Chocolate Holler
A familiar Lexington coffee business is now dipping into chocolate. Salvador Sanchez and the team at A Cup of Common Wealth will open the city’s first chocolate bar, Chocolate Holler, in early February. Located next door to Wines on Vine on Old Vine Street, Chocolate Holler will offer drinking chocolates in various forms, espresso and chocolate drinks, coffee bar drinks, baked goods as well as feature an extensive selection of retail specialty chocolates.
There are other chocolate shops in Lexington (Old Kentucky Chocolates is one), but in terms of a chocolate and coffee bar, the Chocolate Holler aims to bring something new to the table for the city of Lexington.
“Chocolate Holler will be very similar to a coffeeshop vibe,” said Allen Warford, marketing director with A Cup of Common Wealth and Chocolate Holler. “Mellow lighting and neutral-colored walls will give a more relaxed feel to the space, but the aesthetic will be more modern. There will be bar seating as well as large, live-edge community tables for people to sit and hang out, and also a large retail wall for imported chocolates and goodies. We are hoping this will be a place people won’t want to leave.”
The full opening of the bar will be held the first week of February, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Hours will be 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.to begin, subject to change depending on demand.
Although the concept will be new, the idea for Chocolate Holler has been around for a long while.
“The beginning plans for A Cup of Common Wealth also included ideas for a coffee roaster and a chocolate shop,” said Warford. “We welcomed Magic Beans Coffee Roaster into our coffee family back in January of 2016, and now we are stepping into chocolate!”
“Our hope is to let people experience the world of chocolate in a similar way that they would coffee,” explained Warford. “Specialty chocolates are a bit different than your typical Hershey Bar, with different tasting notes and textures.”
Anyone who enjoys chocolate — a subset that seems to include pretty much everyone — will appreciate the elixirs offered at Chocolate Holler, but even non-chocoholics will find something to enjoy. “We want this place to be a home for people,” said Warford.
“Community will always be the driving force behind what we do.”
Part of that community includes Wines on Vine, located directly next door to Chocolate Holler.
“We love that we will be sharing a wall with Wines on Vine and hope that our wine and chocolate relationship will grow stronger and stronger,” said Warford.
“We will always stick to our mission over anything else: embrace community, serve others, create culture,” said Warford. “And now we hope to do that through the lens of the chocolate bar.”