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The Chocolate Shop has a world of delights for sweet-toothed locals

February 15, 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

Located at 114 Broadway, across from the Opera House/Town Hall, The Chocolate Shop is an extremely pleasant place to be. It is a tingling shock of chocolate when you first enter the shop. Every elegant corner and shelf is loaded with wonders, wrapped and decorated with a ribbon. The whole world of sweet delights is there to welcome and tempt you. 

Barbara Chadsey has owned the shop for 13 years, “14 years in June,” she told us. “I bought shop when it was Deborah’s before. I thought: why not? The expertise was there.  I think it just came to be. I’ve always enjoyed  chocolate. I just decided.” 

It was an existing business, and Ms. Chadsey learned what it means to be a small business owner: you feel lucky to have your regulars and happy when new people walk through the door.

Said she, “We’re lucky to be busy. [This week] the weather is playing havoc with that. We should be busy today and we should be really busy on Valentine’s.”

She really wanted to say, “Basically, it is  just really lovely to have a shop in downtown Orangeville.” 

She talked abut their product, the one that is the chief attraction for many people. “They are many chocolate items hand made here  – hand made chocolate pieces in house. There were some recipes came with the shop. We are always adding new ideas and trying new flavours. Our philosophy is, if it works, it works and we love it.”

Ms. Chadsey has lived in Orangeville for many years and was when she bought the Chocolate Shop. 

Before she made the purchase, she was a travel agent. When we spoke to her this week, she had just come back from Australia, “where my daughter and my little granddaughter live. I was there for three weeks. There’s a 15-hour time difference – they’re ahead of us. But to deal with the jet lag, I’m used to it and you just get on with things once you’re back – you have to. It settles down pretty quickly.”

Of the changes she has made to the shop, moving it was notable. 

“When I bought the business it wasn’t even here; the building it was in was torn down and it’s now a parking lot. It was next to Juniper Restaurant, which is also not there. But this is a great location, right across from the theatre. I run the shop myself and three part-time people. I have been very fortunate with the people working for me. Of course, it’s a fun and  interesting place. 

“We use Callebaut chocolate from Belgium. We buy it in five-kilo bars. We don’t bring it in ourselves but get it from a distributor.”

To fully appreciate the value of this chocolate, a little history is in order. Callebaut, company in Belgium, is “couverture chocolate” used by top professional chefs and chocolates makers for its workability and its specific taste.  The Callebaut company’s chocolate is created from bean to product, roasting the whole bean, which gives the chocolate its full flavour, preserving all the succulent tastes and oils from the cocoa husk, for richness and distinction, as it has been doing for over a hundred years. Nowadays, whole bean roasting is used by artisans and fine chocolate makers too. It is the quality and workability that appeals so much to Ms. Chadsey for her many chocolate choices. Animals of many kinds are there in moulded  chocolate, sometimes to fit the season. 

And, of course, –  ah! – truffles. Dear oh dear, they are so beautiful, each one a separate experience, a perfect moment of contemplation about how happy taste buds can be. They are seriously dark with ginger and playful as mice with turned up noses. They are flavoured with brandy and champagne, fruit and much more. The hardest part is to decide which to buy on that particular day.

There is also almond bark, fudge, caramels, double stuffed oreos, peanut butter cups, peanut brittle, to mention some of their extensive range.

The shop is festooned with fun – silly signs, significant teddies and antique toys but all are set to enhance the ambiance, not to take home with you. 

As Ms. Chadsey assured us, “If you can’t eat it, it’s not for sale.”

Every purchase you make comes wrapped and ready as a gift or a treat for yourself. In a glass counter rest the many truffles, looking fresh and gorgeous. They sell by the piece and come in a white box, tucked in as you call out which ones you want. Then, a choice of ribbon colour to tie and decorate.

Of all there is see and consider, the sign making the appeal that should bring everyone to heel, says: “Save the Earth, it’s the only planet that makes chocolate.”

The Chocolate Shop is at 114 Broadway. For their hours of business and the photo gallery, check out their website at www.thechocolateshop.ca 

By the bye, in the summer, theirs is the best ice and the best value. A couple of chairs on the porch can accommodate the enjoyment, while watching Orangeville pass by.

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