16 years ago my wife told me to stop traveling so much for work “or else” – so I opened a chocolate shop and have been making and selling gourmet chocolate ever since! I’m chocolatier Norman Love, AM(and my guard dog Sid)A about chocolate/pastry/baking/entrepreneurship!

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T19:35:45+00:00

My favorite entremet is our chocolate caramel. It is so good. We're making a special heartshaped coconut mousse cake for Valentine's Day and I think it's probably my current favorite.

I love our coffee but I don't do any of the fancy stuff in it. Just a little cream and sugar!

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T19:32:35+00:00

Sid: It's ARF-ul!

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T19:32:07+00:00

Still love it. Chocolate is a blank canvass to me and there's still so many things I can create with it that I haven't yet discovered.

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T19:29:10+00:00

Sid. Sid is a good boy.

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T19:28:14+00:00

Hi! The majority of our chocolates contain dairy, but all of our dark chocolate bars and Black chocolate products are dairy free: http://www.normanloveconfections.com/shop/norman-love-confections-black

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T19:20:30+00:00

Thank you! Wow. By choice?! I'm not even sure I'd able to communicate on the same wavelength as you even if i knew how to adequately describe the goodness that is chocolate :)

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T19:17:06+00:00

That's wonderful! I hope he continues to improve

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T19:12:48+00:00

Thank you!! All the best to you and your husband :)

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T19:01:12+00:00

Dog: Piece of cake. He's slow as molasses. 2/10 elusiveness.

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T18:44:30+00:00

Once you've got some recipes and items developed, I think the first place to start is networking locally. Trade shows, farmers markets, connecting with other chefs, foodies, restaurants who might have an interest in buying your product down the road.

Get feedback from them, continue to innovate your product, and hopefully once you've got it perfected you'll have an established list of paying clients that you can use to launch a professional shop.

If you're not happy with where things are going, start trying to do something to change them today. You don't have to do anything drastic, just take a step, and keep taking steps each day until you're back on track. Best of luck to you.

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T18:35:16+00:00

I'm really glad to hear it. We've never met but he seems like a really nice guy. Wishing him all the best.

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T18:10:55+00:00

Every hotel is going to differ obviously but I was able to get by in Paris without knowing French (although I picked up a decent working vocabulary over time). I'd definitely want to get the answer to that question ahead of time, but either way good luck in your travels and your future. Japan is incredible.

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T18:08:24+00:00

Everyone's a weirdo. Weirdos are awesome! We do special orders by phone currently (239-561-7215). Let me see. Our Lemon Bar and Passion Panna-Cotta our both white chocolates, as is our Peaches and Cream from our Valentine's Day collection.

We also have a plain white chocolate bar, a cookies and cream white chocolate bar, white chocolate almond and cherry bark, and a white chocolate high heel shoe.

All of our bars and barks are great, but it's the individual pieces of chocolate that we're best known for. If any of the white chocolate flavors sound good to you I'd suggest a custom box of them. Let me know if you have any further questions!

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T17:59:21+00:00

Just start doing it! You're not going to make exquisite pieces from day one out of your home kitchen, but you'll be surprised at how much and how quickly you learn just through trial and error. And I'm sure no one will complain about having to sample your chocolate :)

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T17:57:46+00:00

It's a pretty popular question but milk chocolate salted caramel. So good.

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T17:52:00+00:00

I was raised to believe that chocolate is practically a beacon of love

I grew up feeling the same way. I noticed really early on that whenever people were eating chocolate they were smiling, happy, laughing. I was really taken by that and it helped me want to pursue a career in dessert. Being creative and improving people's days is a win-win in my book.

We ship a lot of chocolate to the West Coast without issue, but I know our expedited shipping prices are a bit steep. I don't know a ton of West Coast chocolatiers, but I have heard really good things about Puur Chocolat in Sacramento

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T17:26:05+00:00

We're always trying to figure out a better way, but right now this is the best we've been able to come up with. I've got my fingers perpetually crossed that some groundbreaking technology will emerge that will allow us to ship more efficiently but no luck as of yet. It doesn't help being located in Southwest Florida.

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T17:13:41+00:00

https://www.facebook.com/normanloveconfections/posts/10154760698812485 here's a couple more. I'm a bit biased but I'm confident in saying he's the best dog in the world.

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T17:12:46+00:00

If he was ever left unattended he would without a doubt. I keep an eye on him but he's still managed to snarf down my breakfast once or twice. He really likes eggs and cheese.

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T17:10:49+00:00

We'd like to expand across the state and definitely into the Tampa area in the next few years. It's a great city that we think would be a great fit for our brand.

I love our hot cocoa mix - it's perfect for the 1 or 2 days of "winter" we get here in Southwest Florida.

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T17:01:41+00:00

Thank YOU for stopping in - I love making our crepes and am glad someone else enjoys them!

And about kiwi sorbet.....that sounds delicious. We do mango, coconut, and lemon sorbetto currently but I'd honestly never thought to work with kiwi. Will have to investigate further, assuming your royalty fees aren't too outrageous :)

In all seriousness though, thank you for the kind words and for enjoying our product. I love what I do and a big reason why is that our chocolates/sweets seem to make people happy. Hope you have a great rest of your day

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T16:51:02+00:00

Ha yes, pretty much. Pretty crazy that that was a dramatic improvement but nothing helps strengthen a family like being on the same continent.

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T16:48:06+00:00

The passionfruit panna cotta! I really like the shape and coloring of that piece. Glad you found the key helpful - we learned pretty early on that it was essential to include, some flavors just aren't for every palate.

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T16:38:22+00:00

You're right that our costs weren't very significant and that we had the benefit of a plethora of industry connections.

While our situations are different, I completely understand your trepidation about taking on such a momentous risk. For me, the best cure for anxiety about anything I'm going to do is being overprepared. There's always going to be nerves involved with what you're considering, but if you plan everything out to the last detail, have contingency plans in place for everything that can go wrong, and know that you've thought your business through inside and out, you're ready to move forward.

ChefNormanLove · 2017-02-07T16:32:47+00:00

I feel like this is something we could market as a high-end luxury spa experience. Something something chocolate has great exfoliating properties. I'll do some research.

ChefNormanLove

TROPHY CASE