French Broad Chocolates handcrafts artisanal chocolates and pastries featuring superb local and organic ingredients. The owners, Jael and Dan Rhatigan, learned chocolate making from the ground up (literally). They started their chocolate journey in Costa Rica, where they bought and breathed life into an abandoned cacao farm. Not long afterward, they opened Bread and Chocolate, a restaurant on the Caribbean coast. In 2006, they moved to Asheville (lucky us), intent on making their own chocolates.

The fruits of their labors can be gauged by the long lines you see on South Lexington outside their chocolate shop, French Broad Chocolate Lounge, on just about any night in Asheville. At the Chocolate Lounge, you can nibble a piece of chocolate cake while sipping a glass of Pinot Noir or enjoy a dense cacao nib brownie perfectly complementing the creamy stout set in front of you. Their latest venture has been establishing their very own “from the bean” chocolate-making factory. Drop by 821 Riverside Dr. Suite 199 for a tour to see how real chocolate is made.