Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Rupani.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Coming from a South-Asian background, the smell of cardamom, cumin, coriander, and fennel were spices that flowed through my house, but were rarely appreciated until I began to exploring the intricacies of food in college. During my time at Boston University, I studied abroad in London and Amman with stops in Italy, Greece, Lebanon, Egypt, and China. During my travels around the world, I gained a special appreciation for food and began my love affair with the culinary arts, specifically with chocolatiering.
After graduating with a degree in Anthropology and Religion, I began studying for my law school admissions exam, and took breaks by reading books about chocolate making. This led to me ordering 30 lbs. of couverture chocolate, a mini-tempering machine, and a very messy kitchen. Three days after the test date, I left for Pakistan where I spent the next six months working on our family’s foundation work. With chocolate constantly on my mind, I found a pastry school in Malaysia and treated myself to a chocolatiering course in Kuala Lumpur for my birthday. Once I was done with my project in Pakistan, I came back to Houston determined to get my hands back on chocolate again, much to the dismay of my parents who thought I was about to enter law school. My obsession with chocolate led me to an internship at the Houston Racquet Club, which gave me the opportunity to practice my newfound chocolatiering skills. What was just a weekly break from the LSATs turned into a passion for the art of chocolate. What followed was an online business that transformed into a chocolate boutique focusing on chocolates influenced by flavors from my upbringing and travels combined.
Has it been a smooth road?
There were definitely challenges along the way, one of the foremost issues being the lack of education about fine chocolate. From Single Origin Chocolates to Chocolate Bon-bons, we have been educating our customers on the spices we use, where the cacao is being grown, and how we create these fun little treats. Chocolate, just like wine and coffee, has grown into its own category of food, with all the intricacies of terroir and different roast times. Fine Chocolate has long been a European delicacy, but American chocolate is surpassing European standards in small-batch chocolate making, and we are part of the movement!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Cacao & Cardamom brings to Houston the French tradition of luxurious and handmade chocolate with a commitment to creativity and freshness. We infuse worldly flavors into the French expertise to create a chocolate collection that is solely unique to us. Each bon-bon is hand-crafted and hand painted in cocoa butter to express the flavors and originality of each piece of chocolate. Along with our Chocolate confections, we provide Coffee, Mochaccinos, Drinking Chocolates, and Specialty Hot Teas to create a memorable experience when you visit our Chocolate Boutique. One of the things we pride in most is our quality. We use only best chocolate from Valrhona and our goal is to educate our consumers about fine chocolate and push the bounds of chocolate through our flavor explosions!
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
What I’ve always appreciate the most about Houston is its diversity. Houston is a great place to start a business, because the city is always thriving, and more so now than ever. Though it’s been difficult to get Houstonians to understand chocolate in the same way we do, they’re definitely coming around and have supported out small business from the start.
Pricing:
- Chocolate Gift Boxes range from $12-$99
- Coffee, Tea, Drinking Chocolate from $2.75-$5.50
Contact Info:
- Address: 5000 Westheimer Suite 602
Houston, Texas 77057 - Website: www.cacaoandcardamom.com
- Phone: 281-501-3567
- Email: info@cacaoandcardamom.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/cacaoandcardamom/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/CacaoandCardamom/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/cacao-and-cardamom-houston
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
