Kakao Chocolate

Best Chocolate

This past spring Brian Pelletier dared to do what most of us only dream: When he heard Kakao Chocolate was up for sale, he promptly ditched his corporate desk job, rented space on Cherokee Street and devoted himself to mastering the art and science of chocolate-making. Using only natural ingredients — and no corn syrup! — and taking care to dip each truffle by hand, Pelletier has been experimenting with a wide range of flavors: vanilla, lavender, mint, chili pepper, Turkish coffee, sea salt, chai, rose petals, Maker's Mark. He has learned how to make marshmallows and dragées (chocolate-coated almonds). He has explored the frontier between caramel and toffee. Most miraculously of all, he's discovered how to make a half-inch cube of chocolate melt on the tip of your tongue and suffuse your entire body with pure joy.