Haute chocolate
Spokane’s chocolate palate is becoming more refined. Last October, a new specialty chocolate shop opened downtown – On My Own, owned by Marta Johnson.
Johnson grew up on a farm outside of town, but heading into her twilight years, she said, she wanted to try something new. She thought there might be a market for high-end chocolates, so she called Deb Green, chef at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture’s café, about developing chocolates and confections for her store.
“She said yes and the rest is history,” Johnson said.
On My Own is one of several area businesses taking advantage of a growing interest in fine chocolates. It’s a trend that Green thinks has followed on the heels of a heightened taste for fine wines and cheeses. Johnson’s shop is located on Washington between Vino!, a specialty wine store, and Saunders Cheese Market.
“I think Spokane is just growing up,” Green said.
Green and Megan Poffenroth, her daughter and partner, set about developing new additions and flavors of chocolates and chocolate-based cookies to produce for Johnson. Poffenroth, who recently finished her studies at the San Francisco Baking Institute, developed an authentic Parisian macaroon now sold at On My Own.
Green said they have trouble keeping up with Johnson’s orders.
“People are a little more relaxed and a little less afraid of being decadent,” Green said of the store’s success.
Green said she and Poffenroth are planning to open a French café, Madeleine’s, in downtown Spokane next spring. They will carry some of the chocolates and confections created for On My Own.
Susan Davis has owned The Chocolate Apothecary in the Flour Mill for more than a year and sales have been strong. In addition to selling fine chocolates, she holds classes similar to those found at some wineries.
“We found a real ready and listening ear for that,” she said.
Davis attributes her success in part to recent studies touting chocolate’s health benefits.
In 2005, an American Heart Association study found evidence that dark chocolate may have cardiovascular benefits, including easing hypertension. Davis said most of the studies she’s familiar with require the cacao content to be 70 percent or higher for those health benefits. She carries several varieties of such very dark chocolates, she said, but also includes semi-sweet varieties for people transitioning away from milk chocolate. Though, if sweetness is your aim, The Chocolate Apothecary has that covered.
Latah Bistro on the Cheney-Spokane road has a more purist approach to chocolate. They don’t carry truffles, said owner Dave DuPree. Instead, they focus on unique chocolates ranging from light to dark that come in myriad flavors from fruit to chile. One of the most popular desserts uses broken bars of fine chocolates to create sample platters. Patrons can choose up to three types of the approximately 50 chocolates offered. Servers then give an explanation and history lesson of the chocolates they are consuming, similar to a wine tasting.
“I think people have finally gotten, in the United States, that Hershey’s is not a fine chocolate,” DuPree said.Spokandy has been a staple of Spokane’s sweet scene since 1913. Owner Todd Davis (no relation to Susan Davis) said that when the store was founded, it sold chocolate and cigars.
Spokandy has stayed in business by sticking to its roots, Davis said, but the company also keeps up with changing trends. A few years ago, when the Atkins diet was big, Spokandy promoted sugar-free, low-carb items. While sugar-free is still on the menu, Davis also sells a 72 percent-cacao-content dark chocolate for heart-conscious patrons.