Every Town Needs a Chocolate Shop
La Châtelaine Chocolate Company brings French sophistication to sweet treats
Photography by Janie Osborne
The simple white door to La Châtelaine
Chocolate Company is deceiving. Located well
beyond the beaten path of Bozeman, Montana’s
historic downtown — with its high-end boutiques,
art galleries and eateries — it is easy to miss this
Frenchy artisanal chocolaterie. Centered in a cluster
of funky specialty shops on the innocuous
middle side of West Main Street, the small white
building is tucked beneath a row of towering
pines. It’s plain on the outside, but open the door
and the aroma of chocolate envelops you.
Inside, the cocoa-colored walls are as warm
as the choclatiers’ special blend of hot chocolate.
Lively Matisse-inspired oranges, blues and yellows
color the store, and clear glass cases display
an array of handmade chocolates as auspiciously
as gems at a jewelers.
There are intricately molded and painted
delectables of all flavors and shapes. Rose-shaped
and red-tinted Geranium is a floral burst in the
mouth, memorable as a sunny summer day. A
Caramel Brulé is a delicately polka-dotted square
filled with burnt caramel and dark chocolate.
A huckleberry pate de fruits, layered with dark
chocolate ganache and covered with more dark
chocolate puts a new spin on the typical Montana
candy.
Perusing the mouth-watering selection, all the
clichés apply: Like a kid in a candy store. Food of
the gods. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Life is like a box of chocolates …
At La Châtelaine the chocolate is a lovely design of contrast
— complex and sweet. That blend can be attributed to the
owners, Shannon and Jean-Pierre Wlady Grochowski, who
approach their business with keen culinary knowledge and
a pure love of chocolat. When posed with the question “Why
chocolate, why Bozeman?,” Shannon waxes poetic about her
love of food, of cooking, of savoring flavors. She muses on
the nuance of the various exotic cacao she uses as a base for
each artful morsel in the store. The Madagascar, priced like
gold, holds a delicate and fruity spice. The Dominican cocoa
is earthy and smooth. The Tanzanian is almost bitter.
Wlady’s explanation is simpler: “Every town needs a
chocolate shop.”
With that notion, the couple began researching the idea in
2005 — traveling, interviewing other confectioners, developing
a business plan. They enrolled in an entrepreneur course
and embraced the idea of “bootstrapping” their business,
or starting with the basic necessities and not accruing debt
before establishing an income.
“Wlady and I wanted to embrace what is artisan about
this business by knowing every step in the process.”
Just as with the tempering of chocolate and cream for
ganache, timing is everything. When the store opened in
2006, the trendy craving for fancy artisanal chocolates was
growing in popularity in this country. The American Medical
Association cited a study proving that a small amount of
chocolate consumed daily will reduce blood pressure levels.
In 2004, Americans consumed 3.1 billion pounds of chocolate,
according to American Demographics website. The first
year La Châtelaine opened, their production consumed 800
pounds of raw chocolate; the second year usage increased to
2,300 pounds.
“Chocolate is the new fashion in the U.S., but in Paris it’s
never been fashionable; it’s a staple of life,” says the Parisianborn
Wlady, who has lived in Bozeman since 1993. He speaks
of a childhood laced with his mother’s and grandmother’s
recipes, cooking together and the love of the kitchen. In
France, he says, a typical after-school snack was a square of
chocolate pressed between the pillowy warmth of a fresh
baguette. “No one ever told us not to eat another piece of
chocolate; it’s just a way of life.”
Now in his own kitchen at the chocolaterie, the loud entry
bell of the front door rings often as customers come and go.
Pastry chef Kathryn Jordan calls out his name to help with
some equipment. He often spends the early morning preparing
sweets and the afternoons working on increasing La
Châtelaine’s wholesale accounts.
“This business wouldn’t be possible without Shannon
and Wlady,” Jordan interjects, while waiting for the guitar
slicer to pass through a sheet of amber-colored caramel.
The spare kitchen is a stark contrast to the warm atmosphere
in the storefront. The pots aren’t fancy and burners aren’t high-ouput on a massive professional range. Some are
electric hot plates, as simple as a college dorm room. Yet the
chocolates produced from this industrial space are rich and
luxurious. Using only the finest fresh ingredients and keeping
each batch small, the Grochowskis pride themselves on
quality; they refuse to cut corners in order to make a higher
profit.
In an upper-level of the kitchen, Shannon prepares
ganache for a batch of pink champagne truffles.
