Mendocino
Chocolate Company
Story
by K. Andarin Arvola
Imagine having
to taste chocolate? To keep tasting it to discern each and every
flavor, each distinctive combination of ingredients and texture?
There’s
no sympathy from friends for the arduous research.
Mendocino Chocolate Company started about twenty-five years ago in
the original owner’s kitchen, with only two truffles. Tasting
then would have been easier. Today there are more than twenty-five
varieties at any one time. During the holiday season it can reach thirty-five
truffles.
Roughly fifteen years ago, after several years in Mendocino the company
moved to Fort Bragg. The Keatons, Richard and Julie, are the third
owners and for years worked out of a small space on the north end of
Fort Bragg.
What they needed was a new location with more retail and kitchen space.
Just about that time the Bank of America in Fort Bragg divided their
building to create new retail space. The Keatons moved in two years
ago.
“Our family has been coming to the North Coast all through my
childhood. We owned a little piece of property on the ocean where we
used to camp,” Richard states.
It’s definitely a family business. “We started a little
late with kids,” says Richard, a bit bemused. “I was forty-nine
years-old and now we have six girls from ages seven to fourteen.”
Danielle, fourteen, has helped out since she was ten. “She makes
some items in the kitchen and is very entrepreneurial,” says
Richard.
Sarah, thirteen, loves to come and hang out with mom. “She’s
interested in horses,” Julie adds.
Mackenzie, twelve, likes working in the kitchen making Oreo cookies
and chocolate whales.
Just now, Mikhaila, nine, wants to be an illustrator. “She’s
the budding artist in our family,” Richard says.
Hope, who is also nine, is athletic and loves the outdoors. She and
Richard like to bake together.
“Analiese is the seven-year-old comedian and naturally witty,” Richard
explains. “She loves horses and has a Mona Lisa smile.”
All the girls are adopted from Asian countries; Danielle and Sara are
from China; Mackenzie, Mikhaila and Hope are from Cambodia, and Analiese
is from Vietnam.
“We decided on one,” Julie laughs. “One was so great
we wanted another child.”
“We have the greatest kids in the world,” Richard says
with wonder.
Julie considers her previous work at an adoption agency as a way to
give back for their own good fortune, helping more kids find homes. “They’re
what it’s all about. All this other stuff (their businesses)
is so we can take care of them.”
“We’re in this business by accident,” Richard continues.
They knew the former owners wanted to sell, and were already in negotiation
on a deal. Richard mentioned to call him if the deal fell apart. A
month later it did. “This year has been a challenge,” Richard
reveals. “But over all it’s been good.”
As if six girls and Mendocino Chocolate Company isn’t enough,
the Keatons have owned the Seabird Lodge since 1984. “Just behind
Homestyle Cafe,” Richard says [of its Fort Bragg location].
Julie tells me they like to take under-performing businesses and have
them reach their potential. “With Mendocino Chocolate we’ve
upgraded the quality to meet consumer expectations, as we knew we would.
They get their chocolate from Guittard, a Bay Area company. The cacao
content is from thirty-eight percent to seventy-two percent.
Here’s something to think about. They get pallets of chocolate.
Pallets. The chocolate ranges in size from ten-pound bars to quarter-sized
wafers. They use this to make their individual chocolate products.
Originals and truffles
You can hardly call them “standards” but there’s
a large variety of chocolates they make regularly. Truffles probably
reign supreme. They’re nearly everyone’s decadent favorite.
Plus, they’re beautiful.
“They’re art in a box,” Julie says.
Individually decorated, they have truffles any time of the year, with
special holiday designs for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s
and Mother’s Day favorites for everyone.
I tell her I missed their chocolate tasting on October 1. Julie laughs
again, “We have a chocolate tasting every day.” Good thing,
since research is part of my job description.
It’s hard to imagine, but I ask if there’s anyone who doesn’t
like chocolate. “Once in a while,” Julie informs me. “And
it’s always a guy. We can usually turn him around.”
We wander over to the fudge counter. I tell Richard and Julie I’m
a fan of dark chocolate with nuts and chews. “Ah,” says
Richard. He walks directly to the Mochaccino with toffee bits. Ah,
is right. Silky smooth and then that crunch. I have trouble thinking
for a moment, lost in the sensation. I look up, and Richard and Julie
are smiling at each other and me.
Another very well-received item is a salted caramel, enrobed in dark
chocolate, then sprinkled with Himalayan salt.
Yikes! Sign me up.
“It’s a great place to work. You get to make everyone happy
who walks in the door,” Julie says. “They come in in a
good mood and leave in any even better mood.”
The Keatons like to think up new chocolates. Richard describes the
Azteca truffle—milk chocolate center with cinnamon, decorated
with chocolate nibs. Nibs are chocolate beans that have been crushed.
If ginger is on your taste list, the Ginger truffle is milk chocolate
with ginger root, oil and flavoring, then topped with candied ginger.
