Photo by Bart Zino // Buy this photo
Norman Love is an artist, but his art isn’t likely to be found in a museum.
His palette consists of only three colors and his medium has a tendency to melt if he’s not careful. Plus, he sometimes has to watch his customers eat his work.
But such is the life of an artisan chocolatier, and Norman Love, of Norman Love Confections, wouldn’t have it any other way. A pastry chef by profession, Love has spent 30 years in the dessert business working for high-end hotels and resorts all over the country. But to Love, it’s not about the money.
Photo by Bart Zino
At Norman Love Confections, chocolate comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. This is just a small sample of what he has to offer.
“At the end of the day, it’s not how much, but how good,” he says.
And he means it. Love doesn’t use any preservatives, and everything is made on site at his factory in Fort Myers. The key, he says, is to use the best possible ingredients and make everything by hand. A typical batch of chocolates takes approximately four hours to make from start to finish.
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of the product,” Love explains to me during my visit to his factory, a one-story structure nestled in a strip mall on the east side of Interstate 75. It’s not the sort of building that jumps out at you—I missed it the first time I drove past—but once inside you know you’re in the right place.
A gentle hint of chocolate and coffee greets you at the door before you can even notice the rows upon rows of chocolate (and chocolate-inspired) creations sitting behind a big glass display case. You can also order up a quick cup of coffee or snack on a variety of pastries and other baked goods at The Chocolate Salon, a café open to the public built right into the Norman Love factory. Behind the register a glass window allows for a wide-open view of Love and his staff at work. Love describes his factory as “Willy Wonka for the sophisticated palette.”
As I was admiring the café’s decor a particularly ornate sculpture depicting a coral reef caught my eye. A voice called out from behind the counter, “you do know that’s made of chocolate, right?”
Photo by Bart Zino
Alan shows off a tray of handmade of chocolate garnishes.
On the day I visited, everyone at the factory was busy packaging. In the packing room I saw hundreds of little candies of various shapes, sizes and colors waiting to be placed into Norman Love’s signature green boxes. I had to do my best not to reach out and grab one. Afraid of getting in the way, I left for the production line, where Alan Pitotti greeted me wielding a knife and a blowtorch.
Pitotti’s job for the day was testing. Samples are taken from each batch, cut in half and checked for defects, like a thin shell. The main thing is checking for consistency, he explained. And the blowtorch? It helps clean up go a lot quicker.
Love’s chocolates are as much an aesthetic experience as they are a flavorful one. Each design has its own personality: everything from sassy pink lemonade to cool key lime pie, and each one is carefully crafted. Love says that attention to detail comes from a lifetime interest in creativity and art. Everything is made by hand here, and nothing is imported from outside.
“Americans eat with their eyes,” he says. “I wanted to create a visual product. I wanted that ‘wow’ factor.”
A pastry chef by profession, Love got his start in the food business during high school making ice cream. He considered attending the Culinary Institute of America, but decided against it, opting to travel instead. Love spent time in Europe, and France in particular, seeking out the best chefs he could find and picking up skills along the way.
Photo by Bart Zino
Norman Love, the man himself.
He also spent time traveling across America, working in hotels and resorts before earning a spot in the kitchens of the Naples and St. Louis Ritz Carltons, first as an executive pastry chef and later as a corporate executive pastry chef. Eventually Love left the Ritz to start Norman Love Confections in 2001.
However, Norman Love’s gourmet sweets don’t exactly come cheap: a 15-piece box goes for $32, and the use of top notch ingredients and no preservatives makes for a short shelf life of only about three weeks. Just taste one though, and you’ll know it’s well worth the price. And there’s good news for Naples fans of Norman Love Confections: a new branch of Love stores is slated to open in Naples sometime soon. After that, well, we’ll just have to wait and see, but don’t worry about him moving away any time soon.
“This is our home,” Love says. “And we’re proud to do business in our home.”
- |
Comments » 0
Be the first to post a comment!
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.