“We are passionate about building connections to the source of our food, and honoring our farmers and producers by sharing their story as a part of our own. We have cultivated a deep passion for cacao by visiting our cacao farms, meeting our farmers, and learning how cacao is processed at origin. Connections formed around chocolate change people for the better.”

Highland Mocha Stout cake; dark chocolate ice cream; chocolate bonbons made with local beer.

An international leader in the sustainable production of chocolate, French Broad Chocolates supports its Southern Appalachian community by buying and preserving local ingredients, helping area farmers, feeding residents in need through the Downtown Welcome Table initiative and contributing to the cleanup of the river for which the company is named. Not only do they make incredible chocolate that will send guests back time after time, they make the community better, too.

“French Broad Chocolate Lounge serves the sweet stuff in all its forms: bars, cakes, truffles, cookies, ice cream, mousse, brownies, and – perhaps best of all – hot and melted. I took a place in line not suspecting that my opinion of chocolate was about to be altered forever.”
–Sarah Maeillano, The Washington Post

Photographs by Nicole McConville