Makes my mouth water.
In a nod to Asia, the Chai truffle is another milk chocolate with chai
tea. “It’s better than buying a candy bar.” says
Julie.
The Pacific Fire truffle is a dark chocolate with a hint of cayenne
pepper.
Custom
They customize products for a variety of individuals and businesses.
For instance, their products are at an area Chocolate and Wine event,
and they made chocolate bars for the local production of Willy Wonka
and the Chocolate Factory.
It’s always a treat to get a small chocolate on your pillow
when staying at an inn, and Mendocino Chocolate Company provides
them. And they prepare baked goods for local hotels and inns for
their continental breakfasts.
Stanford Inn in Mendocino orders a vegan chocolate. Julie tells me
they can’t use milk chocolate so they use dark chocolate.
Weddings and anniversaries often call for specially designed chocolates. “We
can decorate to match the colors of a wedding,” Julie says.
An almost endless variety of shapes is available. Custom molds can
be made; if someone wants their company logo on a chocolate, they can
have it.
Some of the chocolate bars are made from single-origin chocolate, which,
Julie explains, is usually from a particular place or region; coffee
from Brazil has a distinct flavor, and so do its chocolates.
What’s taken off the most are their toffees, Richard tells me.
Not only do they have what most people would think of as toffee they
have pecan toffee, amaretto toffee and coffee toffee.
Those on sugar-free diets can still have their chocolate—and
eat it, too.
Richard shares a memorable (because of the distance) order for a Bahrain
couple’s wedding favors; the following year they ordered candy
with blue decorations for their first-born son.
Oompa-Loompas
Oompa-Loompas are the workers who make the chocolates in Willy Wonka
and the Chocolate Factory. There are Oompa-Loompas at work in Mendocino
Chocolate Company, too. Alice Bauer is in her eighth year at the business;
she sells and makes chocolates and comes up with new flavor ideas.
Carol Torango has worked at the chocolate company for almost four years,
in both stores, and also lives in Fort Bragg. “It’s a fun
place to work. At first I had to taste everything, even though I wasn’t
ever a big candy fan,” Torango states. “The toughest part
of the job is the cookies and bundt cakes.”
Born and raised in Fort Bragg, Nancy James has been working at Mendocino
Chocolate Company for about seven years. She has a drawer full of colored
confections used to decorate the truffles. Some molds are “painted” before
they’re filled with chocolate. “I’ve always liked
arts and crafts. My family is artistic,” Nancy shares. Indeed,
her apron is that of an artist, smeared with the colors of the confections,
and chocolate.
Two stainless steel bowls of chocolate, milk and dark, are swirling
in front of us. Both bowls are to temper the chocolate. It’s
a fairly involved process but basically Nancy explains that, “If
you get a candy bar that’s cloudy it indicates the chocolate
hasn’t been properly tempered.”
Also, tempered chocolate can be worked with easily, Nancy adds. “If
it’s not tempered at all, it will start melting in your hand
before you can even eat it.
“People think chocolate is chocolate but it’s really pretty
scientific,” Nancy says.
Then there’s the enrobing machine. It’s what the machine
does to the truffles; they pass through a delicate curtain of chocolate.
Nancy then decorates the truffles.
Seasonal favorites
Any season of the year lends itself to speciality chocolates. There
are truffles like Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie, Cabot Cove Maple,
Eggnog, and Butter Rum.
All of the truffles are decorated by hand for the upcoming holiday
season. Another favorite that people wait for is the Pumpkin Fudge
which they only have in October, November and December. Julie says, “You
need to enjoy it while it’s here because then—it’s
gone!”
What the Keatons call novelties are not only chocolate but often [the
touch of artistry that] celebrates a season, such as autumn leaves,
or sea shells in summer. “We celebrate all sorts of things here.” Julie
pauses to think. “Maybe not Ground Hog Day.”
Sharing
It’s great to share the good things of life, and chocolate is
no exception. Friends, neighbors, relatives out of state, or business
clients are just a few examples of people who can receive a mail-order
box from Mendocino Chocolate Company.
As we talk, Julie is individually wrapping and packing thirty-six of
Fort Bragg’s very own large bundt cakes for clients of a southern
California heating and refrigeration company. “It’s the
ease of doing it that people like.”
Cookies are often a corporate gift. Real estate agents often give their
cookies to new owners and on the first anniversary of a sale. The clever
Cookies in a Crate are mail-order only.
People remember you for this, Julie offers, a seemingly little gesture
that makes the company extraordinary. “All they have to do is
send me a list of names and addresses.” She concludes, “Even
in this economy it’s nice to treat yourself or friends to something
that’s a luxury.”
Mendocino Chocolate Company
Richard and Julie Keaton
232 North Main Street
Fort Bragg CA 95437
707-964-8800
In Mendocino
Just off Lansing Street
707-937-1107
www.mendocino-chocolate.com |