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'Chocolate Is Love': At North Fork Chocolate Company, The Focus Is Local

AQUEBOGUE, LONG ISLAND (CBSNewYork) – In Aquebogue, Long Island, a chocolate shop is taking local to a new level.

"Our typical shopper is not just a chocolate lover—it's a lover of all local things," North Fork Chocolate Company cofounder Ann Corley told CBS2's Elle McLogan.

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At their Main Road workshop and retail space, she and her partner Steve Amaral are among the few making chocolate entirely from scratch, incorporating fillings that showcase the natural abundance of the North Fork region. 

"We have access to wine, beer, honey, all different kinds of fruits all season long, so we add that to the fillings in our chocolates, which makes us completely different," Amaral said.

For an olive oil-sea salt chocolate, Amaral harvests his own salt from the local waters. Homegrown mint becomes mint chip ice cream, scooped onto a homemade waffle cone.

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"We're using local ingredients, supporting local purveyors, supporting local farmers, and coming full circle with helping each other grow," Corley said.

Local goat's milk becomes toffee. Fruit fillings are made with strawberries from Bayview Farms down the road.

A stoneground organic dark chocolate bar incorporates Rough Rider Bourbon from Baiting Hollow-based Long Island Spirits.

Sag Harbor Rum infuses the pineapple-coconut caramel.

"It's like a piña colada jacked up on chocolate," Corley said.

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The days-long process of preparing chocolate in small batches is painstaking, but for Amaral, it's worth it. To him, chocolate is more than a job.

"What do people give on the major holidays, Christmas, Valentine's, Mother's Day, Easter, even? They give chocolate. Why? Because they give it to people they love. So, chocolate is love."

North Fork Chocolate Company
740 Main Road
Aquebogue, NY 11931
(631) 779-2963
https://www.northforkchocolate.com/

What's something few people know about but everybody should? Whatever it is, Elle McLogan is tracking it down on The Dig. Join her hunt for treasures hidden across our area. Follow Elle on Twitter and Instagram.

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