   Chuao’s Elegancia Jewelry Box
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Feb. 14 is the sweet spot on the calendar for Michael and Richard Antonorsi, founders of Chuao Chocolatier. Michael is the chocolatier in charge of production. Richard handles the sales and marketing. The Venezuelan brothers took the region of their homeland legendary for its cacao production for the name of their Carlsbad company, which they opened in September 2002.
Since then, Whole Foods Market, Henry’s, Crate and Barrel and Wild Oats are stocking Chuao chocolates. The natural stores are a good fit. The Antonorsis pair single-bean Venezuelan chocolate with exotic spices, herbs, nuts and fruits to create an all-natural, artisan confection.
The Antonorsis also have paired their chocolates with beverages to open five Chuao Chocolatier Cafes, in UTC, Del Mar, Encinitas, Carlsbad and the Irvine Spectrum. The cafes will be busy through the middle of the month; Valentine’s Day accounts for 20 percent of Chuao’s $2.7 million in annual sales, most of it from December through February.
As a chocolate for adult tastes, Chuao also goes nicely with adult beverages. “We have a relationship with a lot of wine shops at chocolate pairing events,” says Michael Antonorsi, a biomedical engineering graduate of UCSD. (By the way, for a sweeter pairing of chocolate and champagne, he suggests engineering the bubbly with a raspberry Chambord fortification.)
Neither Michael nor Richard is a Wonka; they intend to keep running Chuao themselves. The North County factory has 20 full-time employees along with a number of part-time workers; none is an oompah loompah. The production secret is simply Venezuelan — to adapt savory ingredients to gourmet chocolate for a memorable taste of sweetness and spice.
Nice for Valentine’s Day 2007 is Chuao’s signature chocolate collection, the Elegancia Jewelry Box — a red, two-drawer keepsake container of 32 bonbons ($60). Infused among the individual bonbons are passion fruit, banana, cabernet caramel, pasilla chili, cayenne pepper and Chevre goat cheese among other ingredients. “The Elegancia Jewelry Box releases just the right amount of endorphins for a romantic euphoric rush,” advises the biomedical engineer and chocolatier.
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