’Tis the season for a cozy cup of hot cocoa—whether you believe in chocolate before breakfast or spiking the classic (holly jolly, indeed!) for a pick-me-up (hey, get chip-faced… no judgment!). Here, we drop knowledge like it’s hot… chocolate—and dare you to ace it.
1. Which local sweet spot serves up a history lesson in each sip with hot cocoa selections dubbed Spain, 1631; Xochiaya; and Italy, 1670?
a. Lucettegrace
b. Videri Chocolate Factory
c. Escazu Chocolates
d. The Chocolate Boutique
2. La Farm Bakery offers a scratchmade hot chocolate mix (inspired by owner Lionel Vatinet’s dad, George) that includes Belgian chocolate, sugar, spices and cream imported from what country?
a. Peru
b. France
c. Germany
d. Chile
3. Which Raleigh chef features a decadent chocolate souffle on its menu that’s pretty much hot chocolate in dessert form?
a. Scott Crawford
b. Ashley Christensen
c. Sunny Gerhart
d. Sean Fowler
4. For some farm-fresh holiday feels, which local farm is hosting a Winter Lights celebration complete with hot cocoa and s’mores, outdoor holiday movies, and a photo op with Santa Claus himself?
a. Cathis Farm
b. Page Farms
c. Raleigh City Farm
d. Phillips Farms
5. What year did iconic sweet spot Videri Chocolate Factory open its doors and start making us melt by serving up such sweet selects as its sipping chocolate (aka its single-origin chocolates in a rich 2-oz. pour—literally melted chocolate for sipping!)?
a. 1998
b. 2006
c. 2011
d. 2013
6. Which local cocktail spot serves up an adult version of your childhood favorite with its boozy hot cocoa drink?
a. Bittersweet Raleigh
b. Killjoy
c. Atlantic Lounge
d. Foundation
7. Which local distillery sells a Damn Fine Chocolate Liqueur that, when combined with hot chocolate mix and fernet, makes a mean boozy and sweet bev that’s ideal for sipping around the fire on cold winter nights?
a. Young Hearts Distilling
b. Pinetop Distillery
c. Durham Distillery
d. Olde Raleigh Distillery
8. So seedy! Harmony Farms in-house cafe features a raw hot chocolate made with cacao, dates and what other superfood?
a. Chia seeds
b. Flaxseeds
c. Pumpkin seeds
d. Hempseeds
9. Escazu Chocolates offers eight different varieties of hot cocoa (!), so you’re guaranteed to never bore your sweet tooth this season. Which of these varietals cannot be found on its menu?
A decade ago, Kesha Dozier asked herself what it was that she most wanted to do in her life. The answer: to open up a chocolate shop.
The New Jersey native moved to North Carolina to attend college at NC Central, where she studied biology with a focus in organic chemistry. She continued her graduate studies in physiology, worked as a medical examiner investigator at UNC and then specialized in the pharmaceutical industry—in which she still works full-time today. But chocolate, Dozier’s true passion, took her down a new path when she and her husband, Maurice, opened The Chocolate Boutique in Lafayette Village in 2011.
While working full-time, volunteering and being a mom, Dozier found time to travel the world—to Belgium, Spain, Italy and, of course, Hershey, Pennsylvania—to sample some of its best chocolates. Using the knowledge gleaned from her chocolate-tasting travels, Dozier’s boutique makes more than 70 percent of its own chocolate in house and Dozier has perfected a recipe for chocolate truffles.
Kesha Dozier
“It’s a lot of fun,” Dozier says. “You walk into the shop, put on your apron and it’s a happy and fun place to be. Everyone walks in the door and you see them take a deep breath in and they smile and their whole expression changes.”
Pre-COVID, Dozier opened up her space monthly for “Sweet Talk,” a local networking group she started to help market the store and reach the community. She also hosted chocolate and wine tasting events and founded the annual Lafayette Village Chocolate and Wine Festival.
While the pandemic has changed how Kesha defines success, she is confident that the boutique will succeed. Her sales were 95 percent brick and mortar before, but now, the boutique sells online, offers curbside pickup and ships to its customers.
“Control what you can control,” Dozier says. “If you can manage it, manage it and do it; if not, move onto something else.”
Dozier, a self-described extrovert and people lover, says she is proud to have been able to grow her dream into a shop that’s loved by many. But it wasn’t always an easy road and Dozier says she encountered plenty of obstacles that couldn’t be solved with a bottle of chocolate wine. She’s found that good planning tends to make the job easier.
“I love writing business plans,” Dozier says. “I will write a plan for everything, but what I didn’t account for nearly enough was the cost of overhead of a brick and mortar.”
With working full time, running a small business and everything else she’s juggling, it’s a wonder that Dozier finds time to do it all. Recently, she’s drawn inspiration from Richard Carlson’s best-selling book “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.”
“It has given me a new perspective on things and reminds me to just breathe and enjoy the time I have,” Dozier says. “Life moves so fast. Don’t forget to acknowledge it [as] tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us.”
The other way to move through a full life with a busy schedule, according to Dozier? Find balance.
“Balance is enjoying little bits at a time,” Dozier says. “I may only get five minutes here or there, five minutes for meditation, five minutes on The Knowledge App, or I may actually get eight hours of sleep. Whatever it is, I take it all in and just enjoy it.
In this series, Raleigh Magazine takes a look at some of the women in our city who are getting the job done.
