Serenade Chocolatier

Excellent house-​made chocolate shop in Brookline Village with a focus on the Viennese style. Chocolates can be purchased prearranged or by the pound. A number of exciting and unconventional styles to chose from. Standouts include the classic Viennese, sea salt caramel, and French truffle. The attention to detail is apparent at Serenade Chocolatier with the beautiful artwork on chocolates such as the champagne and marzipan truffles. Great for a special occasion or just your daily dose of chocolate!

This review is long overdue. I have been frequenting Serenade Chocolatier for the past couple of years. Whenever I walk in, I always end up purchasing more chocolate than I anticipated. The women behind the counter are always so helpful and kind, especially the owner Nur.
You cannot go wrong with the sea salt caramels (my favorite), the viennese truffles, or the passion fruit creams. However, I highly recommend stopping in during the holidays. I was so impressed that they carried «drumsticks» for Thanksgiving, which was an immediate favorite at our desert station among the whole family.
Serenade has made me a chocoholic, and I cannot say thank you enough.

Serenade strikes that perfect balance. Old World elegance and modern flavors are glued together by the timeless fun that is chocolate in this little shop with a maroon awning in Brookline. It’s so hard to walk in, see the chocolate machine spinning, watch truffles and ice cream bars being hand-​dipped in these rotating, Willy Wonka-​esque bowls, browse the beautiful gift boxes and peruse the molded chocolate pianos — and strain not to get something for oneself.
Well, don’t strain too hard.
Personal favorites are the white chocolate pieces, as their white chocolate is far superior to anything you can get in a big grocer. This includes the «blondie» which as I understand it blends hazelnut butter with their white chocolate. Although, I do often just get plain white chocolate in a to go box. Don’t worry, they have 72% dark and milk chocolate going to.
It helps that the owner and staff are all fabulously nice, and extremely knowledgeable about their seemingly endless selection of treats. Their advice is key because there’s always something new and seasonal, and often something cocktail inspired to try. My girlfriend just brought me a Mojito truffle (mint and lime with ganache), and we both loved the Dark and Stormy they had around Valentines day.
A tip: they specialize in customizing chocolate gifts. My little brother still hasn’t eaten the chocolate baseball mitt I ordered him for Christmas, because they went out of their way to decorate it with his name in white chocolate and colored sprinkles. They say chocolate has a good shelf life, but it may have to be a temperature dependent, just-​for-​looking-​not-​for-​eating figurine now.
Stop in, get to know the people and the actually really incredible story behind this place (Did you know the owner is from Turkey? Did you know she learned her craft from a Viennese Holocaust survivor they call «uncle Bill»?), try a sample, and start thinking about everyone who could use a little chocolate in their lives. You’re sure to find what your looking for here.

I discovered this place by accident.
I was walking through Brookline Village when I saw a sign in front of the shop advertising dairy-​free chocolate options. As a vegan with a huge sweet tooth, of course I had to investigate.
Inside, the shop was super-​cute, and it smelled divine. When I asked one of the employees whether any of the dairy free options were vegan, I was handed a pamphlet showing their chocolate options. There were a bunch of vegan options marked off, and I was told that a few other items were vegan as well. That was very helpful! They even have vegan sorbet pops dipped in chocolate. I might need to stop by for one at some point this summer…
I tried a few of their chocolates, and I was not disappointed. I ended up buying a small box. Some of the items were pretty unusual and exotic (strawberry balsamic chocolates, passion fruit chocolates, and coffee-​flavored chocolate covered marshmallows, for example.) They were all delicious.
They are a bit pricey, but are comparable to or less than other chocolate shops in terms of pricing. They make everything in-​house, which is pretty cool.
The chocolates here are excellent, and well worth the price.

Fabulous chocolates, fresh and delicious. Good selection of both dark and milk, and the maple creams are a nice New England touch!

