate offerings. I wish there were more things dipped in milk chocolate. I understand the neighborhood it's located in may lean toward a more vegan lifestyle and that it caters to those with particular dietary needs. I got a 10 piece truffle selection from the ones on display. There were probably 30 to choose from. I also got dark chocolate dipped orange rinds which are spectacular!! The service was super friendly. read more

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Absolutely lovely chocolatier and ice cream shop! You might figure that going to the candy shop in the South Wedge would be a classy and unique experience, and you'd be right. Every time I've gone they have a different interesting lineup of flavors. The place has so much character, and OH MY GOD THE CHOCOLATE BARK. read more

Quaint chocolatier in the city of Rochester. I found the perfect gift here for a 60th wedding anniversary celebration. The service was excellent. The chocolate decadent. Highly recommend for a unique indulgence for that someone special. read more

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Delicious chocolate and wonderful service! Husband and I originally went for the ice cream next door, but was pleased to find that there was a chocolate shop next door and had to check it out. This place has chocolate covered dried fruit and bark chocolates and they're so good. Husband and I ended up getting chocolate covered figs and chocolate barks. It was also a bit hot outside and we had to drive back home, so they gave us a freezer bag to keep the chocolates in, which was super nice of them. They taste as yummy as they look! Definitely going back :D read more

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Need a great gift that feels fancy, yet delicious? This is your place. I ordered online for my sister-in-law's birthday during the lockdown. She got her chocolates in two days with a hand written note (that I had written online when placing the order). She felt special and obviously loved all of the flavorful chocolate bark and hot cocoa. We love you Hedonist, and can't wait to come to the shop for ice cream some time soon. read more

Delicious and unique house made chocolate. It's a must visit if you are in town! And make sure to buy extra for your friends. My friends keep asking me to bring them back more!!! You won't be disappointed. They also have a basket of seconds that can save some money if you don't care about the visuals! Don't forget to stop by their ice cream store right next door! Street parking only! read more

Super yummy! We lucked out and they had "seconds" and a discount on bark! So this was our "take home" gifts!

I've been following this place on Instagram for quite sometime and drooling over photos for months. I was finally in the area and just went. Thank goodness I did! Everything was delicious. I ordered a fig and goat cheese ice cream and boy was it delicious! I love these two foods but in ice cream, I was skeptical. Hedonist does many random flavors that I debate about but honestly through that skepticism out the window. They're all better than the next and you can try and flavor. Next door is also a chocolate shop they own and my friend loved it. Go. Indulge. And then go again. read more

Hedonist Artisan Chocolates - Fig and goat cheese ice cream with rainbow sprinkles - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Rochester, New York

We bought several truffles and some bark and drinking chocolate. Even my boyfriend who doesn't care for chocolate couldn't stop.

Excellent chocolate, those Chocolate covered Salted Carmel's are seriously worth the hype. Sure they are $$$ also be prepared sometimes their Ae /Samsung Pay is not happy along with the credit card reader. read more

Is it a little pricey? Maybe, but it's the best ice cream in the city, and it's not close. edit: Just hit Moonlight in Fairport. Hedonist, I still love you best, but Moolight negates the "not close" part of my original review. read more

Premium chocolates and ice cream! Stopped in a tried a variety box, they let you choose your own chocolates for the box. They then put a custom "bespoke" tag on it with your name and a list of the chocolates inside. The ice cream is all spot on in flavor as well. Brought home a pint of strawberry and it's like eat fresh strawberries. Staff was super friendly and easy to work with read more

So so delicious! They have really unique ice cream flavors like olive oil and honey but also some of the classics. I had the dairy free chocolate and it was amazing! read more

Hedonist Artisan Chocolates - Little shop - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Rochester, New York

Best chocolate eva! What more can I say? This shop is a gem in Rochester and they have some notoriety (NY Times shoutout for their delectable salted caramels!). This is *the* spot to grab a fancy gift box of chocolates - great for any occasion, true? The salted caramels are always a win, plus their mixed packs are fun for something different, especially the spicy one. I like the cayenne chocolate one - sweet and spicy is the best combo. They do a lot of seasonal features too - pumpkin caramels are a must in the fall. The egg nog truffles are amazing too. Oh gosh, everything is perfect here. It's a sweet tooth's paradise. And their candy cane bark plus some drinking chocolate. It's like real life Wonka-land in there. They have slightly less expensive bags of some chocolates like imperfect brittle and what not. Grab a full price one for a gift and the imperfect one for you to devour on the car ride home. The chocolates are a bit pricey but worth every penny because they are beautiful, homemade, gourmet, and made with the best ingredients. Whoever receives a box from you will be eternally grateful and addicted for life. read more

Service is very slow, ordered small salted caramel and it was bitter. Overall experience was not good, will not come back unfortunately. I rather go to abbots. read more

