Willy Wonka has nothing on one chocolate shop owner in the Bishop Arts District. The confections there are as eclectic as she is.
Katherine Clapner is making it her life's work to melt the mold. You might think of her as a crazy chocolatier or savory scientist. She mixes ingredients you would cook dinner with like bleu cheese, black garlic and tobacco into one of life delicious indulgences. "I really like to experiment a lot and just play."
The name of her store, Dude Sweet Chocolate, explains it all. Chocolate there is split into two concoctions. Dude and sweet.
"We do a lot of crazy flavors." Dude is code for experimental. Sweet is more standard. You'll find flavors like the "Full Monty" which is bacon covered in dark chocolate. Then there's "Crack in a Box" which mixes nuts in really dark chocolate.
Customer Kathi Kibbel is amazed with what Clapner comes up with.
"This isn't a Hershey's bar that's for sure." Clapner said she never knows what she'll think of next. "This is a total 'I Love Lucy' moment half the time."
Customer Phillip Robinson knows this isn't your conventional confectionary. "This chocolate is more of an art than a science. I mean perfectly made. Perfectly flavored and it brings out the flavors of everything that is put in it."
The experience is an induction into scrumptious seduction. "You know the people who say they don't like chocolate and then leave with 4 boxes… that's some awesome stuff right there."
If your looking for the sugar and spice that'll be your next vice you'll find it on West 8th Street, confectionatly nestled in Sweet 102.
Dude, Sweet Chocolate
408 W. 8th St. Sweet 102
Dallas, TX 75208
214-943-5943
