Chocolate lover’s paradises around the world

Organic chocolate, all the rage these days, is the raison d’être of companies like Green & Black’s and, in the Pacific Northwest, Theo Chocolate. The ultimate in politically correct confectioner, Theo uses only fair trade-certified cacao (and other “socially and environmentally responsible" ingredients) and participates in a local “green power" initiative in which customers can score free chocolate by participating in a renewable energy credits project.

Named after the Latin term for the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao)—or, “food of the gods"—the company was started in 1994 by Joe Whinney. A stint as a conservation worker in Central America convinced him there was a better way to undertake both farming and food-making in the modern world. Theo’s factory tour starts in a classroom setting, where visitors are schooled in the basics of cacao growing and chocolate production, including a chance to taste “nibs" (roasted, hulled cacao beans) that constitute the primary raw material of all chocolate. Festooned with fluffy hair nets, they move onto the factory floor, making their way through the 13 different machines and processes that magically transform cacao pods into finished, packaged chocolate.

Further down the West Coast, in the Bay Area, Scharffenberger is a chocolatier on the rise. The chocolate comes from organic Brazilian cacao grown on an Amazon co-op that practices sustainable farming. Founded in 1996 by organic farmer and vintner John Scharffenberger and Bay Area physician Robert Steinberg, it’s a miracle the company even got off the ground. The pair used a home coffee grinder, electric mixer and hair dryer in Steinberg’s kitchen to test nearly 30 varieties of cacao beans for flavor.

“Robert provided the curiosity and patience of a scientist," Scharffenberger says. “My background in botanical anthropology gave me the opportunity to work with cacao and the indigenous communities that farm cacao." Located in an old brick warehouse, the Scharffenberger factory in the Berkeley flatlands is both a local landmark and chocoholic hangout, with free daily factory tours, chocolate clinics and a café that serves desserts to die for including chocolate pancakes and tribute cake filled with whipped chocolate ganache.

Lake Champlain Burlington may have made its mark with clothing factories, but the lakeshore burg also churns out some pretty fine chocolate. From almond butter crunch bars and baking chocolate to truffles and dark chocolate pecan caramel clusters, Lake Champlain creates a wide variety of sweet treats.

Tuscany is another region where chocolate making has risen to an art form. The area along the Arno River between Florence and Pisa has come to be known as the Chocolate Valley. The most celebrated is Amedei, founded by siblings Cecilia and Alessio Tessieri in 1990 and named after their grandmother. The astonishing Porcelana is Amedei’s most celebrated sweet, made from rare white Venezuelan cacao and one of the world’s most expensive chocolates. Amedei is a favorite of French President Nicholas Sarkozy, a man with a demonstrated penchant for things Italian.

Visitors must call ahead to arrange a visit to the Amedei factory, but other chocolate producers are open during regular business hours on an almost daily basis including the unique Mannori Espace in the town of Prato, where chocolate maestro Luca Mannori organizes classes and chocolate tastings.

One of the highpoints of the Chocolate Valley is the Cioccolato Vestri boutique and factory in Florence. Any chance to sink one’s teeth into Vestri’s tocco oriente, a thin slab of white chocolate generously infused with sesame seeds and Himalayan salt, will not be soon forgotten. Then there’s Roberto Catinari’s workshop in Agliana where wonderful-sounding confectionaries like tavolette, schiacciate and rustichelli are produced. If that's not enticing enough, read on to discover more choco-heavens that may be closer to home.

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