Master pastry chef Alain Roby has built a replica of his home kitchen in Geneva, entirely out of 2,000 pounds of chocolate and sugar.
Alain Roby, the man who previously built a 20-foot chocolate skyscraper and a 22-foot-tall Christmas tree made of chocolate, began work on his unique replica last year, when he received a chocolate donation from Belgian chocolaterie Callebaut. He started out by melting the chocolate into molds he himself designed, and connected the parts using more chocolate. The dishes were made from sugar, and the tiles were glazed and sculpted into the desired shape. The whole project took months to complete, and Alain still finds ways to improve it, every now and then.
The chocolate artist admits the artistry of the kitchen is a big challenge, but it’s actually the engineering part that’s the most complicated. He had to put in many hours of hard work and come up with a lot of ingenious ideas to finish this sweet replica of his home kitchen, in Geneva, but the response has been fantastic. Complete with cabinets, a stove, a sink, a tiled backsplash, teapots and dishes, Alain Roby’s chocolate kitchen has become a temporary local attraction of Geneva, since it has been on display in a downtown venue.
“I like breaking the records and crossing the lines,” Roby recently declared, and I’m inclined to take him seriously, especially since this is a man with two Guinness records under his belt (tallest chocolate building and tallest sugar building). But his impressive chocolate masterpieces aren’t just about breaking records; he also does what he does to raise awareness for a heart problems charity – the Saving Tiny Hearts Society. He began getting involved after his 16-year-old son collapsed on a football field and was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect that has since been treated.
“I don’t have blood. I have chocolate running through my veins.” Roby concludes, adding that he’ll tackle a new sweet challenge, very soon.
Photos by Keri Wiginton/Chicago Tribune
