Diana Philips is the Owner and Creative Director of Diana Phillips Artisan Chocolates.
Diana attended Ecole LeNotre, just outside Paris. Other famous alums are Alice Medrich and Pierre Hermes of Paris. She also apprenticed with Christopher Elbow for a short stint. She belongs to ABC, SMARTY, and SOS. She has been featured in Riviera Magazine, Orange Coast Magazine, Coast Magazine, the LA Times, OC Register, Brides and Bloom, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
Diana was a Creative Director in advertising, working in Italy. One of their clients was Perugian. She was based in Milan, which is very close to Turin, home of some of Italy's great chocolate makers. She has had her own business for two and a half years now.
Diana loves everything about her job, "Since I come from a creative background, most everything I do has a custom quality to it. So I love concepting with my clients to create a product that’s completely theirs. Whether it’s the hand-painted finish, or the flavor infusion, or the packaging, or the presentation. When my team is at work, we crank up the music and put all our passion into our work, so all that joy comes through in our products. Just as in 'Like Water for Chocolate'."
Her partner is a sculptor, enabling her to do all the custom molds she does. Besides her studio team which varies in number, she also has a marketing guru, an accountant, a graphic designer and business mentor.
Her company's mission statment is the same as her personal philosophy:
"Our Mission is to Share-
Exquisite hand-made-from-the-heart chocolate and all the sustenance of life:
Joy, Creativity, Beauty, Prosperity, Food, Laughter, Ideas, and Gratitude.
To our customers, our collaborators, our vendors, our family, our friends, our world."
"I am an artisan. I take that word literally in each and every aspect of my work. We want to leave the world a happier and more beautiful place as a result of the experience of collaborating with us."
She is influenced by fashion, sculpture, architecture, nature, wallpaper, paper designs, graphics, color trends, floral trends, health and nutrition, organic farming, local growers' beautiful produce, FOOD FOOD FOOD, and artisanal craftspeople of all kinds.
Popular flavors are as varied as her clients. Her most popular is a collection of Sea Salt Caramels. She uses a salt from Bali that’s kind of floral, a red salt from Hawaii that has a completely different mineral content and then a salt from the Isle of Cypress that has a beautiful pyramid shaped crystal that manages to hold it’s shape once it’s incorporated into the caramel so there’s little crunch as the caramel melts.
"I have a local CSA, and one day I received a basketful of rosemary and grapefruit. I puzzled over what do with these ingredients and tried a granita – which was delicious. It was so fresh and alive that I wanted to take it into a chocolate format, so I ended up creating a rosemary spiked grapefruit caramel I pair with white chocolate. The sweetness of the chocolate is a perfect foil for the tart citrus, and woodsy herb. I also have a Meyer Lemon and Thyme white chocolate ganache that has some of those properties."
The trends in general that she's paying attention to are the attention to detail and the joy of celebrating the individual. Save the date and engagements are now being celebrated,"I’m such a fan of how these events are being expressed and adding more depth and insights into each union. Let the good times roll! Even though couples may have to be more cognizant of budgets, creativity is alive and healthy."
"One of my favorites was for a fund-raising gala where a great performer was donating a performance. As a backdrop for the dessert bar, we designed a series of 3’ x 2’ chocolate base relief portraits of the guest performer that were broken with mallets at the post-party and eaten."
Diana says one of her most unusual experiences was when,"I had a gorgeous couple that were both graduating with PHD’s from Harvard. The bride wanted to represent her Persian heritage and palate while the groom was faithful to his Hispanic roots. We had tastings that ranged from rose, pomagranate, cardamom orange blossom and saffron to chili pineapple, mango, cinnamon dulce de leche and pumpkin seed."
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Phone Number:310-795-0447
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