A lot of our friends here on the Blogolate have been with us since the “Cupcake Cart” days, and a few others got to know us at the Thanksgiving Point Farmer’s Market in Lehi. Fewer still know us from the days of Ange baking cookies and cupcakes in our home kitchen for orders all over the valley.  But at almost every   phase of our growth, we have been asked some recurring questions. So, I’ve decided to compose a little FAQ’s:

How long have you guys been around? Well, the official corporation, The Chocolate, was founded in January 2008.  But the venture began about a year before that.  In fact, I remember a specific incident when she was tinkering with her “Brooklyn Blackout” recipe and brought it into my work so some of my coworkers could sample and give feedback. A British co-worker kept taking savory little bites and remarking “that’s good sponge”, in his thick British accent. We still to this day try to mimic that accent when we’re eating “good sponge”.

Where were you guys before you had the cafe? Weren’t you in the mall? Ange started production in early 2007 in our home kitchen, using a good ol’ General Electric gas oven, and a Kitchenaid mixer. As demand started to pick up, we outgrew the kitchen and had to build a commercial kitchen as an addition to our house. That happened in November, 2008. It had its own separate entrance, all stainless-steel appliances, and we jumped through all the hoops to get it commercially licensed and everything.

We were then ready to handle a much greater level of production, so instead of opening a storefront (which we wanted to and were inches from inking a deal in Draper), we decided to build the business more conservatively and rent a Kiosk at University Mall. This opened up all kinds of doors, and is really when our brand started to become  recognizable. Our brand manager has done a fantastic job of this. Good thing we’ve had great consultants along the way. From there, Nordstrom started carrying our items and then we did the Thanksgiving Point Farmer’s Market. After that, we set our sites on our storefront.

Whose idea was  The Chocolate? The Chocolate is 100% Ange’s idea.  About 3 years ago, after we had been married for just a few months, Ange and I had what we now view as a life-changing conversation. She felt like she didn’t have “her thing” that she was passionate about. She had to give up going back to work in Washington DC in order to stay here and marry me (I’ve met some of those boring DC guys, she got the better end of the deal :P), her friends were all up in Salt Lake County, or California, or Arizona. So here she is, married to this guy in Lehi, Utah, who is from Highland, Utah, and who has no intention of ever living anywhere else.  I had my great sales job I was passionate about, but she didn’t have “her thing.”

So we sat down and discussed it, and I asked what she’d do if she could do anything? It took only moments for her to respond with “I’d bake.” For her whole life, she has wanted to be a baker. After a few more days, she shared her vision with what The Chocolate would be named and the type of experience it would be. So my reaction was, “Let’s do it!” and the process began.

I then watched Ange study magazines, books, and everything she could find about chocolate desserts, pastries, and other fine desserts.  She was on fire. She got a job at a bakery to refine her skills, she took classes in Utah and New York, and was instructed by some of the finest instructors in the country. We did cross country trips for research.

We have faced more than a few setbacks or roadblocks along the way, but she has remained focused and determined to fulfill this dream and see the cafe become a reality. Now, here we are, the cafe has been open for about 6 weeks. People are coming to the cafe and having FUN, just like we envisioned all along. It’s mind boggling sometimes that “her thing,” this dream she has, has so perfectly come together.

So this ends part 1 of my FAQ’s. If people start asking more frequent questions, I suppose I can put in a part 2.

Craig (The Husband)