{Kakao Chocolate’s sea salt caramel}
The Kakao shingle will soon hang from the Centene Building in Clayton. As reported in a Sauce feature story about local chocolatiers published this past February, Kakao owner Brian Pelletier has been in negotiations to open a storefront at 7700 Forsyth Blvd. Today, Pelletier signed the lease on the space, which will mark the third location for the company he founded six years ago.
Kakao will take up space a few storefronts to the east of Pastaria. With just 1,250 square feet, the store will be a retail shop only, compared to its locations in Maplewood and Fox Park, where chocolate production occurs. “We’re going to sell all the same things we sell at the other two locations,” Pelletier said. “We’ll serve ice cream with our own toppings, and we will also be serving coffee and espresso drinks.” When asked which coffee roaster Kakao would feature, Pelletier replied, “Everyone. We’ll carry all local coffees.”
Pelletier stated that there were multiple reasons to expand into Clayton. “It’s a great location for us to reach more people further in the county. We already have a presence in Sips, a little hair salon with an espresso bar; we’ve had that for the past month and it’s doing really well. We’re also excited to be in the same complex as Pastaria and Niche, with a crowd of people interested in great food.” Pelletier hopes to open doors at this third Kakao location in May.
– photo by Greg Rannells
This article appears in Guide to Beer 2014.