Yesterday, before the March snow made it once again treacherous to venture out, I had a mini chocolate adventure in the North End. Cocoanuts, a new specialty boutique opened on Parmenter Street in July, and yesterday, I was invited to check it out.
I had first heard of the store back in December when they had made an appearance on Chronicle, and had been wanting to make a visit over there since then. The store is on a side street between Salem and Hanover Street, within sight of the same laundromat that was magically turned into a bank for the infamous bank robbery scene in The Town.
Tara Shea and Jen Reuss, the owners, have been friends since childhood. Tara was there to greet me when I stopped in, and showed be the assortment of items they carry.
Cocoanuts wall of chocolate!
The shop features chocolates by local chocolatiers, such as Brookline’s Yes Chocolates, made by the super-talented chocolatier, Rebecca Novak. I have been lucky enough to meet Rebecca before as she also works at Beacon Hill Chocolates.
Besides those items that are locally sourced, they also carry chocolates from as far away as Belgium. The basic idea behind any of their selections is that they are high quality, preferably small batch, and with a small number of ingredients.
Besides the chocolates, bins are stocked with roasted nuts and nut mixes, as well as some chips, pretzels, and dried fruits. The inspiration for the store’s offerings come from the idea of having fun, high quality, but not pretentious, foods for parties and get-togethers. Tara told me that she and Jen always keep nuts and chocolates in their house for when guests pop over.
The assortment in the store is interesting, and Tara’s knowledge and enthusiasm for what they carry was great to hear about. I’m so glad I finally got a chance to check it out!
