Oriol Balaguer opens chocolate corner at Hotel Isard in Andorra

Recognized internationally for his innovation in haute pastry and a recipient of awards such as Best Artisan Panettone, Oriol Balaguer has opened a corner at the Hotel Isard to bring his creations to Andorra.

"Does chocolate give us happiness? It helps," he says, noting how people smile when they talk about chocolate and change when they taste and smell it. "The best thing in the world is that someone eats something you made, exclaims 'wow' and is moved." He expects the corner to brighten people’s days.

The offer includes his full collection of bonbons — among them the mascletà, a praline that crackles in the mouth — as well as frozen truffles, which are a bestseller; chocolate tiles; traditional and avant‑garde torrons; cookies and chocolate‑coated nuts; and pieces described as crystals and corals.

One centerpiece is his panettone, which he calls "El Perfum," a project he obsessed over for years until he achieved the aroma, texture and flavor he was seeking. He compares the panettone’s effect to a kind of magic.

He has also made a chocolate tile in homage to Andorra, a small nod to how happy he is to be here. The piece is stamped with the date 1278, the year the Principality was established, and explained on the tile itself; it contains 78% cocoa.

Balaguer says he had concentrated his work in Barcelona and Madrid until recently. When asked why Andorra now, he recalls being asked at a dinner why he had never come; sitting nearby was Roger, the Isard’s executive chef, who took note — and a week later Balaguer was here.

His interest in pastry began in childhood. He remembers his father making chocolate pieces, and though his parents later separated and his father left, the craft stayed with him. At 16 he left Calafell to go to Barcelona with his uncles and study the trade.

He recalls simple childhood tastes — bread with oil and chocolate after school, his mother's cookies, and the aniseed flavor of the mona his aunt made. His most influential teachers were Tomàs Ortega and Oriol Madern, whom he credits with teaching him humility and a restless pursuit of perfection.

Balaguer worked at elBulli intending to stay two years; he stayed seven, a period he describes as intensely creative in the 1990s when chefs constantly questioned conventions. Asked whether he prefers tradition or innovation, he answers that he stands in the middle: he loves the avant‑garde but acknowledges that the traditional line endures and always will.