As a wise woman once said, "There are two kinds of people in the world: those who love chocolate, and communists." Yet it's doubtful that even the most die-hard, sickle-wielding, card-carrying Red would object to the socially responsible tastiness of John & Kira's Chocolates. Rather, any self-respecting radical would support the "small chocolate revolution" spearheaded by co-founding/co-owning husband and wife team John Doyle and Kira Baker-Doyle.
On a bright but brisk morning in late November, the unassuming fa‡ade of an appropriately-colored mahogany building in Philadelphia offers little to suggest the bustling chocolate production plant housed within its walls. Wearing an apron and plastic hair guard, John answers the door and motions inward. In the warm, den-like kitchen, cream procured from local farmers heats in gleaming silver kettles so that pure Valrhona chocolate and any variety of natural ingredients may then be added. Ingredients form the foundation of the company; working bottom up, John and Kira brainstorm what local products may be used to both innovate or modify fun, fresh flavors (sprigs of mint harvested in local Philadelphia school Urban Nutrition Initiative gardens; raspberries, strawberries and lemongrass reaped from a collection of small farms; honey sourced from a part-time Valley Forge bee keeper, etc). Products unavailable locally, such as pistachios, tea, coffee and ginger, are sourced from cooperatives and organic farms alike. Such social responsibility forms the backbone of this local business.
Leading his visitors on through the labyrinth of stacked wooden boxes and rattling metal trolleys, John pauses on occasion to detail the various practical concerns of a small artisan company. As if on cue, a man manipulating a large pushcart laden with stacked boxes pauses in the entry way; John, eyeing the height of the door frame and the size of the load, quickly gives directions. Doyle smiles and offers a bemused shrug, underscoring "all the little details" inherent to trying, literally or figuratively, to get oneself in the door.
Yet John & Kira's Chocolates is decidedly across the proverbial threshold, thanks to a combination of sweat and serendipity. The company's story goes something like this: In early 1999, Boy meets Girl at White Dog Cafe. Boy and Girl realize mutual passion for food, social justice, environmental sustainability, and one another. Drawing on the natural partnership between chocolate and romance, the two embark on a joint venture to produce high-end chocolates with a social mission. The story sweetens in 2002, when, at a New York sustainability event exploring the politics of food, the team catches its big break: gastronomic great and Gourmet magazine editor Ruth Reichl falls, in her words, in "instant love" with the goodies. After being named by Reichl as the "most amazingly delicious chocolates [she's] ever tasted," John & Kira's chocolates grace the February 2003 Gourmet magazine cover; overnight, business no longer blooms, it booms.
Nowadays, the small collection of employees move in practiced efficiency to meet an ever-increasing demand. And no wonder. Seasonal items, such as the adorably kitschy calabacitas ("little pumpkins") - chocolate-covered figs stuffed with sinfully spicy whiskey clove ganache - are popular, and though a bit steep for the average student budget ($28 for a 15-piece box, $39 for a "bigger box" and $75 for a 56-piece large box), the simplistically elegant pine boxes, replete with festive ribbon and a hand-stamped wax seal, say "Happy Holidays" with both style and substance.
But like any chocoholic knows, it's what's on the inside (of the dignified box, of the crisp chocolate shell) that counts. And it is precisely these "insides" which merit the artisan chocolates national and international acclaim. Like a stereotypical father, the rigid exterior of each chocolate gives way to a soft and luxuriously rich center; standouts among the 10 standard flavors include the Drew Elementary Garden Mint (cool and fresh, a far-cry from your mother's preservative-laden patty), Glenn's Raspberry (bright and punchy), and Just Us! Bergamot (a seductively dark confection). Moreover, the small, shiny chocolate canvas of each individual square flaunts a particular symbol to denote its delectable insides (a single slash for caramelized lavender honey, a single circle for cinnamon pistachio, etc) - a must-have for those who meticulously plot the order of ingestion. Take note, however: all John & Kira's chocolates are created (and consumed as) equal, and social responsibility rarely proves this sweet.
