Artisan Chocolate Shop Opens in Robbinsdale
Everybody has dreams in life, but most people don’t travel 4,900 miles to make them come true.
“I came from Italy when I was 27 years old, so about 13 years ago. This place welcomed me, and I wanted to say thank you,” said Daniela “Denny” Rain, a chocolatier.
“I also needed a fresh start. I wanted to do something with my life that Italy wasn’t allowing me to.”
Daniela “Denny” Rain is the owner of Cocoa Flake in Robbinsdale.
Rain’s way of saying ‘thank you’ was to introduce an assortment of artistically-designed chocolates to Robbinsdale at her new shop, Cocoa Flake, which is located near 42nd Avenue and West Broadway.
“Yes, this is a high-end product, it’s not something that you find in Target,” she said. “It’s something that obviously costs a little bit more money because there’s a lot of process involved in this.”
Her primary product is the chocolate bonbon, with each one taking three days to produce. But the finished product is a work of art that, in most cases, looks how you might expect it to taste.
“The look, it’s what makes you want to say, ‘oh my God, it’s almost too pretty to eat.’ But then you have to eat it,” she said. “And once you eat it, you’re just like ‘oh, this is good I want more.'”
Some flavors, like salted caramel, will be staples. But then there are the seasonal ones like the sour apple, which are designed for Halloween.
“They wanted a bloody eyeball. It’s Halloween, you want it to be bloody right,” she said, holding up a tray of bloody eyeball salted caramel bonbons.
Denny Rain’s sour apple bonbons were made to look like bloody eyeballs.
Rain’s hope is that people will eat more chocolate and think of Cocoa Flake when it comes to things like birthdays, holidays and weddings.
“Because what’s better than a box of chocolate for any occasion really, or you’re just craving something,” she said.
As for why she moved from Italy to Minnesota, Rain said she visited one year in January and loved the snow, which is how Cocoa Flake got its name.
“It feels unreal to know that I have a home to come to every day, where I can produce and I can be myself and express myself with my colors and my chocolate,” Rain said.
A pack of six bonbons costs $22, or you can get a dozen for $42. To order online, go to the Cocoa Flake website.
