In France, cooking isn’t about excess. It’s about creating something that tastes amazing with a handful of high-quality ingredients. For Maison Noten founders Laura Athuil, Ruddy Zitoun, and Nathan Abergel, making good chocolate relies on a similar approach. In fact, it’s the reason everything in this new Los Angeles chocolate shop is vegan.
“In France, we value recipes with fewer, purposeful ingredients,” Abergel, who grew up in France alongside Zitoun and Athuil before immigrating to the US, explained to VegNews.
“Making the range vegan keeps the focus on our exceptional cacao, nuts and fruits while making our chocolates accessible to many people with dietary restrictions,” he continued. “With great ingredients and careful technique, dairy or other animal products simply are not necessary.”
Maison Noten
Maison Noten opened on Pico Boulevard in June, and its handmade, French-style, “sugar-conscious” chocolates are already proving popular with Angelenos.
Standouts include the classic bonbons, elegantly presented in royal blue boxes, in decadent flavors like Almond Paste & Orange, Earl Grey, Sesame, and Caramel. The candied fruits, petal assortments, and fruit pastes are also not to be missed. Still, it’s the vegan chocolate bars, made with ingredients like roasted coconut, raspberries, and caramelized hazelnuts, that caught our eye immediately.
“Quality and craft come first. Veganism is a natural result of how we make chocolate, not the entire Maison Noten identity. We want someone to taste a bonbon, love it, and only then discover that it is vegan.”
Bringing French indulgence to Los Angeles
Athuil, especially, is committed to bringing French indulgence to an American audience. She ran the popular Choux Bakery in San Francisco for more than a decade before pivoting her focus entirely to chocolate. “Laura became obsessed with chocolate,” says Abergel. “First for its health benefits, then for the beauty of its craft.”
Showcasing that craft is part of Maison Noten’s appeal. Everything is made by hand, on site, and customers can watch the process unfold from start to finish.
“Our kitchen is visible through the window, so anyone can stop and watch us make chocolate,” says Abergel. There’s also a table in the store explaining how the shop’s signature bonbons are made.
Maison Noten
“It naturally starts conversations and lets us share why the craft matters to us,” he adds. “Customers leave feeling that they truly understand what they are eating and the work behind it, which has become an important part of the experience.”
Feeling curious? Maison Noten is open six days a week (it’s closed only on Saturdays). It’s the perfect spot to treat yourself, find a birthday gift, or show someone you appreciate them.
“In France, chocolate says ‘thank you,’ ‘I love you,’ ‘I’m grateful for you,’ or ‘congratulations,’” says Abergel. “In LA, we saw room for a more personal gift made with exceptional ingredients that can cater to people with dietary restrictions. We felt inspired to build Noten to have something to give that feels personal, elegant, and that most can enjoy.”
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
