Hot chocolate

Leonidas George Kestekides was a Greek-born chocolatier in New York in the early 20th century. As part of the Greek-American delegation to the 1910 World Fair in Brussels, Leonidas presented his range of chocolate, patisserie, ice cream and sorbets to the fair’s 13 million visitors. The bronze medal he won there marked the beginning of the world-famous brand bearing his name, known for high-quality chocolates at affordable prices.

He returned for the 1913 International Exhibition in Ghent, where he then won a gold medal, a commemorative diploma and – crucially – professional recognition. He set his eyes on local woman Joanna Teerlinck and married her, never to return to the US.

Soon after, he opened his first tearoom under the Leonidas name in Ghent, followed by shops in Brussels and Blankenberge, marking an adventure that continues a century later.

Eventually, several family members joined the couple in Ghent, including Leonidas’ nephew, Basilio Kestekides, who immediately took to the chocolate business and opened his own workshop in Brussels. In the early 1930s, Basilio took over the running of the company, and the headquarters moved to central Brussels. Basilio was the one who chose the effigy of the Greek King of Sparta as the brand’s logo and introduced the revolutionary “sash window” concept: From his rented room on Anspachlaan, he displayed his chocolates on the windowsill for passers-by to see, meaning they had only to reach out to buy their favourite confectionery. It was a runaway success.

Keeping it in the family

Basilio died in 1970 and his brother Ioannis, also known as Jean, took over, with the help of their youngest brother, Alexandre. A doctor with a background in chemistry, Alexandre helped Basilio create new pralines after Leonidas’ death in 1948. Alexandre himself died in 1999 after having created his final work, the Alexandre le Grand praline, a dark chocolate shell filled with caramel cream.

In 1985, Ioannis was succeeded by his daughter Maria; in 1992, she was joined by her cousin Vassiliki who became chair of the board of directors in 2003. Dimitrios, Ioannis’ son, is president of the board of directors.

In 2007, the company launched Leonidas Chocolates & Café, where customers can enjoy chocolates over a coffee, tea or one of Leonidas’ signature drinks: the Manon Blanc (white chocolate with a shot of espresso and foamed milk), the Leonidas Original (chocolate melted in hot milk) and the Manon Frappé (cold milk with white chocolate ice cream and caramelised almonds).

“The company’s success is thanks to it being a family business,” says managing director Robert Torck. “There is a spirit of generosity that is still very tangible today. Four of Leonidas’ descendants sit on the board of directors and monitor strategic decisions to ensure that the company ethos of the founder continues.”

Claude Sénèque, a chocolatier with Leonidas for 40 years, is a pivotal member of the team behind this successful business. His expertise was in bakeries and pastry shops, but in 1973, a friend working at Leonidas offered him a job, and he remains at the company to this day. “Leonidas is a wonderful story in the world of chocolate,” he says. “I have been lucky enough to follow the evolution from small family business to a company that now exports worldwide, without sacrificing the craftsmanship that goes into the chocolate.”

Sénèque says the secret of their global success is a careful balance of “high quality and affordable prices. Leonidas has always remained faithful to the founder’s original concept”.

Collection 100

To mark its centenary, Leonidas this month unveiled Collection Number 100, five limited-edition tastes available until the end of the year. The collection includes the Sumatra, a dark chocolate coating topped with a caramelised pecan; the Egina, a pistachio with truffle-textured butter cream; the Amanda, milk chocolate with a mix of pure Gianduja, chocolate paste with ground hazelnuts and praline with a hint of vanilla; the Mahina, a crisp shell with hazelnut and butter cream flavoured with vanilla; and the Lima, Peruvian chocolate ganache with a dark chocolate shell.

Fresh ingredients are worked according to the same unchanging recipes – hazelnuts from Turkey, almonds from Italy and cherries from the Périgord region of southwest France.

Leonidas’ head office is in the Brussels commune of Anderlecht, with just over 400 people on its production site and in their self-run franchises. There are more than 350 shops in Flanders and Brussels, with a presence in more than 50 other countries including France, the UK, Italy, Australia, Japan and the US.

“We have decided to embrace the new century by driving forward development worldwide,” says Torck. “We want to position Leonidas as one of the great world leaders in chocolate without losing the ‘accessible to all’ spirit, which has been a driving force over the last hundred years.”

www.leonidas.com

Sweets for your sweet

It was Belgian confectioner Jean Neuhaus who invented the Belgian praline as we know it today: a bite-size morsel of chocolate with a creamy centre inside a soft shell and sold in little gift boxes, patented under the name ballotin, or small box. Neuhaus pralines are still made today in Vlezenbeek, Flemish Brabant. And every chocolatier, of course, has its own versions.

Will you be giving your Valentine a special ballotin this year? It’s certainly a good year to choose Leonidas, which is celebrating its centenary with new tastes and packaging (pictured).

The Napolitain 100 Years: a creamy chocolate, filled with a layer of hazelnut praline in a chocolate square
Palet 100 Years: the traditional pure milk chocolate praline
Palet 100 Years São Tomé: a spicy version of a traditional recipe of 72% cocoa ganache coated with a thin shell of bitter dark chocolate

Of course, you can still get traditional heart-shaped chocolates in bright red packaging for the big day, too. And they’re no slouch when it comes to flavours either: white chocolate with grapefruit filling, dark chocolate with lemon filling and milk chocolate with a vanilla centre.