Reflections of a Berkshire Bonbon
Photo courtesy of Chocolate Springs café.
Becoming more conscientious regarding the effort it takes for products to get from their place of origin to the form we see on the shelves, I adapt an age-old adage—“There’s more than meets the eye”—to “There’s more than meets the mouth.” Such is true for Joshua Needleman’s chocolate cornucopia in the Berkshires: Chocolate Springs Café.
On a recent visit, I was filled with euphoria as I examined all the different chocolates inside glass cases and then sat down to enjoy a few in the calm and relaxing atmosphere of the café. It’s sort of a European chocolate shop crossed with an Asian-influenced spa.
I was pleased to learn that the name Chocolate Springs is homage to Joshua Needleman’s hometown, Lebanon Springs, a mere two miles over the Berkshire County/New York line. Lebanon Springs is home to natural thermal springs, hidden gems through various regions of the world known for cleansing properties. Here, in between Lenox and Pittsfield, is Chocolate Springs Café, another gem and, likewise, a suitable retreat for relaxation and cleansing.
Chocolate, besides being a decadent and addictive treat, has several health benefits as well. Some include antioxidants, aiding in cardiovascular health, skin health and even properties that trigger brain endorphins to cause that happy feeling.
Photo courtesy of Chocolate Springs café.
Joshua traveled afar to learn about where chocolate came from, and was influenced, inspired and taught by some of the great masters in the field. I was fortunate to sit down with him and hear his stories as I ate chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.
“I love chocolate” are the words engraved into a mug made in the first grade that perhaps first marked Joshua’s affinity for chocolate. Having a Dutch grandmother, he recalls drinking Droste’s hot cocoa and eating various chocolate-dipped treats often. Although Joshua’s path did not immediately focus on chocolate, he attributes even the beginning reflections of his life to his current success.
Joshua began working in a restaurant kitchen at age 16 at a local Japanese restaurant. It was here he learned and first appreciated the Japanese culture and discipline that would stay with him throughout his career path.
After a few more years working at the Japanese restaurant, graduating high school and a year in a regular college, he decided to attend the Culinary institute of America (CiA), where he was exposed to a vast amount of knowledge and techniques. Expressing a strong interest in pastries, he particularly loved working with chocolate. The science behind the chocolate and its need for precision, time and concentration fascinated him.
After graduating in 1994 and a few more years working in the Berkshires to gain experience, Joshua decided that a trip to France was a must. While in France, he worked long and hard hours at many prestigious restaurants including a stage with Master Chocolatier Michel Chaudun. He realized that working in restaurant kitchens was just too brutal and grueling and looked forward to a career in pastries; a more refined and detailed approach.
Joshua returned home to work as a pastry chef while waiting for the next opportunity to find him. Through “another serendipitous moment,” as he puts it, he was offered a job at Maison du Chocolat in New York City under another French master chocolatier, Robert Linxe. Over the next three years there, he fueled and refined his passion for chocolate and entrepreneurship. Besides traveling around Europe, his work with Linxe even allowed him to travel to Japan and truly experience a culture he had long admired.
Again, he brought what he had learned back home to the Berkshires and opened Chocolate springs Café in 2003. He knew from the beginning that he wanted his chocolate shop to be different from most European models. The various plants, art and decor that grace Chocolate springs Café are a tribute to his immense appreciation for Asian culture.
“Most European shops are too strict and confined,” he believes. “I wanted my business to fit more to the Berkshires and have a diverse side to it. I knew that people here would welcome my creative expression.” And what about the chocolates? Like fine jewels they sit inside beautiful glass cases and around the store in various eye-catching displays. The chocolates vary in an array of colors, textures and creativity.
From the classic and signature flavors like the raspberry ganache and chocolate nib–laced bonbon to more creative tea- and spice-infused truffles, every one of the chocolates is a showpiece and a sensation to one’s eyes and palate.
Try the lavender and honey bonbon with real candied lavender on top or the “champagne” bonbon that’s infused with Pop rocks candy to create that “fizzy” sensation. Chocolate-covered marshmallows, nuts, pretzels, cookies, coffee beans and various other treats fill shelves around the café. (Joshua is working on a new gluten-free line as well.)
Lastly, the talk of the town is the absurdly rich hot chocolate that is said to put one in a chocolate-induced coma. Having to focus on the interview and taking notes, I resist this one. I’ll be back, though. On a tour through the kitchen we see a handful of staff working away on various chocolate production. They are cutting chocolate, dipping chocolate, making pastries and packaging them. The center attraction of the kitchen is a machine used for coating the confections, the last stage before they are displayed to sell. On the far end of this machine is a circulating vat of rich liquid chocolate that coats the various confections as they pass on the conveyer belt below. The chocolates then need to quickly cool with the aid of fans.
Around the other side of the café is another production area that has large, gorgeous marble surfaces and various instruments for manipulating chocolate. This room is temperature-controlled to allow the perfect environment for chocolate work. Again unbeknown to most eyes is the elaborate process and precision it takes to create the chocolates.
Although the raw chocolate or beans are not grown locally (they can’t be in this climate), Joshua stands by the sources of the chocolate and their commitments to economic support and growth. Visiting Ecuador and Madagascar over the last few years, he took the opportunity to see and even work on the farms where the cocoa beans are harvested, fermented, dried and packaged for export.
“Most of the workers on these farms have never eaten or seen what the beans become,” he says. “Although these cultures do not have the luxuries and technology we do, it was refreshing to appreciate the small things and simplicity of their cultures.” on the other end of the spectrum, Joshua as been invited to the factory in France where the chocolate he uses transforms from bean to chocolate.
In the end, Joshua Needleman repeatedly expresses a theme: seize the moment. Joshua acted quickly on opportunities that defined and shaped where he is now. From his decision to stay in France for another three months, to living in New York City, to opening his café in the Berkshires, Joshua is an example of holding on to a dream and taking risks.
“It’s a lot like chocolate,” he says. “There’s not a lot of time to think during the crucial stages of chocolate tempering [bringing the chocolate to an exact temperature to be able to hold its form at room temperature]. It’s a now-or-never kind of thought.”
At Chocolate springs Café it’s about enjoying the small yet pleasurable things in life while taking time to sit and relax. Next time you pop that bonbon or chocolate truffle into your mouth, take an extra moment to appreciate the tremendous amount of effort and passion it took to get to you. There is definitely more than meets the eye and mouth.
Austin Banach, a native of Great Barrington, has cooked at several restaurants in the Berkshires, and draws on this experience to flavor his freelance writing. AustinBanach.com
Chocolate Springs Café
55 Pittsfield Lenox Road in the Lenox Country Shops Center
Open Monday–Sunday 9am–9pm
413-637-9820; Chocolatesprings.com
Photo by Austin Banach
