Why Anthony Bourdain's Incredible Good & Evil Chocolate Bar Was Discontinued

Anthony Bourdain was an ever-present voice and figure in the food world throughout the 2000s and 2010s, and while he likely gained the most notoriety for hosting CNN's "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" from 2013 until 2018, another mark he left was through his line of Good & Evil chocolate bars. The beloved treats were sold by Éclat Chocolate in collaboration with both Bourdain and his close personal friend and fellow chef Eric Ripert, starting in 2012 before being discontinued six years later. The owner of Éclat Chocolate, Christopher Curtin, cited the unfortunate death of Anthony Bourdain in 2018 as the reason that Good & Evil chocolate bars were taken off store shelves and have remained unavailable to purchase in the nearly seven years since. Instead, Curtin went on to collaborate with Bryan Graham of Fruition Chocolate Works to revisit Peruvian chocolate, thus creating Noe chocolate bars — a product that differs slightly from Good & Evil but is still sourced directly from Peru — which is named after the only farmer who currently harvests the unique style of cocoa it uses, Noe Vazquez.

The Bourdain-endorsed chocolate bars, which cost a whopping $18 per bar, were sourced from Pure Nacional trees in the secluded valley of Marañón Canyon. The trees that created the cacao beans, which go through a long process towards becoming the chocolate we know and love, were long believed to have gone extinct in the early 20th century. However, the Pure Nacionals were eventually rediscovered in Northern Peru in 2007, and chocolate from their cacao beans was reintroduced to the world in 2011. Thus, beyond just possessing a rich and delicious taste that many have called the best chocolate on the planet, the beans are also incredibly rare and distinct compared to other, more common strains of pure chocolate. The Good & Evil chocolate bars specifically gained a lot of traction when Peruvian chocolate was the central point of discussion in season 1, episode 7 of "Parts Unknown," featuring Bourdain and Ripert visiting the valley in Northern Peru. This amplified the gourmet chocolate and its unique creation even further to fans of Bourdain. As a result of the episode and both the high price and exquisite quality of the bars, Good & Evil chocolate became a major topic of discussion throughout its run. It led many to question what makes a chocolate bar truly great.