Angelina M. Lopez

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Contemporary Romance Author, Hyperromantic

Angelina M. Lopez 1/21/16 Angelina M. Lopez 1/21/16

Take a Tour of D.C.'s New Chocolate Factory

I imagine many families with young children will take a tour of this newly opened and locally owned chocolate factory hoping to re-create a portion of the Willy Wonka experience. But the website recommends that only those 10 and over go on this $10/person tour for a reason. Rather than displaying rivers of chocolate and lickable walls, the Harper Macaw tour is all about displaying the intentions of its young owners to save one corner of the planet with cacao beans planted, harvested and transformed into chocolate the right way.

As my family and I drove up to the Harper Macaw chocolate factory off Bladensburg Road NE in D.C.'s Brookland neighborhood, my wise-cracking teen son observed, "There are no tubes full of chocolate coming out of the top. Zero out of ten."

Samples at Harper Macaw chocolate factory, DC

Head chocolate maker Sarah Hartman and her husband, Colin Hartman, began producing fine chocolate in September and opened the factory to tours in December. They were drawn to D.C. because they liked the manageable size of the area, the fact that they can see the sky, the food scene, and the relative absence of local chocolate.

They source their cacao beans exclusively from three farms in Brazil, Sarah’s home country. Brazil has lost 90 percent of its Atlantic Forest, which provides a necessary canopy for cacao beans, and has slipped from being the third largest producer of cacao beans to sixth. By supporting farmers who are producing cacao in a sustainable way and re-investing a portion of Harper Macaw profits into rainforest restoration, Sarah and Colin see an opportunity to make an impact while producing really good, distinct-tasting chocolate.

Owner Colin Hartman handing out cocoa nib samples as he stands next to the roaster.

“Without good cacao beans, you can’t make good chocolate,” Colin says at the beginning of our 20-person tour of the factory. It’s the same sentiment winemakers use about their grapes, and — like winemakers — Sarah and Colin give “single estate” status to chocolate bars sourced from individual farms in Brazil. The 77 percent Amazon Rainforest bar is from Tomé Açu and the 74 percent Atlantic Forest bar is from Vale do Juliana. The two other bars Harper Macaw is currently producing are the 67 percent Dark Blend and the 52 percent Milk Blend.

Colin leads the tour with chocolate dust on his blazer and an apology for “going into a lot of details on these tours.” No apologies are needed. The hour-long “bean to bar” tour — from seeing the bags of beans fresh off the boat from the Philadelphia harbor (Colin drives there to pick them up), to seeing the equipment used for cleaning, roasting, winnowing, refining, grinding, conching and tempering the chocolate — is a fascinating, in-depth story of how a product is made with love and care.

The tour ends with a chocolate tasting: samples of all four chocolate laid out with crackers and seltzer to cleanse the palate and an entertaining explanation of how to enjoy the chocolate with all five senses. The little ones may not like it, but us big ones certainly did.

Take a Chocolate Factory Tour

Entrance to Harper Macaw's chocolate factory

An amazing number of treats and samples are available in the cafe

You can sample this...

Or this...

Or have as much as you want of this...

Harper Macaw is currently selling four bars

An ode to Brazil

Owner Colin Hartman starts the tour in a room where the beans are stored and cleaned

Yes, on the tour you must wear a hairnet

Colin hands out even more samples standing next to the roaster

The winnower

The conveyer belt where the chocolate cools in it molds for twenty minutes

Chocolate tasting

Tasting the chocolate

Stop by the wall at the end to pick up even more chocolate

Harper Macaw

3160 Bladensburg Rd NE, Washington, DC 20018

Tours of the Harper Macaw chocolate factory occur every Saturday on the hour between 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on a first-come, first-serve basis. People have already discovered this gem, so arrive by the :30 if you want to go on the next hour tour.

Harper Macaw's four fine chocolate bars are currently available in their shop and at a variety of locations around the D.C. area, including the Red Apron shops at Mosaic and Penn Quarter. They plan on releasing more products in May.

Angelina M. Lopez 10/17/14 Angelina M. Lopez 10/17/14

How to Throw a Comfort Food Dinner Party

Fall is an ideal time to prepare comfort food, the fatty, buttery, bacony dishes our moms made that now occupy the menu of every hip restaurant in the country. While I champion taking your time with this Comfort Food dinner party, I also offers ways you can shave a little time off the top. I'm not responsible for what happens to your waist.

In the spring and summer, I advocate easy entertaining. Throw a six pack in the cooler, some chicken and zucchini on the grill and you're good to go. But the advent of fall beckons us indoors. Lures us into sweaters and snuggling into the couch and eating foods that are oh-so-bad for us. So I find myself wanting to take my time with a fall dinner party. I want to create a setting that makes my friends want to linger; cook foods that will compel us to stick around the dinner table while we digest.

Fall, then, is an ideal time to prepare comfort food, the fatty, buttery, bacony dishes our moms made that now occupy the menu of every hip restaurant in the country. While I champion taking your time with this Comfort Food dinner party, I also offers ways you can shave a little time off the top. I'm not responsible for what happens to your waist.

1. Prep and planning

Apron by Dr. McNinja creator, Christopher Hastings

Fall is a good time to begin using the dining table again, so limit your invite list to the number of people you can fit around it. Sending everyone an email is fine. Do your grocery shopping the day before the party. Try to reserve party day for just decorating and food cooking. Sounds extravagant? Trust me, if one partner can be responsible for driving kids to baseball, walking the dog and grabbing lunch, and the other partner can get Zen with the party duties, both partners will be less flustered when guests start knocking at the door.

Time-saving tool: Peapod. I let this grocery delivery service deliver the bulk of my groceries and then head to a specialty market for items like fresh-baked desserts or stand-out salad fixings.

2. Decorating

I used to go overboard decorating for dinner parties, but now I have three secret weapons: Candles, flowers and white plates. White plates create a clean canvas for all that delicious food. Candles can be used in the middle of the table (judiciously so they don't get in the way of food passing or conversation) and in the living room. And inexpensive grocery store flowers in appropriate fall colors add a touch of pizzazz. I know it doesn't sound like much, but taking your time setting up these three details before guests arrive will enhance the sense that it's a special night at your house.

Time-saving tool: Placemats are an inexpensive and quick way to add flair to your table. The ones I use are from Ikea and cost $3. I also have them in black and silver.