Two Yellowknife residents are hustling to launch their new business, North Chocolate, in time for Christmas.
Yassine Riahi, who moved to the city from Tunisia in 2019, comes from a family of chefs and has spent most of his time experimenting in the kitchen.
“I grew up always cooking at home – sweets and chocolates everywhere. We were thinking of opening a restaurant but it’s a tough market here to rent,” Riahi told Cabin Radio on Tuesday.
Riahi said the idea to become chocolatiers popped “out of nowhere.”
Earlier this year, he and his now business partner Hamza El Ghazlani accidentally made “too much chocolate,” which was shared among coworkers pleasantly surprised by the outcome.
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“Why don’t you sell this stuff? Why are you still waiting?” Riahi said they were asked.
El Ghazlani moved to Yellowknife from Morocco a little more than two years ago. In his home country, he ran a small restaurant where he prepared traditional food.
“I like cooking and we both lived together so we always tried out different stuff. That’s where the idea of making chocolate [comes from], because we’d always cook new stuff and try new pastries,” he said.
Support from residents and retail stores like Tastes of the North has already poured in, even though North Chocolate only officially announced its existence earlier this month.
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For now, the chocolate is prepared inside Riahi and El Ghazlani’s home kitchen. As the list of orders becomes longer, the idea is to switch to a rented space and eventually open a store.
The chocolate incorporates European flavours, which reminds the two of sweets that were available back home. It comes in two different forms, Bliss Bites and Aurora chocolate, which is inspired by a viral “Dubai chocolate.”
“We’re heavy on local. Everything, even the chocolate ingredients, are local,” Riahi said.
A launch date for the business is not yet decided. For more information or inquiries, email North Chocolate or call either 867-688-9022 or 867-446-3062.
