Chocoholics anonymous
Restaurant vet ready to feed your addiction
PROFILE. Two huge cauldrons of what looks like thick, dark chocolate ganache sit in the windows, but there’s no sign outside Chocolee. It’s opening day, and although there’s nothing denoting this new South End chocolatier, the grapevine has been buzzing.
“We’ve had fans coming from as far as Sudbury and Natick,” says Annie Chan as she busies with trays of luscious chocolates. Fans, that is, of the store’s owner, Lee Napoli, one of Boston’s best-loved pastry chefs. A big bouquet of flowers sits on a counter. It’s from Sandrine’s Bistro in Cambridge, one of many names on Napoli’s résumé: Icarus, Maison Robert, Harvest, Umbria, Bricco, goes the veritable dining who’s-who. Sign or no sign, with Valentine’s Day here, Chocolee is sure to be off to a flying start. Lee and Annie both wear a look of “bring it on.” They pulled an all-nighter before opening, making the chocolate fresher-than-fresh — “I don’t want to add preservatives,” says Napoli wincing in disgust — chocolates that sit in the display.
“By four,” says Napoli, “I said, ‘Let’s get at least an hour of sleep before we open.’” Chan curled up in the office, Napoli in her car.
Chocolee — no awards for deconstructing the name — is a tiny, perfect neighborhood chocolate store. Like the one in the movie “Chocolat,” it’s filled with intriguing concoctions, like a stunning Moroccan mint tea truffle (mint, green tea and biter chocolate in equally strong, heavenly blasts) and a poblano pepper truffle (hot, peppery and addictive), along with more traditional tastes, like a smooth and buttery dark and white choc truffle and milk chocolate-coated soft caramel.
There’s a baker’s dozen different flavors today; those will change regularly. Big luscious truffles cost $2.25 per piece; chocolates are $40 per pound.
Now the pair has to get going on the chocolate hearts and cupid lollipops for Valentine’s. Anything for the boys, we wonder?
“Hey, we have hot pepper truffles,” chips in Chan. “How manly can you get?”
Oh, and the sign? Napoli missed the application date at city hall. But, come March, she says, there will be a sign.
Chocolee
83 Pembroke St., Boston
Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sun., 10 a.m.- 6 p.m.
617-236-0606
www.chocoleechocolates.com