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Jonathan Grahm turning cacao beans on a sun-drying deck beneath the mountains of St. Lucia.
Head Chocolatier · Los Angeles

The art of chocolate, by Jonathan Grahm

A life shaped by long hours, hot kitchens, and the dedication to one ingredient: cacao. He walked into Compartés at fifteen, and never left.

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“Why create boring chocolate when you can create chocolates to be remembered?”
Jonathan
Jonathan Grahm turning cacao beans on a sun-drying deck beneath the mountains of St. Lucia.Sun-drying the harvest, St. Lucia
The Source

Hundreds of farms,
one perfect bean

He wanted to build a chocolate from the bean up, and to take nothing on trust. So he tasted, farm after farm, region after region, and let almost all of it go. What he kept is what the house is made of.

Our heritage →

Recognition

  • Forbes 30 Under 30
  • Inc. 5000
  • CNN
  • Bravo
  • Food Network
  • Netflix
  • Oprah

Bespoke commissions for

  • Gucci
  • Louis Vuitton
  • Tiffany & Co.
  • Fendi
  • Ferragamo
  • Valentino
  • Instagram
  • The Oscars
Life of a Chocolatier

A life in chocolate

Chocolate-dipped California orange slices arranged by hand.
I

Arrival

The shop he first walked into at fifteen was a traditional candy counter. It changed shape with him, into the design-led, small-batch house it is today.

Jonathan Grahm painting wrapper artwork at an easel in his Los Angeles studio.
II

Los Angeles

Los Angeles is in everything he makes. Palm trees and pink sunsets in the California Love bars. Strawberry Shortcake, after his favorite childhood ice cream. Donuts & Coffee, from a shop he has visited for twenty years.

Dark and white chocolate swirled together with a ladle.
III

Foundation

Years of tasting cocoa from hundreds of farms settled the three house signatures. Every bar and every truffle is built from them.

Jonathan Grahm carrying a tray of ingredients during a press shoot in the Compartés kitchen.
IV

Acclaim

The work carried him into rooms he did not expect. Magazine lists and television segments, and a steady run of commissions from houses that do not usually order chocolate.

Shelves of glass jars filled with cocoa nibs, nuts and dried fruit.
V

Palate

Venezuela taught him tropical cocoa. Delivering wine with his grandmother into the best kitchens in Los Angeles taught him taste. Paris and Italy honed it. He once mapped 24 croissants across that city, just for fun.

A hand arranging trays of hand-patterned bonbons across a marble counter.
VI

Chocolate As Art

When he started designing the wrappers, bold color on food packaging was uncommon. He was tired of boring boxes and wanted a bar worth keeping, not just opening. Chocolate As Art came out of that.

Jonathan Grahm beneath a waterfall in Hawaii.
VII

Horizon

The house keeps moving, still setting the pace on taste and design. What he wants next is a cocoa farm in Hawaii, the place he loves most, where he goes out whale watching and comes home with the next flavor.

Join the legacy

Taste the story

The fusion of art and flavor that has carried Compartés for seventy-five years, still made by hand in Los Angeles, one small batch at a time.

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— jg