Lahaina Maui Chocolate Kitchen

Our Lahaina, Maui Chocolate kitchen is under construction with a mid October target date to be up and running (which means a party!) The kitchen is located at 75 Kupuohi St, in the Lahaina Industrial area, Its inside the Lahaina Design Center, home of Archipelago Hawaii, kitchen designer Rick Cowan, Davis Tile and Marble and At Home Home Theatre.We can't wait to get some chocolate working in this beautiful kitchen. We will have a walk in retail showcase where you can purchase fresh chocolates.
Umm I'm already going thru my own chocolate withdrawal since I packed up the enrober and equipment to ship to Maui on the barge.

Sweet Paradise receives Award

Sweet Paradise was the recent recipient for the Local Hero 2010 Food Artisan Award given by the Edible Hawaiian Islands Magazine. Edible Hawaiian Islands is part of the Edible Communities-A magazine published bi-monthly in cities across the country.
We are honored to be recognized with this award and proud to be a member of such an exciting foodie community in Hawaii.

At 4 Pm today I received this picture. Its our Kailua store and its...SOLD OUT! A record day of chocolate for us. We had planned on being open Sunday, Valentines Day, but now we can't. Waikoloa is a similar story. At 2:30 I got a call that maybe we had 500 pieces of chocolate left. Tomorrow I am on my way to the Hilton Waikoloa for a benefit Valentines Brunch where I will be giving away over a $1000 of chocolate while my store sits almost empty. I thought of not going...but I promised I'd do the benefit and the show must go on. There is a Beach Boys concert in Waikoloa tomorrow, the resort will be jammed. I ran to the store tonight and bought about 100 strawberries. I will get up at 4Am and dip them because strawberries must be dipped and eaten the same day or they are gross. I am tempering a little chocolate tonight to dip a few apricots and raspberry truffles but I have no real equipment over here...its in the Tropical Dreams kitchen 100 miles away. What a predicament.
Thank you everyone for keeping us on your Valentine's Short list!

Pineapple Starfruit

I am so excited every time we find perfect starfruit in the farmers market. (which is not often). To be a chocolate decoration they have to be exactly the right size, and ripeness. We take them, slice them and dry them carefully in our Excaliber dehydrator and the little stars are adorable when finished.
When I've collected enough stars we produce a chocolate called Pineapple Starfruit. This confection is made with Waialua Hawaiian Milk Chocolate on the inside. It has a rich caramel raisiny flavor enhanced by pureed pineapple, fresh cream and a splash of starfruit juice. Its then enrobed in dark chocolate and decorated with the dried star.

Because its so scarce, Pineapple Starfruit is only offered in our pretty ocean blue 7 pc tropical box along with Lilikoi Silk, Mango Ginger, Kona Coffee, Macadamia Nut ,Coconut Creme Brulee and Island Spice ( Fresh young Ginger, Kona Vanilla,Kona Cinnamon and Puna Cloves, all spices sourced on the Big Island). This box makes a great gift to take home to friends in those cold climates who are dreaming about the tropics.

Kailua Best New Business 2009

Today was a great day. Sweet Paradise Chocolatier was awarded the Best New Business in Kailua 2009 by the Kailua Chamber of Commerce. Its really great to see all our hard work recognized and my personal thanks go out to my Kailua staff, Miki Kawazu and Glynnis Rismiller who are such a part of that success. We had someone email us that our little chocolate shop is a "Kailua Treasure". Its our customers feedback that keeps us going and feel really proud about what we do. We are so happy to be able to feed the souls of so many people and educate them on what fine chocolate is about. Remember there is nothing better than a friend...except a friend with chocolate!

HALLoween

That crazy and fun holiday Halloween is almost here. While us adults can't go trick or treat anymore it doesn't mean we can't partake in a few sweets. Sweet Paradise has treats for all ages, including our Halloween specialty bon- bon, LUCID made with Absinthe, Jack O' Lanterns and Cauldrons filled pumpkin spice truffles, bloody finger pops and skeleton fingers (dried apple bananas) caramel apples drizzled in chocolate, and delicious plump, dried turkish figs stuffed with caramel and pumpkin ganache and dipped in dark chocolate. Come visit our Kings Shops or Kailua Oahu locations for the perfect hostess box to take to your Halloween party.

Kona Chocolate Festival

Sweet Paradise was once again the 1 st place Sweet winner and brought home the coveted Judges Choice Award. Our entry this year was titled "Tea Ceremony" and featured tea infusions from the Big Island Tea Company in Glenwood, and chocolate from Waialua Estate on Oahu and The Originial Hawaiian Chocolate Factory in Kona.