Michael Antonorsia made his way from Venezuela to Paris to San Diego to Orange County, where he plans to open his fifth chocolate shop, this one at the Irvine Spectrum Center, this month.
The 800-square-foot store is in a prime spot, next to the soon-to-open Nordstrom.
Antonorsia’s Chuao Chocolatier (pronounced chew-wow) already has four stores in San Diego County. The chain is named after a Venezuela region known for cacao beans.
“It’s the most sought after bean,” Antonorsia said.
Chuao imports chocolate from Venezuela. The stores get 35-pound slabs and then melt and form the chocolate into bonbons, truffles, bars and other variations.
The chain sells European-style chocolates with a twist. Spices and other ingredients you wouldn’t expect,chili, cayenne pepper, balsamic vinegar and goat cheese,are added.
There’s a macadamia praline with chili, a strawberry caramel with balsamic vinegar and goat cheese with pear puree and crushed pepper.
Antonorsia insists the chocolates are to “to die for,” despite the unconventional mixtures.
Chuao also makes chocolate drinks such as a spicy Maya, a hot chocolate, and other desserts such as French-style mousses.
“My biggest passion is cooking,” he said.
Antonorsia’s Encinitas store was featured on “Dr. Phil” in a segment about two women who had a dream of working in a chocolate shop.
“He’s a nice guy,” he said of Phil McGraw.
But the show didn’t do much for his sales, he said.
Chocolate is a long way from biomedical engineering, which is where Antonorsia got his start in Venezuela.
“You go to school to please your parents,” he said. “They paid for it. After following the ego for 14 years, I decided to follow the passion.”
Antonorsia said he picked OC for a store because of the upscale taste of shoppers here. Irvine also is within a two-hour radius of his other stores.
Chuao first looked to Fashion Island but got edged out by a bigger retailer, according to Antonorsia. He said he still hopes to go to Fashion Island or South Coast Plaza.
His trick for finding locations: driving around and then sending a box of chocolates to the leasing agents. “That’s the door opener,” Antonorsia said.
Chuao is a family affair. Wife Isabelle is the stores’ architect. His brother handles the business. Antonorsia’s sister-in-law does graphic work for the packaging and ads.
The company employs 35 people.
The hope is to have a dozen Southern California stores in the next few years, according to Antonorsia. Locally, homegrown Bodega Chocolates Inc. of Costa Mesa is a rival.
Antonorsia packed up from Venezuela at age 38, taking his family to Paris.
There, he attended chef school and was a self-described misfit, surrounded by younger students.
“It was fun,” he said. “It keeps you young.”
He said he specialized in pastries and desserts and learned the French style of cooking.
“It wasn’t for me,” he said of the “neurotic” French kitchen.
After graduating culinary school he came to San Diego (where he originally went to college) and opened his first chocolate store in 2002.
Car Buyers Bill of Rights
OC auto dealers and others across the state say the amended “Car Buyers Bill of Rights,” expected to be signed by the governor in the next few weeks, is more to their liking.
The bill allows consumers to cancel a purchase of a used auto within two days instead of three as first proposed.
The original bill, brought by San Fernando Democrat Cindy Montanez, didn’t have any input from dealers. Dealers were nervous about the three-day option. They feared buyers could pay for a car, take a weekend trip to Las Vegas, and then return it.
“It took a long time to get there,” said John Sackrison, executive director of the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association in Costa Mesa.
At first, Montanez and other bill backers were unwilling to meet with dealers, Sackrison said. Once they got together, concessions were made and an agreement came about fairly quickly, he said.
Dealer Auto Guide
Primedia Inc. has started the Orange County Auto Guide, a free weekly color publication listing vehicles for sale at dealerships in OC and the region.
Thanks to luxury sales, OC is one of the largest and fastest growing auto markets, according to Primedia.
