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- The Chocology Journal
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As Chocology in Bloom comes to a close, I've been thinking about all the discoveries we've made this summer.
We tasted chocolate with flowers and fruit, salt and honey, cheese, olive oil and balsamic. We explored aroma. We slowed down. We noticed what happened when something familiar was paired with something completely unexpected.
But some of my favorite discoveries weren't planned at all.
Sometimes They Simply Walk Through the Door
Just before closing one afternoon, a family wandered into Chocology.
One curious taste became another. Dark chocolate. Something spicy. White lemon. Italian chocolate. Something nutty.
And somewhere along the way, I made a new young chocolate friend who became fascinated by the cacao pods and the story of where chocolate actually begins.
She decided our photo would become part of her first-day-of-school Show & Tell:
All About Chocolate.
I can't think of a better reminder of what Bloom has been about.
Sometimes discovery begins simply because someone walks through the door curious.
A very good client recently called with a very special birthday in mind: her sister is turning 80.
We could have simply created a beautiful box of chocolates.
Instead, she came into the shop and we sat down and talked.
I had a list of 13 questions for her—not about chocolate, but about her sister. What does she love? What flavors does she gravitate toward? What might surprise her? What would make this feel as though it had been chosen specifically for her?
And somewhere in that conversation, a birthday gift became something much more personal.
80 years.
80 chocolates.
8 months of discovery.
Beginning in September, her sister will receive 10 chocolates every month for eight months, with each collection curated especially for her.
Harvest discoveries. Chocolate Wonderland. Around the World. Valentine's discoveries. Old favorites. Something unexpected.
Not simply a birthday box, but a chocolate journey that will carry her celebration all the way through April.
And sitting there, listening to one sister tell me about the other, I was reminded why I love what I do.
Chocolate may be what brings someone through the door, but the chocolate is only the beginning.
Sometimes making chocolate personal begins with one very simple question:
“Tell me about the person you're giving it to.”
And then we listen.
This is why I do what I do.
Bloom taught us to notice.
To smell before we taste.
To slow down.
To be curious about what happens when flavors meet.
We're taking all of that with us.
But the garden is changing.
The flowers may be leaving, but they've left something behind.
Fruit is ripening. Cacao pods are being harvested. Flavors are becoming a little deeper, richer and warmer.
Beginning September 1, there's something new to discover at Chocology.
Chocolate • Fruit • Cheese • Honey • Wine • Spice
and perhaps a few things you wouldn't expect.
Because a new season doesn't mean we stop being curious.
It simply gives us something new to notice.
Notice • Discover • Savor
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What happens when Chinese tea, fine chocolate, different cultures and a little curiosity gather around the same table? An afternoon of unexpected pairings, shared knowledge and discoveries we never could have planned.
Long before Chocology, our home had a name: The Gathering Place. This week, I realized that perhaps the Gathering Place simply moved—and these days, there's a lot more chocolate on the table.
