Accolades and Awards
2015 Judge at Newport Preservation Society Annual Christmas Gingerbread House Competiton with Claudine Pepin and Bettie Pardee
2014 Winner of the Dessert Cup Competition, Pastry Live, Atlanta and Chocolatier of the Year qualification Pastry Live, Atlanta
2014 Edible Rhody Local Hero Award for Food Artisan
2011 Best Chocolate: Porto Bonbon, Rhode Island Monthly
2008 Best European Chocolates, Rhode Island Monthly
Catalan Verrine 2014 Winner Dessert Cup Competition, Pastry Live, Atlanta
Current Articles & Accolades
Article Written by Laurent Vals for Time 4 Seniors website (read the full article HERE)
"Our goal is to serve the elderly and others who either do not want to leave home or physically can’t. Our service provides, in advance, a week’s worth of affordable meals prepared in the client’s kitchen using the freshest ingredients, giving the client an enjoyable experience. The Chef shops, cooks and cleans up in about 2 1/2 hours."
Previous Awards & Articles 2013 - 2004
Front cover and featured article "Gourmet Chocolate Doesn't Need to Come from Europe" in The Bay Magazine, August 2013
"Each recipe is carefully researched and experimented with until perfection is reached."
Nominated for an EDIBLE RHODY LOCAL HERO AWARD in the Food Artisan category, October 2012
Food critic for The Providence Journal, Gail Ciampa, writes in "Artisan Chocolates: R.I. Very Sweetly Blessed":
"...Laurent Vals Handcrafted Chocolates, truly beautiful candy that reflects his training and the fact that he's not afraid of any ingredient." February 2012
Nominated for an EDIBLE RHODY LOCAL HERO AWARD in the Food Artisan category, October 2011
"BEST CHOCOLATE 2011" Rhode Island Monthly Magazine Food Critic's Pick of the Year's Superlative Sweets:
"...Laurent Vals' Porto is a bonbon of dark chocolate filled with a port-infused caramel that has yet to find a meal it can't make better." August 2011
RhodePalate.com's interview with Laurent Vals:
"The smooth, luxuriant chocolate melts over your tongue after the initial snap of the glossy shell, tantalizing taste buds with varying flavors – from juicy fruits to calming lavender to rich hazelnut." February 2011
GoLocalProv.com on-line review of Laurent Vals Handcrafted Chocolates...
"Vals’ collection of handmade (and it doesn’t get any more handmade than these) chocolates rival the finest artisan collections in both America and Europe, with flavor profiles that delight and ingredients that are farm-fresh." September 2010
Laurent Vals Handcrafted Chocolates is listed in "The Chocolate Travel Guide" by Annmarie Kostyk
"Truffle Pursuit" interview with Laurent Vals for The Newport Mercury, August 2009
"Laurent Vals Handcrafted Chocolates" review by Stephanie Zonis for TheFarmGuide.com, August 2009
"...The chocolates are not only colorful, they’re sculptural—a tiny, edible modern art gallery in a box." April 2009
"Undercover Chocolatier" by Rhode Island Monthly magazine
Business news article in the Newport Daily News, December 2008
"BEST EUROPEAN CHOCOLATES OF RHODE ISLAND" by Rhode Island Monthly magazine, August 2008
In a review for the Spiced Pear Restaurant of The Chanler Hotel in Newport, RI,
Rhode Island Monthly Magazine wrote about then Executive Pastry Chef Laurent Vals:
... "His work, quite simply, is unrivaled in this state." December 2007
"10 Scoops of Summer" from Rhode Island Monthly magazine
"The Classicist...Aside from dessert, Vals’s creations show up as beverages (his frozen mimosa consists of Champagne sorbet with orange marmalade, orange chips and a splash of Champagne) as well as intermezzos, a pairing of cantaloupe and celery sorbet that refreshes." July 2007
National chef profile in Pastry’s Best magazine, May 2006 (click on above images to enlarge)
Recipes and Techniques of the Chocolate Trio in Pastry’s Best Magazine, May 2006
Personal congratulations from M.O.F’s Yves Thuries and Jean-Michel Perruchon, May 2006
Front cover for Rhode Island Monthly magazine with 8 page feature article, February 2004
Plated dessert presentation on COX 3 TV, February 2004