Ever have chai tea or stout beer flavored chocolate? Pretty soon you won’t have to go far to try them.
“We will have all of the standard features, such as chocolate covered cherries and caramels, but we also have chocolates that are flavored like chai tea, stout beer, lavender, goat cheese, hot pepper and several unique sea salt caramels, just to name a few,” said Michael Woloszyn, who plans to open Lune Chocolat in the village of Manlius with Emily Woloszyn, his wife of 15 years, on Wednesday, Sept. 21. The couple lives in Camillus with their two kids, ages 6 and 10.
The specialty chocolate store is opening in the Fayette Street plaza, near Sno-Top.
“I love the swan pond, and all the nearby parks,” Woloszyn said. “I also see small business doing well in the area, such as the Manlius Art Cinema, the Bike Loft and Dave’s Dinner.”
Woloszyn said people have called the chocolate he and his wife make “out of this world.” Hence the name Lune Chocolat, which is French for moon chocolate.
Woloszyn has been in love with the chocolate industry for a long time. He said he loves the feeling one gets when entering a true chocolate shop — no one every leaves unhappy.
“After I finished my MBA I knew that this was something I wanted to do, so my wife went to the Culinary Institute to become a chocolatier,” he said.
Woloszyn graduated from Liverpool High School, earned his undergraduate degree from Empire State College and earned his MBA from Syracuse University. Emily graduated from Cicero-North Syracuse High School and Onondaga Community Community College.
Emily said working toward the opening has been both “fun and chaotic.”
“We’re like a team, we’ve always taken things on as a team, “ she said. “So that’s kind of how we did this. Our marriage is a team, our parenting is a team — there’s no one person in charge.”
Their chocolate store will offer handmade chocolates, toffees and marshmallows, and they will all be made on location. Woloszyn said they will use locally grown ingredients whenever possible.
“We will be the only shop in the area that makes their product on location,” he said. “Customers will actually be able to see chocolate being made, as our kitchen in entirely visible. We will be able to tell our customers the origin of all of our ingredients.”
On top of the unique flavors of chocolates, Woloszyn plans to introduce to the area several unique flavors of marshmallows, such as key lime, coffee and mango.
“Even the shapes of the chocolates are unique,” he said. “Where else in the area will one be able to see a caramel frog, or a Buddha filled with chai tea, or even a classic such as a chocolate turtle that looks just like a turtle? Our chocolate will not only taste unique, but can certainly be called artisan quality. “
And it will be fresh.
“We will not use any preservatives in our chocolate, and therefore our product will always be fresh,” he said.
Lune Chocolat will offer seasonal varieties as well, starting with apple pie and pumpkin flavored chocolate this fall.
