Say Hello to Bissinger’s

I recently had the amazing opportunity to sit down with some of the team at Bissinger’s Handcrafted Chocolatier.  I’m sipping a cup of ginger peach tea at the Central West End location, “The chocolate experience” location.  And that’s what it is, not just a little store front, but a recently expanded café.  Cozy yet sophisticated, it is an experience.  It is what you imagine when you close your eyes while nibbling on a piece of chocolate,  hoping that you’ll awaken to find yourself  in a calm, soothing, dark wood café with Bailey’s in your coffee, a plate full of exotic truffles and friends nearby to appreciate the mellow music with you… It is the total chocolate experience.

 Amanda, Jessica and Kate tell me about the olive oil in their Kreta Olive Oil truffle.  It’s from Crete, up on a high hill only accessible by donkeys, and the ripe olives are picked before they ever hit the ground.  We also chat about the blackberries, they come from a farm in the pacific north west.  They gush about the new wine grapes (which incidentally don’t gush when you eat them, but oh are they good).  And I just have to ask about the gummy pandas (they won a SOFI award btw).

I’ve always thought of Bissinger’s as a huge national chain, but I am reminded it is a small local operation with roots that reach back to Europe in the 1600s.  Their rich tradition has remained.  The “Bissinger Family Cookbook” still exists and the secret recipes are still in use.  The natural ingredients are handmade and hand striped in a world of artificial and machine made.  Everything Bissinger’s is, and will be goes back to the original values and ideals and only if it matches up will it be created.   Most new ideas, from various truffles, to the wine grapes, to their wine label (did you know they have their own wine label?) to this new location, have been born in the brain of CEO Ken Kellerhals and crafted by a team, headed by Chief Chocolatier Dave Owens. 

Next month I get to interview the famous Dave Owens, so stay tuned for that.  But make your way to the CWE and say “hello” to Bissinger’s (maybe for their monthly wine and chocolate pairing).  It will surely be An Experience.