Cocoa Channel

Aroa Fine Chocolate arrives

By CHRISTINE LIU

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"I have 6,000 pounds of chocolate in my office right now," confesses Alejandro Luna. Luckily, the profusion of fair trade El Rey Venezuelan single-bean origin chocolate is in good hands. I'm chatting with Luna, one of Boston's foremost dessert authorities, over the counter of his comfortable, yet ambitious, on-the-cusp-of-opening chocolaterie Aroa. Last seen as the Langham's executive pastry chef and genius behind the hotel's infamous Chocolate Bar (and to imagine it all started with baking cakes with his grandmother in Venezuela), Luna is ready to unleash his concept—an extensive wholesale business in addition to a European-style café serving petit gateaux, petits fours and plenty of chocolate—upon the streets. The neighborhood seems all too ready to receive him; a continuous, grinning stream of "When are you opening?" inquiries from glass-tapping passersby keep anticipatory energies high.

Aroa, the embodiment of Luna's dream 15 years in-the-making ("He's 15 years old," jokes Aroa's manager, Carlina Maldonado), leaves no detail untouched in the pursuit of perfection. The menu includes 14 flavors of macaroons, five types of marshmallows, seven types of hot chocolate (served from gleaming $350 Japanese pots, "making you warm and fuzzy in every place," according to Luna) and twenty-some (developing into an eventual 37) flavors of chocolate treats. A slew of events, like ongoing tastings, classes and "closed-door chocolate degustations" are planned throughout the year. Degust away, I say.

An expansive glass wall, allowing Aroa visitors to observe chefs' movements in the climate-controlled kitchen, anchors the space with voyeuristic allure. "People think making desserts is so difficult, taboo," Luna says, referring to reverent perceptions of the craft. The kitchen's openness is designed to let people see that "it's not some geniuses; it's just us, cooking." Luna's crew is wholly comprised of culinary students from the likes of Johnson & Wales or the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts rotating under work-study co-ops. The educative model seems akin to a teaching hospital, "except with more toothaches," teases Luna.

As tribute to what it's all really about, 16 framed photographs on one wall elucidate every step of the chocolate process, from pod harvesting to shipping preparations. "Chocolate, or cocoa beans, is like wine," says Luna of the intricacies of production. He's all too eager to explain the story—and meaning—of chocolate. "The concept [of Aroa] is different; there's nothing like it in town," he says with a quiet pride. "Here, we're trying to expose what true chocolate is."

[1651 Washington St., South End, Boston. 617.425.4988. aroafinechocolate.com, alejandroluna.com]