I love, love, love Serenade Chocolates. I just bought a Valentine’s Day treat for my honey and I have already poached one. The variety and the special flavors can’t be beat — passion fruit is my favorite. They always offer a little taste of something new and it is really cool to see them making the chocolates right in front of the store. Brookline Village is a tough place to find parking, I had to drive around the block twice to find a space, but Valentine’s Day only comes once a year so it was worth it.

dont want anyone to eat the truffles save for me!!!
hard working staff and owner aim to please neat gifts for specfic needs musical notes baby booties baseball gloves heh they got cool stuff etc
really delicious variety–

I got a box of chocolate as a gift so I can’t comment on price or service.
But this is some AMAZING chocolate. Go buy some.
Also, nice back story from the Boston Globe:

I was able to make it up to Bean Town to celebrate Valentine’s Day with my fiancé. As I was running around town to make sure our evening was special, I figured I’d hop in and grab a little treat for the two of us; it seems that every other male in Brookline figured the same thing! The place was absolutely packed! But I have to say, Serenade did a great job managing the line. I was in and out within 10 minutes.
Pros: delicious chocolate dipped strawberries, incredible chocolate dipped pretzels. Very knowledgeable staff. They knew EVERYTHING there was to know about their products
Cons: It was really pricey.
Love the smell of the chocolate shop and I love the fact that they are a local business.
Good work Serenade Chocolatier! Keep on keepin’ on!

I found this place by accident as I was running some errands in the neighborhood. Remembering that valentines day is just around the corner, I decided to buy a box of chocolates for my fiancé. The first thing I noticed was the variety of chocolate in the glass display. So many tasty looking things, yet so little time. But this wasn’t about me. My fiancé, you see, has a very sensitive pallet. She can generally discern all of the flavors in a particular food. She’s like a culinary rain man that’s hotter and better socialized. Chocolate is her favorite. But she will only eat plain milk or dark chocolate. Except on very rare occasions, she doesn’t like it mixed with other flavors and textures. So after a brief, not very detailed explanation, I asked the lady behind the counter if she could simply to fill up the heart-​shaped box with only milk chocolate and dark chocolate, as well as a couple of turtles just for the hell of it.
That same lady, who actually volunteered to help me turned out to be a not-​so-​pleasant package of abrupt flavored rudeness. Her reaction to my request seemed to be a mixture of disgust and confusion. But despite whatever insult I had bore onto her by walking in and asking for chocolate, she proceeded to begrudgingly arrange the box according to my specifications. After looking over the glass display one more time, I noticed something else that I wanted to put in my fiancé’s valentines day box and asked if she would mind adding it. What ensued was a truly remarkable display of facial acrobatics, after which, she said «no». The reason: the box was already put together. It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible to take the little ribbon off the box, remove one piece of chocolate, and replace it with another one. Now, I have chiseled through three feet of concrete, excavated a sewage system by hand, and held three jobs at once while acing all of my college classes, but have never experienced the blistering, excruciatingly tedious task of opening and closing a box full of chocolates for a customer. So, I really can’t imagine what she must have been going through. To her credit, she offered to give it to me separately, wrapped in a little white confectionary paper.
I have given some thought about how whacked out the customer service was and how uncomfortable I felt, especially as a first time customer. I would have probably added a very low rating to my already unflattering review if it wasn’t for my fiancé’s reaction when she opened the box and tried a piece of chocolate ten minutes later (I can’t keep anything from her). That little box actually made her day. I tried some of the chocolate too and found it to be good enough to consider reviewing on its own. Your service, on the other hand sucks. The chocolate is fantastic.

Open the door, and inhale.
THAT is the smell of real chocolate, folks.
When I was a little kid (you know, just a couple of years ago) I would walk by their old location in Coolidge Corner, and would gaze at the chocolate through the window. Fast forward to now, they are still making the chocolate the same way (I think they have been in business since the late 1930’s??), but in a cute little location in the Village. No, you are not going to get anything for 50 cents, but you can’t get that at CVS anymore either.
What you WILL get is something that will make you look like a King or Queen when you give it as a gift, or just give it to yourself… you are worth it. I stopped in today and there was this enormous Santa being readied in the back that was phenominal just look at (although I would like to take a bite out of him).
Their Facebook page alerts those in the know to what they are doing and samples!

