Chef Elbow brings his love of chocolate to Kansas City
A passion for chocolate led Christopher Elbow to venture off on his own and create Elbow Chocolates in Kansas City. His artisanal chocolate store in the Crossroads Art District has become a very popular attraction for people craving quality chocolate.
Elbow uses a personal approach to make the store’s chocolates better than other high-end chocolatiers.
“We focus on small batch production and attention to details in order to craft the best chocolate possible,” he said. “We use the finest chocolates and ingredients from around the world. We create flavor combinations with unique ingredients that you would never think would go with chocolate.”
Some of the flavor combinations are quite interesting – he uses spices such as cinnamon, pepper. They even offer chocolates intertwined with lavender. The flavors are often seasonal.
Chocolates come in various shapes and sizes. You can get chocolate bars, assorted bite-size chocolates. Gift boxes offer an assortment, or you create your own with the help of a staff member.
“We focus on crafting beautiful individual bonbons and truffles, chocolate bars, chocolate covered nuts, toffees and other confections,” Elbow said.
Kansas City has welcomed the chocolatier with open arms.
“(It) has really been a fantastic place to start this business,” Elbow said. “Immediately the public here understood and became really excited about having product like this crafted right here in the city. There has been a sense of pride to have a nationally recognized brand that was started right here in KC.”
Kansas City completes a circle in Elbow’s professional life. He started working in the restaurant industry in Lincoln, Nebraska. He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to swim. He planned to attend culinary school afterward.
After starting his career at the Lincoln Country Club, he eventually made the move to Las Vegas to gain experience working for 4-star eateries. He worked with some of the best and most-famous chefs in the world, including Emeril Lagasse. He worked at top restaurants at the Venetian and Paris casino/hotels on the Las Vegas strip.
He helped open the Paris’ Eiffel Tower Restaurant with renowned chef Jean Joho.
He returned to Kansas City to work at the American Restaurant.
“When I was the party chef at The American Restaurant in Kansas City, making chocolates to send out to guests at the end of the meal was a big part of my job,” Elbow said. “This is when I realized that I wanted to focus on making chocolates. The natural progression was to start my own company.”
Business has been outstanding, and Chef Christopher continues to look forward.
“Right now we are focusing on meeting the demand currently for our product,” he said. “Since we handcraft everything, we can’t mass produce or mechanize to grow. We are very thoughtful on how we grow as to not jeopardize the quality of our product. My ultimate goal would be to have a shop in NY someday so we can expose more of the world what we do.”
Elbow chocolates can be found at various outlets in the United States, including Omaha, San Francisco, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York City, Rhode Island and Florida, as well as the Kansas City metro area.
Meanwhile, when you are in Kansas City, make the trip to the Crossroads area and check out the store. There is likely a flavor you’ll find to enjoy.
For more information on Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolate, please visit the website at www.elbowchocolates.com.
