You need to kick-start your life, no? Aren’t you searching for that mystical buzz of inspiration that comes with seeing others achieve their dreams? Well, cheer up, Charlie. For a lucky few in our Twin Cities, and far more in places across the country, the dream of a creative and self-determined life has been found in chocolate. Job growth for chocolatiers is due, in large part, to the ever-growing fascination with food—and there’s plenty to explore when it comes to this ancient, mysterious treat. Once an earthy, spicy aphrodisiacal drink for Mexican royalty, chocolate has been transformed over the centuries into a common delight, made sweet and milky to suit the masses. The early nineties kicked off a chocolate renaissance, now in full flower, that has many erstwhile Hershey’s eaters discovering—and creating—the world of superior-quality, artisanal chocolate. For those who get hooked, it’s an obsession as wide-ranging and complex as wine connoisseurship.
Dark chocolate never really went out of favor, at least not with us true chocoholics, who could be found gnawing on the “baking chocolate” behind closed drapes. But our day has come. We can now saunter into fine chocolate boutiques that are popping up all over and not only select dark chocolate with confidence, but revel in the choices among premium, extra-bitter, and extreme darks. Traditionally, cocoa beans from around the world have been commingled to balance the strong and mellow flavors, but the new desire for “single plantation” cocoa has allowed the intense, heady flavors of the Venezuelan bean to be celebrated alongside the subtler, fruitier Indonesian variety. Even some of the milk chocolates are made with extra cocoa solids (the combination of cocoa and cocoa butter that makes chocolate, well, chocolate) that deepen its flavor.
Given the varying percentages of cocoa solids, myriad handcrafted processes, and a host of herbs and other unique flavorings, there’s no shortage of opportunities for a chocolate experience that can verge on the religious. As we’ve seen with the cheese, wine, and coffee industries, piquing the interest of the Foodie Generation has become quite lucrative for the boutique producer. Whether it’s a need for something unique, something different from what they had as kids, or an ever-evolving palate that desires to be challenged at every turn, or simply a search for an increasingly incredible chocolate high, there are salivating legions opening their wallets for the next big chocolate thing.
With his national Fancy Food Show Award and spots on the Food Network, Brian McElrath is one of the luminaries among the local chefs, visionaries, and Wonka wannabees who are creating a sweet life for themselves as chocolatiers. McElrath and his wife and partner Christine Walthour-McElrath began crafting innovative chocolates eight years ago. It is a success story that began with a frustrated chef who climbed the culinary ladder as far as it could go, and found himself unsatisfied with (and unchallenged by) the day-to-day of running a restaurant. Craving more creativity and self-control, McElrath threw his life into chocolate. A rough first year in business, including a family illness, proved no match for the drive and passion the husband and wife team feels for this sweet trade.
For some reason, I have this impression that artisanal chocolatiers should be dark and brooding, like Ecuadorian cocoa, but Brian is an ebullient redhead. He is duly intense, but also firmly rooted in the belief that chocolate should be fun. Like a true visionary, he is continually seeking to deliver singular experiences for the palate. Zinfandel, kaffir lime, cayenne pepper, passion fruit, and lavender are just a few of the ingredients in his cutting-edge confections. While a box of B.T. McElrath truffles usually makes it to my dinner table at the end of a good meal (minus the zinfandel-balsamic ones, which never make it out of the market parking lot), it is their ridiculously dense, all-butter toffee that I keep stashed away from undeserving guests and kids’ sticky fingers.
Then there’s Mary Leonard, an erstwhile marketing executive. She found herself at a career crossroads when she had to build a fictitious business to test some software. Making use of her degree in food science, she used a chocolate company as her model. Leonard grew so excited about her fabricated company, much more so than about the software, that she decided to turn it into a reality. Now Chocolat Céleste is working through its fourth holiday season, and Leonard has found her calling. Her fresh cream truffles are silky, rich, and handmade every day on University Avenue. Seasonal favorites include the zippy Red Chili Pepper, Pumpkin Spice, and Cranberry Nut truffles.
But the most distinctive thing about Chocolat Céleste is Leonard’s natural desire to teach. She holds chocolate tastings in her gorgeously turned-out factory/store (she bartered truffle-making lessons for architectural services), showing people the differences among chocolate varietals. She’s also become known for her classes on wine and chocolate pairings, given in-store or privately. Call it the business end of a chocolate bar. Leonard understands the power of knowledge, and knows that her product isn’t for the Chunky Bar bunch. By welcoming people to her chocolaterie and allowing them to smell the toasty aromas and understand the nuances of the bean, she is both creating a craving and meeting the demand from a new generation of educated consumers, who will find it difficult to turn back to a waxy Hershey’s bar.
It was a tractor accident that became a defining moment for Deirdre Davis and Allen Whitney, one that slowed their hectic culinary careers (she was a restaurant manager, he a chef). They decided it was time to create something that would make them, and others, smile. River Chocolate Company was born with a true-hearted mission: to create world-class traditional chocolate with local and organic resources. If you can catch her at the St. Paul Farmers’ Winter Market, Deirdre will tell you all about the rich, local creams and butters they use. Or the organic fruits and fair-trade flavorings like Madagascar vanilla and Vietnamese cinnamon, which make a difference both to the chocolatiers and their recipes. River Chocolate seeks out single-plantation cocoa beans, which rewards small-scale producers while delivering a more intense, uniquely flavored chocolate. Although their truffles and brownies are beyond killer, it’s their amazingly luscious chocolate sauce tinged with zingy flavors including Moroccan orange, cinnamon, and dark-roasted Kenyan coffee. Sure, you could heat up this stuff and pour it over ice cream, or maybe spread it on shortbread, but in my house the most popular accompaniment is, simply, a spoon.
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