SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Sacramento business owner with roots in Argentina is bringing chocolate from Latin America and beyond to the capital city.
Behind the counter at Café Xocolatl on 10th Street, you'll find Ariel Wolansky, the shop's founder and a chocolate maker himself.
"Originally, chocolate was not a business at all, it was just a hobby, so I was doing it at home. Kind of experimenting, got really into the science of how to make a really good chocolate bar, making truffles," he said. "But people really liked the chocolate and kept asking for more, so it slowly became a business."
Wolansky opened Café Xocolatl about two years ago. It's his second shop serving chocolate from around the world and ceremonial cacao. His other business, called Choquiero Cafe, is located in Nevada City.
Wolansky also has his own chocolate company, called Choquiero, offering organic, vegan and fair trade bars.
"Choquiero is 'cho' for chocolate and 'quiero' is like 'I love,' so 'I love chocolate,'" he explained.
Wolansky's journey to chocolate is an unexpected one. He was originally interested in art. Wolansky grew up in Argentina and Chile.
"I'm from the city of Buenos Aires," he said. "Went to art school, got to know Chilean traditions which are similar but also very different from Argentina, anywhere form the accent to the food."
He landed in construction.
"Construction has been in my family history so my father was a contractor, worked for him many years and from there started my own tile business, so laying floors and remodeling kitchens, showers," he said.
A passion for cooking and chocolate making was later born out of difficult circumstances.
"I started having knee issues and I knew I needed to find something else before it got worse," he said.
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Fast forward and Wolansky has made chocolate for about a decade. His passion for chocolate making has taken him around the world from Mexico to Peru and Guatemala. In Guatemala, he visited a farm sourcing his shop's cacao, or the seeds used to make chocolate.
"Experience the music from the local people, the marimbas," he said. "It was definitely honoring to learn more about their traditions since we represent it here; to know who's making it and where it's coming from."
It's a topic close to Ariel's heart. His café carries more than 100 varieties of chocolate from around the world.
“Most of our chocolate from Latin America comes from places like Peru, Guatemala, pretty much all of Central America,” he said. ”That’s a way that we can all connect, that brings us all together is when we work with cacao or chocolate. It’s a great time to get to share our culture together.”
Cacao has roots dating back to ancient civilizations. The Mayans and Aztecs believed cacao was given to them by the gods.
“Our connection to it goes back thousands of years. For a lot of time, it was only for kings that had access to cacao and emperors,” Wolansky said. ”People would drink it and feel like they were given superpowers from it.”
They would also hold cacao ceremonies, which are still practiced. Wolansky said today they are used as an opportunity to connect to the spirit of the plant and bring people together.
“It’s also a great way to build community and we have had cacao ceremonies here at the shop. Cacao Muse, my friend, has come here from Mexico to do ceremonies and other people as well, so it gives us a chance to merge the two worlds together,” he said.
Through his shop, Wolansky hopes to raise awareness about fair trade chocolate and also support small, indigenous communities in Central America.
“Ceremonial cacao is not grown to be a monocrop or mass produced product. It is really done with intention, smaller batches and it helps smaller communities who really need that help today,” he said.
He continues to share a piece of their story and products with folks in Sacramento from chocolate bars to ceremonial cacao and drinks. On the menu at his Sacramento shop, you'll find items like Xocolatada, which is similar to hot chocolate, but made with Guatemalan cacao.
"It's been years and a lot of work so something to be proud of and I also couldn't do it alone, so I'm very thankful for the people that have helped me each step of the way and many of them are still with me today," he said.
To learn more about Café Xocolatl, click here.
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