Pass by the corner of Keith and Underwood streets and you may be surprised to notice Feve Artisan Chocolatier, a combination chocolate production space and retail shop that turns out a wide range of chocolates, including truffles, chocolate-covered nuts, homemade pralines and many other artistic confections.
Owned and operated by Bayview resident Shawn Williams, Feve has been up and running for four years, and outsources to local specialty grocery stores, Whole Foods and Costco, as well as operating a small retail area within the factory.
Feve Artisan Chocolate.
We caught up with Williams while he was in the process of preparing one of his favorite chocolates—the heart-shaped passion fruit candy—to check out the factory and to get a little lesson on chocolate-making.
“What I’m doing is spraying the red colored cocoa butter on the mold," Williams narrated as he worked. "In about an hour, I’m going to spray edible gold dust on the inside. Then in a couple of more hours, I’m going to make a thin chocolate shell by stabilizing and tempering the chocolate. After that I ladle it in, and tap it around to get the air bubbles out. Once the shell sets, I can pipe in the truffle which is made of passion fruit, cream, butter and vanilla beans."
Shawn Williams making passion fruit chocolate hearts.
"It’s more than chocolate-making. There’s an art and science behind it. That’s where my passion comes from," explained Williams, who previously worked as a pastry chef at La Folie and assistant to renowned confectionary artist Ewald Notter.
"I’ve been a chef for about 20 years and I started out with savory creations," he told us. "In 2003, I went to pastry school where I learned about cakes, pastries, plated desserts and breads. I liked everything, but the last course was about chocolate and we had to make sculptures." Williams made a chocolate violin, and learned the art of truffle-making. "I was just blown away by the texture and the smooth creaminess of the truffle," he said. "The complexity that goes behind it is extremely difficult to do, but I am a perfectionist.”
Handmade chocolates.
Ask Williams about his favorite part of the chocolate-making process is, and he'll say, perhaps unsurprisingly, that it's the taste-testing. "Chocolate is like wine. It picks up the natural flavors from the earth in the area and the type of cacao it is," he said.
"I like to eat single version chocolate truffles. Those are just cream, chocolate and butter," Williams said. "They're really smooth and you can taste what chocolate is like from Venezuela, Madagascar or the Dominican Republic."
"Mushrooms on a log" chocolate sculpture.
Since launching his business, Williams has been the recipient of a micro-loan through Kiva, which allowed him to purchase a stove and expand his line of chocolate offerings. Like other businesses in the neighborhood that practice “paying it forward," he's also made a commitment to give back 5 percent of Feve's net profit to provide micro loans to improve the lives of farmers in the cocoa trade.
As more businesses like Feve move into the Bayview, one challenge they often face is backlash from the community. New businesses are often looked as "gentrifiers," but Williams makes it clear that he is a resident who is very much invested in the Bayview and wants to find ways to support community.
"I'm glad to see other businesses coming in here," he explained. "I wish that we would finance and empower people already living here to start businesses rather than outsiders coming in because rent is affordable. I don't want anyone pushed out and I care very much that residents received the assistance they deserve to start a business in the Bayview."
Air-brushed salted caramel chocolates.
As for his own business, Williams says that word is still getting out about his sweet treats.
"Business is good, but one of the challenges I face is getting people to know about us," he said. "Once people try the chocolate, they love it."
Feve Artisan Chocolatier is located at 2210 Keith St., and is open Monday through Friday from 10am-5pm. To learn more about the company or order chocolate, visit the website.
