Coming soon: Madre Chocolate's retail shop and cacao cafe in Chinatown

November 4, 2013

Martha Cheng,

Madre Chocolate's new shop in Chinatown

Soon, you'll be able to watch chocolate being made from bean to bar right in the middle of Chinatown. Even better, you'll be able to eat it, too.

Madre Chocolate is opening a cacao cafe and chocolate shop on Pauahi Street. The retail space opens tomorrow, November 5, offering Madre's award-winning chocolate bars: new flavors like the spiced coconut pecan to favorites such as the 100-percent Hawaiian chocolate and passionfruit, and the one-of-a-kind triple cacao bar, blending smooth dark chocolate with tangy cacao fruit and crunchy nibs.

The cafe and chocolate production facility will open later—co-founder Nat Bletter is aiming for early 2014. In the open courtyard out back, he hopes to serve a sweet and savory menu inspired by the cacao-growing regions that Madre sources from, such as Mexico, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Taiwan, Ecuador and Peru. To sip: hot and cold chocolate drinks, of course, along with beer and wine to match with the chocolate.

And once Madre builds out chocolate production in the new space, it will offer chocolate-making tours and classes. It's all part of Bletter and other local chocolate-makers' vision to make Hawaii the Napa of chocolate.