CocoFlow Chocolatier began as a dream for Chef Gene Leiterman and his wife Kim. They longed to open a local gourmet business in their hometown of Oklahoma City, that combined their collective culinary experiences gathered while traveling around the country and the new wave of artisan food culture that was emerging. In 2003 the couple opened CocoFlow Chocolate Fountains, a small catering business featuring chocolate fountain rentals. This small catering business allowed Leiterman to explore the artisan craftsmanship of chocolate and in 2005 CocoFlow expanded and opened a boutique chocolate shoppe.

Using traditional European style and technique as inspiration, Chef Leiterman created CocoFlow’s signature line of chocolates, featuring hand-rolled truffles, bon-bon‘s and pralines. Today, CocoFlow Chocolatier is Oklahoma’s Premier Chocolate Artisan offering premium chocolates, decadent desserts, custom chocolate sculptures and chocolate classes in their studio.

All of CocoFlow’s artisan chocolates are crafted by hand in small batches using the finest chocolate and ingredients, including single origin chocolates from around the world. Chef Leiterman’s pastry & confection point of view is simple and artisan in nature. He believes that you must stress the fundamentals and excellence will follow. Chef Leiterman uses basic equipment and proper hand-tempering in his studio. He rolls, paints and dips all of his chocolates by hand. Each piece of chocolate that leaves CocoFlow is an individual work of art meant to indulge customers senses, peak their interest and satisfy even the most discerning palate.

Leiterman is a completely self-taught artisan chocolatier. Before CocoFlow’s doors were opened, Leiterman relied on intensive research and many hours of practice to perfect his chocolate techniques.
At an early age he was passionate about food, and a casual culinary artist but he never indulged the dream of formal training. Instead, Leiterman opted for a degree in Zoology and continued an analytical approach pursuing his master’s degree in statistics. After a career in the medical marketing industry and several years traveling around the country, Leiterman translated his experiences to his true passion – pastry & culinary arts.

In 2009, Chef Leiterman’s passion for teaching found a place in the culinary world when he accepted a part-time position with Platt College in Moore, Oklahoma teaching pastry arts. His classes were well received, as was his development of new curriculum for the program. Currently, in addition to owning and serving as chocolatier for CocoFlow, Gene serves as Director of the Pastry Arts Program for Platt College which now enrolls over 50 day and night students.

Coco Flow Chocolate Café

100 E. Main
Oklahoma City, OK 73104

Phone: (405) 524-9500
email: info@cocoflow.com
web site: CocoFlow.com

Chef Leiterman features his line of chocolates at CocoFlow Chocolate Café located in the heart
of Oklahoma City’s historic, downtown Bricktown. In addition to artisan confections, CocoFlow Chocolate Café offers an amazing line of handcrafted pastries, desserts, and espresso drinks.

Check out some of the sublime work coming out of Coco Flow.
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St. Croix Chocolate Company is owned and run by Robyn Dochterman and Deidre Pope. The duo relies on a cadre of talented assistants to keep operations humming.

As chocolatier, Robyn crafts the confections at St. Croix Chocolate Company. After the recession brought an abrupt end to her career in journalism, her passion turned to pastry and chocolate. Though journalism and chocolate don’t seem similar at first glance, Robyn loves that both require a balance of art and science to achieve excellence.

Robyn learned fine chocolate techniques from internationally acclaimed chefs at the French Pastry School in Chicago, the Chocolate Academy in Chicago, and the San Francisco Baking Institute in California. She continues to expand her education with additional professional intensives, but she is never so serious about business that she doesn’t allow herself to wear her red-and-black plaid wool Converse hi-tops in the kitchen.

Although producing fine, fresh and beautiful artisan chocolates was originally just Robyn’s vision, it is Deidre who ensures that customers receive excellent service, and the shop runs smoothly and is well-managed. A non-profit program administrator by day, Deidre devotes evenings and weekends to St. Croix Chocolate Company’s mission of delighting customers.

St. Croix Chocolate Company

261 Parker Street
P.O. Box 121
Marine on St. Croix
MN 55047

Phone: (651) 433-1400
Email: info@stcroixchocolateco.com
Website: http://www.stcroixchocolateco.com

We’re committed to making fine, fresh, beautiful chocolates that delight our customers, and to having fun doing it!

At St. Croix Chocolate Company, we honor that splendid moment when the silky richness of chocolate transforms an ordinary instant into a special, time-stopping experience.

We start with some of the world’s best chocolate from Belgium, Switzerland and Venezuela. Then we make it even better, creating our truffle centers using fresh, organic cream and butter produced just across the St. Croix River in Osceola, Wisconsin, at Crystal Ball dairy. We use real vanilla beans, pure fruit, and natural flavorings. We even use honey from our own honeybees in our chocolates.

We take it one step farther than most chocolatiers. We layer flavors within each chocolate for twice the experience.

A layer of homemade caramel and a layer of pear jelly work beautifully together inside a milk chocolate shell. A layer of bright cherry and a layer of creamy dark chocolate ganache play off each other in a beautiful presentation that looks like art and tastes like heaven. A layer of rich, dark chocolate complements the airy delight of homemade marshmallow, like a steaming cup of hot chocolate, in one sublime bite.

Check out some of the fantastic work coming from St. Croix chocolate Company
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Born in Mexico City, where he also received the beginning of his culinary inspiration and training, Chef Oscar Ortega studied pastry arts in Cast Alimenti, Italy. Chef Ortega also attended various courses of pastry, chocolate and sugar work. Chef Ortega sharpened his abilities and passion for pastries over years of work in the UK, Italy, France and the USA.

In 2004, Ortega opened his first pastry and chocolate shop in Jackson, WY, where he created an exclusive line of Artisan chocolates and fine confections. Shortly thereafter he took the opportunity to organize a Mexican Pastry Team to compete in international pastry competitions.Continue reading→