Great news, Chicago sweet tooths! Hotel Chocolat, the renowned UK-based cacao grower and chocolatier, is opening its first-ever U.S. locations after three decades in the business—and they're happening in Chicago.
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Hotel Chocolat will debut its pair of Chicago-based retail shops this month: one at 3334 North Southport in Lakeview and the other at 900 West Armitage in Lincoln Park. The Illinois outposts will join the brand's more than 150 locations, which span Ireland, Japan, St. Lucia, Gibraltar and its native United Kingdom.
"Bringing together the world of chocolate luxury and sustainable cocoa farming," the stores will feature a wide range of Hotel Chocolat offerings—from beverages like chocolate shakes, coffee and tea to bites including chocolatey pastries and confections—as well as the brand's famed hot chocolate machine: the Velvetiser, which makes chocolatier-crafted hot chocolate flakes at the touch of a button. The new shops will serve the brand’s signature drinkable chocolate in eighteen yummy-sounding flavors, like Black Forest Gateau and salted caramel.
Even more exciting for the truly chocolate obsessed: consumers get to add a drizzle of liquid chocolate—on tap, mind you!—to their ice cream or baked goods for an extra-indulgent dining experience. Other immersive touches include a "Wall of Chocolate,]" featuring 100 Hotel Chocolat recipes ranging from fruity lemon curd to nutty praline, plus educational opportunities to inform visitors about the chocolate company's gentle farming initiatives and what it takes to grow sustainable cacao.
The brand will also be leaning into its new Chicago setting by collaborating with local partners on additional cafe and retail offerings. These include James Beard Award-winning chef Greg Wade and his popular Publican Quality Bread, who will be crafting a pastry lineup of banana bread and other signature baked goods. Metric Coffee and Spirit Tea will be responsible for the cafe’s lattes, cold brews, matcha and tea offerings, among others.
“Hotel Chocolat is on a mission to reinvent chocolate globally—transforming the way it is enjoyed with unique formats and flavors, breaking free from the norms of heritage chocolate,” said Angus Thirlwell, President and Founder of Hotel Chocolat, in an official statement. “We are delighted to bring Hotel Chocolat to the vibrant city of Chicago and introduce a new kind of elevated chocolate experience for people to fall in love with.”