Li-Lac Chocolates is an old time chocolate maker, operating in Greenwich Village since 1923. They made a celebrated expansion to Sunset Park’s Industry City a few years ago. I visited them on a rainy Thursday morning in January, in anticipation of their busy season of February 14. When I got there, they were prepping and making chocolate cherry cordials.
Master chocolatier Anwar Khoder, who began working at Li-Lac Chocolates in 1989, had a large tray filled with bing cherries on his left. He dipped two cherries at a time into the vat of fresh cream fondant in front of him. Once each cherry was fully covered, he gently placed them onto another tray to his right so the fondant could harden.
The white-coated cherries were later brought towards the front of the facility, where people can look in from the outside through the oversize windows to see the chocolate-making in action. Another employee dipped the cherries, one by one, in milk chocolate and placed them on a conveyor belt to set and harden.
Also going on in the back was the hand cutting of caramel walnut bars. Li-Lac President and Co-owner Anthony Cirone, who led the tour, explained that the caramel had been made fresh the day before and poured into pans later that night so it could set. A big collection of specialty molds was located near that station; most were heart-shaped ones with an inscribed cupid and “To My Valentine” on them.
Cirone said their chocolate hearts, which are the most purchased item for Valentine’s Day, come in assortments that are all truffles; a mixture of milk and dark; and made up of dark chocolates only. Li-Lac’s Giant Heart, which has 210 pieces and stands two-feet-tall, sells for $375. Customers can also buy four different types of fresh chocolate hearts at the retail store’s counter – peanut butter, raspberry marzipan, marshmallow and truffle.
Valentine’s Day is Li-Lac’s single busiest day, with thousands coming into the store for day-of purchases. However, Valentine’s Day is not the biggest moneymaker for the company.
“Christmas is actually a bigger holiday for us, in terms of dollars, compared to Valentine’s Day,” Cirone said. “It’s spread out over three weeks pretty much; Valentine’s Day is literally a two-day event.”
Cirone also noted that, while truffles and hearts are synonymous with Valentine’s Day, February hosts other events that can be summed up with sweets too. Football fans can buy a life-size football (that contains more than two pounds of milk or dark chocolates) to celebrate the Super Bowl, and movie aficionados can be recognized as their own stars.
“We do these in February for the Oscars; a lot of people buy them as awards,” Cirone said while pointing to shelves that filled with 8 oz. chocolate Oscar-esque statues. “We’ve started making them already [in late January] in milk and dark chocolates.”
The factory makes more than 120 items – one of the largest selections of fresh gourmet chocolate in America – and offers five different types of chocolate (white, milk, dark, dairy-free extra dark and sugar-free). Cirone explained that all their cocoa beans are a blend and the blends are different for all the different types of chocolate. Most of the cocoa beans come from West Africa, but some come also from the Pacific-Rim.
The Industry City location’s business hours are Monday-Friday (9 am-5:30 pm), Saturday (10 am-5 pm) and Sunday (11 am-5 pm). The retail store there sells a variety of packaged and non-packaged chocolates. For more information, visit li-lacchocolates.com.
Top photo by DeGregorio
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