The Humble Gourmand

Hard to resist the packaging, ain't it?

Shelf after shelf of goodness at Biagio Fine Chocolate in Washington

You’d walk directly past Biagio Fine Chocolate if you weren’t slowly making your way up 18th St. in Washington, scrap of paper with scribbled address in hand, scanning carefully for your much-anticipated destination.

That’s just what many chocolate lovers – “supertasters” and novices alike — are doing these days: seeking out the tiny basement enclave tucked between D.C.’s bustling Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan neighborhoods. They’re looking for a chance to experience the darkest chocolate they’ve ever encountered; hunting down the top-rated bars from around the globe; curious about chocolate infused with chiles, wasabi, and that now-ubiquitous bacon bar. Increasingly, they are knowledgeable about chocolate and demand to know how their treats came to be, enticingly packaged on the shelf, beckoning in brightly colored boxes.

Biagio is a pioneer of the new, decentralized chocolate movement, supporting the shift from large-scale and segmented production methods to smaller, “bean-to-bar” operations (where chocolate-makers purchase their cocoa beans, roast and grind them, flavor the chocolate, and form it into bars).

Biagio is also the name of the shop’s owner, Biagio Abbatiello — a self-described chocophile since youth. When his birthday rolled around each year, “it had to be chocolate everything,” he says, smiling.

“Above all else, chocolate is fun. It always evokes memories and makes you think of good times.”

In his year in the small, intimate space on 18th St. — its wine cellar-like conditions ideal for chocolate storage — he has built a collection sourced from all over the world. One wall displays the work of American chocolatiers, an up-and-coming group now competing on stronger footing with their traditional European counterparts in the face of dollar weakness and euro strength. A climate-controlled glass enclosure showcases loose chocolates, where bestsellers include the fleur de sel caramel (a liquid, buttery dark chocolate topped with sea salt), the rhubarb caramel, and a confection filled with Earl Grey-infused ganache.

Abbatiello prepared for the venture by traveling, doing “lots of research and trips to cities around the world to get started,” he says. He sees a lot of parallels with his previous career, buying and seeking out exotic and unusual plants for Washington’s Garden District, an independently owned shop on 14th St.

His approach seems to be hitting a nerve (a taste bud?) as the shop’s reputation is drawing chocophile travelers from New York and other East Coast cities. Abbatiello and co-owner William Knight run Biagio with a meticulous eye to climate control, occasionally turning on the air conditioning in the winter to achieve perfect storage conditions (between 62 and 68 degrees, for those of you taking notes).

It isn’t just the independents who are taking dramatic steps to raise their chocolate sourcing and buying standards. Like Biagio, Whole Foods treats its chocolate much like wine or coffee by zeroing in on products with flavor profiles that reflect the terrior of the origin country, according to global specialty buyer Cathy Strange.

“The education level of the consumer around chocolate has matured. The consumer is looking for organic, single-origin, high cocoa-level products,” Strange says. “We have also seen the customer understand that chocolate in the most natural state is great — fewer ingredients that impact texture and mouth-feel, and more dedication to the subtle nuances of the cacao.”

Those savvy consumers are less content with the global candy giants that buy large chocolate bricks from other big producers, melt them down, and add some inclusions to create their bars. Global grocery buyer Perry Abbenante says Whole Foods now seeks organic and ethically sourced chocolate products, as well as small batch and bean-to-bar manufacturers, to satisfy its ever-more sophisticated buyers.

The more traditional, established chocolate purveyors are getting into the act, too. See’s Candies, which operates over 200 retail shops mainly in the western U.S., started marketing a new “Premium Extra Dark Chocolate Bar” last year, with 62% cacao that lends a “more intense chocolate flavor than See’s original dark chocolate, but also maintains the smooth consistency and flavor See’s is known for,” according to the company.

See’s sources its chocolate from the California-based Guittard Chocolate Company, which creates a custom blend of cocoa beans from around the world. Guittard ages the beans for several months to reach the most desirable “flavor notes,” and See’s smells and tastes the product for balanced notes of caramel, malt, dairy, chocolate and cocoa, the company says.

While infusions “of every type” — even bacon — are clearly the trend of the moment, next up in the chocolate world could be the practice of eating shelled, roasted cocoa beans whole, according to soem experts. They also see movement toward the use of chocolate in savory dishes; generally viewing chocolate as a gourmet ingredient rather than merely as dessert.

“More unique flavor inclusions. Higher percentages of cacao in each bar. More small batch producers,” Whole Foods’ Abbenante predicts.

And the next concrete step for the Biagio crew? Tasting space — a designated area to showcase chocolate’s complexities, according to the shop’s Sandy Hazen. She recommends novices attend a formal tasting, which provides a hefty dose of guidance in a short period.

“We find people very thirsty for knowledge about chocolate,” Knight says.

“And hungry to eat it!” Hazen chimes in.

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