Got Chocolate?: New views and details about our delicious obsession
February 7, 2007 - The Montclair Times

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Attention Dark Chocoholics
May 18, 2006

For Susan Fine, opening a chocolate store was the only way to stop the calls. “I started out selling chocolate from my basement, and I was getting lots of calls from people asking to buy some,” Fine says. “It got to the point that I was petrified when the phone rang late at night because I was afraid it was somebody asking to come over for more chocolate.”

Fortunately, those days are over, and now everyone can get a hold of some quality dark chocolate at her new store, THE CHOCOLATE PATH, a beautiful little shop that opened recently in Lackawanna Plaza in Montclair. Selling what she calls “everyday dark chocolate,” the Montclair resident is fulfilling a passion that started more than 15 years ago when she first stumbled on the stuff. Then, she found it challenging to find good dark chocolate, especially in the suburbs. Now she’s trying to meet the demand of other dark-chocolate lovers like herself. So far, she’s carrying four lines, Chocolat Weiss, B.T. McElrath, Marie Belle and Plantation.

Fine sells toffees, truffles, hot chocolate and assorted dark chocolate treats. But it’s the origin bars, or single source chocolate from one location, such as Venezuela or Madagascar, that the real chocolate lovers are willing to travel for. “What I’m trying to create here is a little boutique of chocolates; the equivalent of a wine shop for chocoholics,” explains Fine. “The real dark chocolate aficionados want the bars.”

And don’t forget about the health benefits of dark chocolate. Because it has a higher cocoa content and less sugar, dark chocolate is more nutritious than milk chocolate. Fine says that recent studies have also found that dark chocolate is high in antioxidants, which help minimize bad cholesterol and lower the risk of heart disease. One of the bars Fine carries is extra healthy because it is 74 percent dark chocolate and also contains green tea. What could be better than discovering that something that seems so bad for you can be so good? -- Jacqueline Mroz

Susan Jeffery Fine had been dealing out of her basement. What she sold was pure -- straight from Columbia and Ecuador -- and entirely addictive. Now, instead of knocking at her door for a fix, clients -- new and old -- can visit Fine at The Chocolate Path, which opened last week at 26 Lackawanna Plaza, in a beautiful shared space with Under the Pavillion. Fine stocks a full line on what she describes as "Everyday Dark Chocolate From The World's Best Sources". Chocophiles may recognize brands like MarieBelle and B.T. McElrath, as well as the popular Plantations line. Dark chocolate is getting as sophisticated as wine, with different "varietals" and a "nose" according to a chocolate report from the New York Times last week...

"Soon we'll be seeking small-production chocolate whose aromas of mushrooms, wood, jasmine and leather can linger on the tongue for up to five minutes."

Fine was already on the trail of some chocolate from a former peach farm that was redolent of, yes, peaches. If you need an excuse to buy chocolate, The Chocolate Path (closed Mondays) is open tomorrow, in time for last-minute Valentine's Day purchases. Certain items like MarieBelle truffles only keep for a few days, but if you are planning to stock up on some everyday eating chocolate, Fine can point you in the right direction. Ask for the bumpy-looking MarieBelle bar -- it's a decadent dark chocolate version of a Nestle Crunch, but with crushed French crepe cookies. -- Liz George