After sampling Hedonist's chocolate at the Beer and Wine tasting at Tap and Mallet, our group of friends decided to drop by the store for their Chocolate tasting event celebrating an apprentice's 4 chocolate creations. I would have to say that their flavors were definitely unique, I loooove chocolate so it was fun to try interesting and new flavors, like salt and vinegar and mint julep. The chocolate are definitely more on the expensive side, at $2 a chocolate but you can see that they create each and every one of them. Very special :) Very artisan! read more

Hedonist Artisan Chocolates - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Rochester, New York

While everyone loves their products, be very careful when checking out. Check your bill, I bought (2) $20 gift cards, for which they charged me $50.00. This is obviously some new math... be warned....... read more

A delicious Rochester staple for chocolate and gifts... if you can foot the bill. Hedonist is one of many hole-in-the-wall spots in Rochester. I love small businesses! The store is very small, but nicely laid out. They offer a variety of chocolate truffles, barks, and treats, but don't expect rows upon rows of things. Rather than going big, they go for small batch quality and unusual creations. Teas, spices, and unusual fruits all make appearances. This is a great place to pick up gifts and they offer many seasonal treats. Keep an eye on their social media to watch for what is coming up. They sometimes have artists do artistic "toppers" for their chocolates. I got my girlfriend a set with Halloween cats all over them. It was very cute! I also got her an espresso raspberry dark chocolate bark for Valentine's. Although Hedonist chocolates are delicious... they come at a steep price. I have never actually bought anything for myself there due to the pretty extreme pricing. The chocolate covered caramel my girlfriend let me try from the box I got her was admittedly very good... but for day to day chocolate or even a fun treat I would go elsewhere. Hedonist is for when you are really trying to WOW someone. I am just also not enough of a connoisseur of chocolates and can be easily pleased with a more mid-shelf piece. On the plus side, they do offer mixed bags of "seconds" at a reduced price (however I avoid these for fear of coconut, my mortal enemy). Hedonist is a spot I will stop at perhaps once or twice a year to pick up something I can't get elsewhere, or to make a statement by having something with their brand name (look at me, I spent a ton of money on this chocolate for you, I'm the best girlfriend ever!). I just wish they had more options along a sliding scale of cost! read more

We went to Hedonist after a dinner at Tap and Mallet with friends. It. was. amazing! I got the Salted Caramel in their waffle cone and it was borderline one of the best ice creams I've had in a long time. The Waffle cone was perfect and with the ice cream, almost had a cereal-like taste and texture, though I couldn't pin point which one exactly. It was very sweet, which I expected, but it was never overpowering. Cant wait to go back when we're in the area and try the chocolates and other flavors! read more

I really wanted to use "Life is like a box of chocolates" but I really couldn't work it into the review in any way that made sense. However, if I could describe Hedonist with one phrase, it would probably be that. This is one of my go to spots when people ask "What's a place unique to Rochester that makes it special?" The chocolate here is absolutely amazing. As soon as you walk in, you can tell that each piece of chocolate is hand-crafted and they put the time and effort into making each piece an incredible experience. You can grab a box of chocolate in various different sizes (and you can mix and match from what they have available that day as well. If you're feeling adventurous, they have seasonal features ranging from caramel to spicy chocolates. They have slightly less expensive bags for the "imperfect" batches but they are still absolutely delicious so you can't go wrong there. read more

I really don't understand the hype over Hedonist Artisan Chocolates. If you want to get a good truffle, there's an amazing place on University Ave. that so overwhelmingly overshadows Hedonist, it's not even funny. Their chocolate is good, and it's tempered well usually, but it's painfully overpriced. Some of it's great, others really are not. Their dark chocolate salted caramel is probably their best in my mind, and their flavor combinations are bizarre and fun, but a lot of them actually fall flat. When eating chocolate, you really want to savor it in your mouth before swallowing it to get the full flavor, but I just have not had this happen here. I'm probably biased since I've had lots of truffles in cities like NYC (where I grew up), Vancouver, Chicago, and Madison, WI, and Hedonist just doesn't match up. Props for their flavor combinations, but thumbs down on taste and savor-ability. If you're going to get anything here, I recommend one of the grab bags of ruined chocolate up front, their espresso chocolate bark (which is really rather good), or their dark chocolate salted caramel truffle. Outside of that, it's better to move onto something better. Also, could the employees please be a little kinder and less standoffish? read more

Before I start, I will say the actual quality of chocolate is good and the diversity in the truffles is beyond most other places I've been. Also, this is not a review of the ice cream shop, which I have heard great things about, but have never been to. So I know this place is in the South Wedge, but do the hipster employees (and this is coming from a guy who wears thick glasses and occasional plaid) need to be condescending? Just never feel welcome here. And come on, those prices cannot be real, too much for a tiny piece of chocolate. Hot chocolate (Mexican hot chocolate?) was too thick and while I generally like the chilli-chocolate combo, I don't think it worked as a drink. read more

