The Chocolate Room: where love, passion and creativity combine —
just in time for Valentine’s Day

There’s a new place to find sweet treats for your sweetie this Valentine’s Day: the North Fork Chocolate Company opened the doors of its Chocolate Room in Aquebogue yesterday, just in time for local lovebirds.

Hand-crafted chocolates featuring local ingredients — everything from LIV spirits to Long Ireland Breakfast Stout to Duck Walk port and Goodale Farms goat milk — can be mixed and matched and packaged in heart-shaped, chocolate-colored boxes. Gift box assortments start at $18.

The confections are the creations of chocolatier Steven Amaral, who makes his own Belgian chocolate in the kitchen at Grange Hall in Northville, where he hand-crafts and hand-paints his creations.

Amaral, a gourmet dessert chef, and partner — in business and life — Ann Corley, who handles sales and marketing, started their venture using the kitchen facilities at the Stony Brook Small Business Incubator in Calverton. They moved to Grange Hall after they outgrew their space at the incubator and were delighted to secure retail space on Main Road in Aquebogue, in the former home of the Esprit de France art gallery and gift shop, which closed last fall. It’s located next to Peconic River Yoga, on the north side of the road, just east of Church Lane.

Amaral and Corley opened the doors of their chocolate room yesterday with a “soft opening” and were busy arranging stock and filling orders for walk-in customers and phone sales.

The chocolate room space, with its vaulted ceiling and many windows, provides a unique venue for the North Fork Chocolate Company’s one-of-a-kind offerings, not to mention an eclectic collection of locally produced products.

There’s milk, cheese, eggs and yogurt from Goodale Farms— where Amaral also makes ice cream; several varieties of pickles from L.I. Pickle Co. and Backyard Brine; spring rolls and buns from Le Fusion; Radical Rainbow Cookies from Pride Enjoy; coffee by Aldo; North Fork Potato Chips; and brownies from Sugar Sweet.  Soon, Amaral’s own three-inch cakes and four-inch pies will be offered, as well. Hand-crafted furniture, greeting cards and gift items are among the non-edible stock.

Corley said they plan to open and juice bar and ice cream shop this summer in another part of the building currently being used as a tasting room by a local winery.

North Fork Chocolate Company will be open Thursday through Monday, from 10:30 a.m. till 6:30 p.m. until the end of May, when expanded it will be open six days per week with expanded summer hours. Phone orders may be placed at 631-599-4944 or visit the company’s website.