The Chocolate Cafe to open in Kalona

KALONA - Lyndon and Mattie Hershberger of Kalona Chocolates will soon open The Chocolate Cafe, which will serve fare such as chocolate pizza, chocolate bombs, hot chocolate floats and chocolate fondue.

The Hershbergers' daughter Krista, a recent University of Iowa graduate who does a lot of designing, marketing and advertising for the store, will help run the cafe at the front of Kalona Chocolates at 211 Fifth St. It will have a soft opening June 18.

'We really wanted to create a very special experience for our customers that came in here,” Krista said. 'What would be something unique that would add to those destination spots in Kalona for local people to come and gather? Also, what would attract people outside of town? What would be unique to this area?”

The Hershbergers conceived of Kalona Chocolates in 2009, when Lyndon was between jobs. They were having lunch at Kalona Bakery, which Lyndon's aunt, Marilyn Bender, owned at the time.

'I don't know how much she knew about our situation, but she had just hired someone who had some equipment and had been making candy on a small scale,” Lyndon said. '(They) had been looking to get rid of the equipment. Long story short, we said yes.”

Neither Mattie nor Lyndon had any experience in the confection industry, but that didn't seem much of a hurdle to them.

'I just felt like we could do this as a family, and grow together, learn together, work together,” Mattie said.

Mattie learned to be a chocolatier in a certified kitchen in her parents' basement, continuously stirring melted chocolate in a five-quart pan on the stove. She also studied in the kitchens of fellow Kalona residents.

One local woman invited Mattie into her kitchen to learn to make toffee, which still is served today at Kalona Chocolates and is one the shop's best sellers.

At the shop, chocolate is ordered in 10-pound slabs that are broken up, melted and made into other treats. During the Christmas season, from October to the end of the December, Lyndon said they will make and sell one ton of chocolate.

To prepare for the opening of The Chocolate Cafe, the Hershbergers have been perfecting recipes for milk, dark and white chocolate fondue. They've tried making chocolate pizzas with brownie crust as well as regular pizza crust topped with caramel and nuts.

'If you ask Krista if she could have seen herself doing this - if you had asked me at the point when we started - I would least expect that Krista would be the one that was taking as much responsibility,” Lyndon said. 'She was going to leave Kalona, get out of town, go to the big city.”

In the future, Krista may be joined by one of the younger Hershberger daughters, who is taking college business classes.

'I honestly, until more recently, just saw myself as a background role,” Krista said. 'The timing was right with when I graduated. I think just getting away and seeing other places, I've been able to appreciate small towns.”