Our first Spring/Easter season is thankfully over! While we had a 9-week (seemingly endless) stretch between Valentine day and Easter, it proved to be barely enough time to create all the spring creatures and all the large and smaller eggs. The challenge could be ascribed to one thing: this is our first year with a shop, and demand is tremendously different from that in my prior life doing markets. With the Valentine day's onslaught, we could just make new boxes adding domes to hearts when we ran out. Not possible with eggs, or bunnies... We sold out of Jacques and...
As of last Tuesday, our little chocolaterie has been open for half a year. I feel so thankful to all our neighbors who care for our fate and ask ever so earnestly how "we are doing". And who show up, on the regular, to get a hostess gift or a birthday box or just a couple of little hearts to enjoy as they take a walk. This is where living in a small town translates into a different experience for all parties. The relationships are not transactional, there is a building of kind regard and sense of responsibility to each...
A year ago Darcy and I met at a Valentine party my neighbor was hosting for her women friends. We chatted about chocolate and her background as a pastry chef. I asked her to come work with me on the spot, which she accepted on the spot! I was producing chocolates at the Fork Food Lab at the time, and there Darcy started her chocolate education. She proved herself immediately, her pastry skills transferring smoothly to our work. The professional kitchen discipline she brought to the job helped me look at our production process with fresh eyes. And in the...
HOLIDAY SHOP HOURS: From Wednesday December 19, holiday hours will be from noon to 7 PM until Christmas Eve, when we will close at 5PM. We will re-open on December 28 for our regular retail hours, 1 PM to 7 PM until New Year's Eve. We will take a short break from January 1 until January 9th, when we will resume our regular schedule of 1 PM to 7 PM Wednesday to Sunday. Preparing for holiday markets in past years was a straightforward affair, involving the preparation of an assortment of boxes in a broad price range. When things sold...
We already feel like part of the fabric of the neighborhood. I know this is a bit of a grandiose statement to make, but it is real. Most of our customers live within a short walk of the store, and for a good number, we are becoming a weekly or bi-weekly stop. Some just want a couple of little hearts to enjoy as they walk home, others come in for gifts. An inordinate number seem to be on their way to dinner parties, as they stop in to buy a gift box for their hosts. 8th graders from the King...
The chocolaterie build out took a lot of energy on the part of an excellent team, but we are now finally ready for our day in the sun! We had our first pre-opening tasting yesterday with our direct neighbors at West End Place, and it was delightful. We shared every flavor in the shop, along with the gorgeous little pies of Renee by the Bay (lemon curd) and the vegan Dellie Bites of Joyful Spirit. Both Renee and Ellie are colleagues from the Fork Food Lab, and I look forward to pairing their confections with our Mariage Frères teas and...