Just delicious.
The piñata cake is genius. Always a hit at birthdays.
Handmade chocolates, cremes, caramels, truffles.
Patient service and customizable pound boxes.
Pricey, but totally worth it.
And you can’t leave with a present for someone without a little treat for yourself.

Simply delightful.
We had a last minute custom order for an event we were planning, and Serenade bent over backwards to ensure everything was absolutely perfect. They came through with a rush order for custom ribbon to decorate our perfectly paired quartet of chocolates. Everyone was so impressed! We will absolutely use them again.
My favourite was the salted caramel in dark chocolate — I was skeptical of this trend at first but now I sneak over to their South Station location to get a few as a special treat!
The fifth star is because everything is made locally. Supporting local business is so important, and this chocolatier makes it so easy! Their quality is unsurpassed.

I walk by this adorable shop a couple of times a week, and every time, they are closed. Finally, I managed to walk by the shop while it was open, chocolate craving in hand, and made my way in. The assortment I chose was so good, and the employee who assisted me was so patient while I debated between the chocolates behind the counter. I seriously spent the night going ‘omg’ and ‘yes, yes, yes’ while sampling what I chose. I definitely pouted a bit when I realized I should share with my boyfriend… the peanut butter cups in particular were too good to give up.
It is pricey, but I feel like it was so worth the price I paid. I was told by the employee that everything is made on location and I could taste the difference.

The good: Great tasting chocolates
The bad: Iffy service (sometimes good, sometimes bad) and price (too expensive!)

I’m sure we all agree that a typical birthday cake blows. And you’re always guilted into eating a slice to celebrate and then feel po’ed for having to indulge in something subpar. What to do? Drop a pretty penny for a very cool, original and most important — tasty! — piñata cake.
This was a huge hit recently at a party and everyone had a blast. (Chocolate & a mallet — you can’t find a more perfect combo for twin 3-​year old boys to go bonkers.)

Serenade gets five stars from me for the following reasons:
(1) Everything you buy is done on premises, no factory made chocolates here.
(2) Their selection is really good, I only get dark chocolate and have still a few more to go :-)
(3) Their product is up to par with the best chocolate stores I have visited. The selection is high end, with different types of nuts, fruit, shapes, seasonal, you name it.
(4) Each piece feels and looks like it was carefully handcrafted. It is wonderful to enjoy a piece of candy that is almost an art piece.
(5) Great service! Friendly and courteous every time.
It is a little bit pricey but in my opinion, not crazy expensive as my other favorite chocolate boutiques in Boston. Recommended!

I literally stumbled upon Serenade the day before going home for Thanksgiving, and decided on a whim to get a box of chocolates to bring home to the family. Now I am no longer allowed home without a box of Serenade Chocolates to share.
This place is amazing. They make the chocolates right behind the counter so you can see (and smell!) everything. Their chocolate is of incredible quality and by far the best I’ve had in Boston. They’re a little pricey, but definitely worth it for a special occasion. Also, the lady who owns the place is so nice and is always very helpful when I come in to choose an assortment to bring home. My favorites are the viennese (I believe it is their signature and it is DIVINE) and anything with marzipan (the marzipan here is to die for).
I would HIGHLY recommend Serenade if you are in need of a gift or a special treat.

I miss Brookline Village, but mostly I miss Serenade Chocolatier. One of the marks of a good chocolatier is one who will separate the mint chocolates from the other confections. This I learned from Serenade.
We still get their chocolates sent to us now that we are on the West Coast, mostly because a certain realtor won’t leave us alone. Serenade does corporate favors/​chocolate boxes.
The ultimate gift for a chocoholic would be their chocolate piñata– a hollowed out chocolate shell shaped like a cake filled with their confections. I’ve yet to try it (emphasis on yet) but it looks wicked.

I went here with my girlfriend, who’s a real chocolate lover… we only had a small taste, because it was expensive, but what we had was delicious and I trust her opinion on chocolate.