Jacques Torres, who hails from Provence, France, made his first foray into baking at the age of 15. Dozens of apprenticeships with famed chefs and several television shows later, he opened his first chocolate factory in the trendy DUMBO neighborhood in Brooklyn in 2000. Visitors can watch the entire confection-making process, from cocoa beans to chocolate bars to elaborate signature truffles and pastries, while throwing back some of his famous Wicked Hot Chocolate and freshly baked pain au chocolate in the adjoining storefront. Passersby can catch a glimpse through the large windows from the sidewalk, trying—and surely failing—to resist the haze-inducing, heavenly aroma of melted chocolate wafting out onto Water Street.