Not much to say about the place except this: I DON'T LIKE CHOCOLATE. Buuuuuut...I love just about every type of chocolate they sell hear. Very high end truffles that are way beyond what you'd get at Godiva. Very creative combos too. Ginger truffles, cinnamon and a white mint that flat out tastes like they just took some of the best chocolate on earth and wrapped it around a freshly picked mint leaf. Wonderful. This is a favorite for giving to the wives, so if you're in the dog house fellows...head to South Wedge. It's right across from Mise En Place but it's down a short alley. Small place but awesome stuff. And if you can't get there personally, you can order them from Foodoro.com and they ship it to you! Num, num...get some. read more

I was sold before I even stepped into the store. The New York Times featured this store, among others, in a page dedicated to Salty Caramels. I am not going to say "Scr#w Caramels", they do have their place, however what had me sold was the enticing, ever so odd, truffles. Road trip warrior for "good eats" I headed out to the store. Treaded lightly. Bought not too much only to discover that I did not buy enough. Taste combinations...coconut curry, orange chipotle..were right on target. These delectable little bites really deliver the promised flavors! Orange and hot pepper??? Who'd have thunk it? I have three remaining truffles. They are hidden from family view and will remain so until tomorrow am, when they will most likely be gone. Planning my second trip...where I will buy loads more. A word to the cost worriers...these Truffles are small and expensive. They are worth every penny if you can justify it. read more

Extremely underwhelming. I am giving them 1 star because the chocolate is pretty but not that great in flavor. It is expensive for the quality. It's like if they mark it high they will give the illusion it is fine quality chocolate. Also, the staff is never that helpful. read more

I love that Hedonist is located down an alley, speakeasy style, on South Ave! This place is definitely worth seeking out if you are a chocolate lover. The shop itself is small but their selection is amazingly creative. I bought a box of their goat cheese truffle collection which included 5 truffles in unique flavors like honey fig, black currant, ancho chile & cinnamon, balsamic strawberry, & thyme, pepper pistachio. As luck would have it, they also happened to be offering a free peanut butter honey milk chocolate truffle to any customer who said "Trick or Treat" in honor of Halloween. So of course, my husband and I both obliged and each walked out with a yummy free truffle! read more

? I'm confused. Something has changed, and there's no way these are the same chocolates I ate years ago when I raved in my first review of them. I received a box of these for my birthday - and I don't know - they were just plain sad. Not delicious and they basically just tasted like cheap chocolate? What happened?? I'm very sad about this, because they used to be awesome. The second star is purely based on their prior glory - there's no way I would ever pay for these now. read more

This place is the quintessential South Ave business right in the "downtown" of the Southwedge. Thoroughly enjoyed having to walk down the alley, (don't be scared) and at the end was the little store front. I was slightly intimated when I walked in. It's basically one medium sized room, the retail proportion and the candy making area. It was safe to assume it was the owner and two workers busily working to fulfill orders on a Saturday morning. I hastily looked at the beautiful currently offered chocolate flavors. Strawberry balsamic, champagne pomegranate, ancho chile & cinnamon, and white mint. Oh smokes, Wonka you just got run out of Rochester! I'm the first to admit, I'm not the biggest lover of sweets and/or chocolate but my little tastes i tried were too much for words. Out of this world, a must, must stop! Prices were reasonable for the upscale chocolate being purchased. Several other items were available to purchase like truffle boxes and apparel items. But I knew what I came in for and wanted and definitely wasn't disappointed. read more

Hedonist Artisan Chocolates - current day's offerings - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Rochester, New York

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I can't say that I have eaten their truffles yet, but I have had some of their chocolate bark pieces and they have some delicious and unique combinations. The extra star is for their excellent customer service. My bf and I came in after hearing about this place from his family -- apparently they're listed as one of the top chocolate shops now. I wanted to bring something back for my family, so I decided on a box of truffles. We looked around some of the pre-boxed packages, but then the lady at the front told us we could create a custom box of truffles and she would write up a key so we could know which was which. I also bought one of their half off bags of chocolate bark, which is a pretty good deal AND you get to try random varieties of their chocolate bark! On our way out, they even offered to let us sample some of their Hedonist ice cream flavors! read more

I seriously can not rave enough about Hedonist chocolates!! Their dark chocolate salted caramel are my absolute favorite things in the entire universe!! While I was living in Italy, my mother sent me a box of the chocolates and they literally melted in my mouth!! I didn't want to share with anyone and ate them all too quickly!! The best part is their interesting combinations that one would think are so odd together but actually are quite amazing!! For example, the Black Currant & Pepper is so yummy and something I would have never thought would taste good together!!! If you go anywhere during a visit to Rochester, make sure Hedonist is on your list!!! P.S. They have the absolutely best, most creamy ICE CREAM as well but that is a different shop next door. I recommend a stop there for sure!! read more