“The real art is trying to figure out a signature flavor,”
says Shannon, measuring and pouring several cups of raw
cocoa into a stainless steel bowl. She sets the bowl over a pot
of bowling water to melt slowly, without scalding — it’s easy
to burn the cocoa and ruin its natural flavor, she notes. She
checks the temperature on the heavy cream that simmers on
another burner; the exact temperature of the ingredients, utensils,
even of the entire room (La Châtelaine’s kitchen remains
at a steady 67 degrees) is essential to making a smooth, glossy
ganache. Though straightforward, making chocolate is a delicate
process; a mistake can mean cooling, reheating, or worse,
tossing out the batch and starting all over again. She’s tried
100 different recipes for ganache, developing her own style
and flavor. With perfect timing, temperature and method, the
mixture will become glossy. Shannon will chill it in the refrigerator
and later spoon it and roll it lightly into balls, then dust
it with pink granulated sugar.
“I’ve learned through trial and error that chocolate
demands respect and patience,” Shannon remarks ruefully.
Rush the process and it will ruin a batch, she knows this
from experience. With that maxim in mind, she tempers and
infuses alluring ingredients — lavender, jasmine, chili powder
— to different mixtures of cocoa the way a painter might add
another layer of color to a painting. The result is delicious.
The most popular offerings at La Châtelaine are the
hand-rolled truffles and the sea salt caramels. Shannon’s own
favorite is the Provence — French-imported lavender honey
blended with milk chocolate and topped with a candied
rose petal. It reminds her of a trip to France, when she and
Wlady toured Europe to “research” its best chocolate shops.
The turning point for her came in Perugia, Italy, at the World Chocolate Festival. They encountered hundreds of chocolatiers
and cacao growers sharing recipes and techniques with
the intention of bolstering the industry and love of chocolate.
At that point, she recalls, she realized that the making of La
Châtelaine was a reality. The name of the shop reflects the selfactualization
of that moment: La Châtelaine translates to “the
mistress or owner of the castle.”
The flavors of La Châtelaine’s sweets conjure memories
for customers also. One Christmas, a woman sent half a dozen
boxes of chocolates to companions she had traveled with
through the south of France with a note that read: “With each
bite I hope you find a little bit of that trip in this chocolate.”
Although Shannon and Wlady both relish the intricacies
in the culture of chocolate, they are quick to say that they are
not snobs about their craft.
“We want people to feel as if they are reliving an experience
they’ve had when they bite into a piece of our chocolates,
or to travel vicariously through the flavor,” says Shannon.
They liken the different cocoas to varietals of wine — the
distinct characteristics of Valrhona chocolate compared to
the Tanzanian are akin to comparing a Malbec to a Pinot noir
grape. Both are cocoa, but worlds apart in flavor, just as different
grapes are in wine. Roasting cacao, like blending grapes, is
an art, comments Shannon.
Yet they also want customers to be comfortable asking
questions about the products and to feel at ease in the out-ofthe-
way little shop.
“We make beautiful chocolates and it just makes people
happy,” Wlady quips, reaching into the display case for a
heart-shaped cherry delight. He smiles like a kid in a candy
shop before he pops the chocolate into his mouth.BSJ
Raspberry Thyme Truffles
Makes approximately 35 truffles
7.5 ounces of dark chocolate (Use the best chocolate you
can find such as Valrhona or Scharffen Berger — check
the ingredient label for necessary cocoa butter and liquor,
and lecithin. Avoid any chocolate containing vanillin or
substitutes for cocoa butter)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
(never melted)
1/4 cup raspberry puree
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
unsweetened cocoa powder (for dusting)
Simmer cream and raspberry puree. Remove from heat and
add thyme leaves. Steep for 20-30 minutes.
Melt chocolate in
bowl over saucepan
of simmering water.
Remove bowl from
heat and let cool for
5 minutes.
Add cream mixture
to chocolate and
whisk until incorporated.
Add butter
and whisk until no
lumps remain.
Chill in refrigerator
for three hours or longer, until stiff enough to form balls.
When forming balls, do not overwork. Place balls onto lined
cookie sheet.
Dipping:
Pour one tablespoon of melted chocolate into the palm of one
hand. Roll one ball with free hand into the melted chocolate.
Think of it as painting. Avoid too much chocolate coating.
Carefully drop the ball into a bowl of cocoa powder. Roll ball
gently with a fork. Remove and place on cookie sheet. Repeat
process for other truffles.
La Châtelaine Spicy Hot Chocolat
Or Chocolat Chaud Makes 2 Cups
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup chocolate sauce
4 tablespoons grated or shaved dark chocolate, 65% or
higher
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1/8 teaspoon fleur de sel, such as Camargue
Bring milk to a simmer in saucepan over medium heat. Stir in
chocolate sauce, grated dark chocolate, ancho chile powder,
and fleur de sel. Using a frothing tool, whisk all ingredients
until chocolate has melted. Pour into cups and top with fresh
whipping cream or crème fraîche.
*French children and adults drink their morning ritual of chocolat
chaud for petit dejuenuer and for their afternoon goûter. |
