Article Contributed on: 2/17/2009 4:28:45 PM
When entering Sisters Chocolat, one might be reminded of La Chocolaterie Maya, the small chocolaterie in the 2000 movie
Chocolat. The aroma is thick with the smell of white chocolate truffles, orange bon bons, Marry Me Mints and soft toffee. All the treats are homemade in the back of the shop at Sisters Chocolat -- 5630 Olde Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada -- just like they are in the movie.
On a recent visit three days before Valentine's Day, the busiest week of the year in the small shop, maraschino cherries wrapped in chocolate ganache are being carefully, but feverishly, dipped in yet another layer of dark chocolate.
For store owners
Sharon Shaundell, 47, of Littleton and
Tricia Redding, 42, of Wheat Ridge, it's piece by piece, batch by batch. It's dipping, drying and decorating to perfection for 12 hours a day the week prior to the most romantic day of the year.
"It's a process," Shaundell said, explaining how chocolate is temperamental and if it's not at 90 degrees the chocolate will appear dull, not shiny."You don't want dull," Shandell said. "It's unappealing."
As the name implies, the two are sisters who purposely left the "e" off the end of chocolate, opting for the French version of the word -- like in their favorite movie -- a pronunciation that rolls off the tongue like a smooth piece of melting chocolat.
The sisters, who opened up shop in 2007, have baking in their blood. Their mother and grandmothers baked and most of their top-secret chocolate recipes have been passed down through the family.
"People come in and say your chocolate is better than Godiva," Redding said, attributing that to the fact the chocolate is made in the store. "We laugh, but they're serious."
Although they are tight-lipped about how they get their chocolate so decadent, they did reveal how they make their own vanilla, which gives it an extra sweet taste. It's fermented for eight months and is made with alcohol.
While it isn't a fluke how their chocolate is perfected, getting in the business was. The store was previously G & G Confectionery under different ownership. A friend who owned the building suggested the sisters look into re-opening the chocolate shop after it stood empty for eight months. The sisters had previous entrepreneurial experience and always wanted to open a restaurant together, but didn't have professional chocolatier skills. Nevertheless, they practiced and when it came to actually opening a store, they opted for a girly boutique, overflowing with pink gift baskets, bite-size confections and most recently lingerie.
"If you're in a hurry, you're not in the right place," Suandell said, of the store that can suck shoppers in and make them want to linger, sneaking a peek of the sisters hard at work in the back.
Chocolates are always wrapped, even if the shopper is going to unwrap it and eat it right after leaving the store.
"We don't like people going out the door without it looking nice," Suandell said.
The women love making lives sweeter.
"We must because we're sure not making money," Redding said, as the sisters laughed in unison. Laughter is a staple at the store almost as much as the chocolate. Life, they admit, couldn't get much better for the close-knit sisters, unless maybe Johnny Depp joined them in the kitchen.
| Sisters Chocolat |
| 5630 Olde Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada303-420-6261 |