Artist of the Month:  The Mirabellas & The Chocolate Factory
By: Audrée Peters
Featured November 2007

Put two chefs together with unlimited creativity and extensive experience in pastries, and throw in lots of chocolate, and…voila!

Chocofin Chocolatier!

Louis and Denise Mirabella of Fountain Hills have been delighting chocolate lovers with their tongue-melting chocolate whimsicals since 1998, first on Enterprise Drive and, since 2004, in their bistro-style parlor at 13404 N. La Montana Drive, on the corner of Palisades Boulevard and La Montana Drive.

The secret to their artistic success includes the fact that they make their chocolates with cream and butter and high-quality European light, dark and white chocolate, with all natural flavorings.

“Our chocolate is more of a French style,” Lou says.

“We’re craft artists,” he says. “We’re chocolatiers. It’s a throwback to the way it was done 80 years ago. We do everything ourselves, from scratch. And we find people are willing to spend a little more to enjoy the freshness and the natural chocolates.”

“It’s a difficult but fun way of making a living,” he admits with a laugh.

Lou is a self-taught chocolatier who actually started making chocolate products as far back as 1986, in southern Connecticut.

“Just having a pastry background and liking to cook a lot, I just taught myself how to make it. Then I took samples to a gourmet market. They liked it, so I made it for them all the time.”

The fun venture snowballed into other venues, and it became a wholesale business.

“But I needed to get more into the business end of it to learn more about it,” he says, and he took a position as a pastry chef at a restaurant in New Haven.

At the same time, Denise was working as a chef during the day in another restaurant in New Haven, doing her internship for her degree at the New England Culinary Institute, and was working evenings in a small cafe Lou frequented.

They met and fell in love.

“We were both into food, and it was a common interest,” Lou says with a grin.

Seeking a warmer climate, they moved to Arizona in the early 90s. They were chefs in upscale resorts in Scottsdale for nearly five years before they started Chocofin Chocolatier, bistro style – their long-time dream.

“We still do a lot of orders, but when the business went more retail, we liked that because we found it was a kind of social thing,” Lou says. “We’ve gotten to know the community, and we get a lot of feedback this way.”

Their enjoyment is revealed in the thought that goes into their artistic creations.

And doing what they enjoy the most -- all day -- the cozy bistro is filled with the aroma of fruit, chocolate and pastry.

Display cases highlight dozens of delights from chocolates with many flavor choices that include buttermilk crunch, roasted raspberry and espresso-Pernod, to barks, toffees and chocolate bars.

There also are chocolate pies, cakes and cookies, gift box and basket arrangements and special occasion cakes and desserts.

While chocolates and chocolate-related desserts are their primary business, there also are a few favorite traditional desserts offered, such as tortes, pies and chocolate mousse cake.

Among the specialty desserts that are on their regular menu are the popular Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie and Mixed Berry Streusel Pie, which Denise bakes daily.

The menu items can be taken home or to a party, or visitors can enjoy single-serving candy or pastry slices at a table in the bistro, accompanied by coffee, ice cream or shakes.

New creations are added to the menu regularly. This year the Brandy Pumpkin Pie will be the coup de grace at any festive holiday meal.

New holiday gift baskets also are available, and molded chocolate treats such as the plump chocolate Santa Claus figurines will be featured.

Customized and personalized cakes for weddings, birthdays and special occasions are made at Chocofin daily, and the Mirabellas have been the chocolate supplier for world class resorts in Scottsdale since 1998.

Chocofin creates embossed and specially personalized chocolate bars, often ordered by businesses and organizations for awards, thank you gifts or souvenirs, much like the popular chocolate bar that is available daily in the store which is embossed with the words “Fountain Hills” under a raised depiction of The Fountain.

Everything that is on their menu can be special ordered.

When selecting one’s favorite treat, Lou explains that chocolate is categorized by the percentage of sugar in the chocolate, the darkest having the least sugar -- resulting in it being a stronger flavor -- to the lightest, having the sweeter flavors.

On the other end of the scale, they also can create just about anything in sugar-free chocolate.

And when people stop in for a visit and a treat, they can enjoy ice cream with their chocolate.

Chocofin offers refreshing hand-scooped gelato made by Berto’s Gelato of Phoenix. There are 12 gelato flavors and six sorbets to enjoy in cups, cones, shakes, sundaes and pints.

“People ask what gelato is, but it’s just the Italian name for ice cream,” Denise explains.

 “The ice cream is the only thing we don’t make ourselves,” she says, “but we make our own chocolate and caramel sauces to top off the ice cream.”

They also have a new espresso bar, “Because it just seems a natural thing to go with the chocolate,” they agree.

Do you have to be a chocoholic to be a chocolatier?

“We just enjoy making pastries, so that’s what we do,” Lou says.

“I love all desserts,” Denise says with a grin.

Chocofin participated in the Business Showcase for many years, and this month will be at the Fountain Festival of Arts and Crafts, Friday through Sunday, Nov. 9, 10 and 11.

Chocofin Chocolatier is open Mondays from 12 to 6 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and closed Sunday.

While it’s more fun to visit this quaint little bistro to enjoy that “kid in a chocolate shop” feeling and enjoy the aroma of baked pies mingling with the sweet smell of chocolate, for anyone who feels the need to feast eyes on sweet desserts in between, the menu and some of the luscious offerings are displayed 24/7 online at www.Chocofin.com, and can be direct ordered.

For more information, Louis and Denise can be reached at Chocofin Chocolatier at (480) 836-7444 or by e-mail at Info@Chocofin.com.

A Roasted Raspberry star is born.

Lu and Denise Mirabella of Chocofin Chocolatiers demonstrate how they make their Roasted Raspberry Truffles.

Lou roasts flash-frozen fresh raspberries to remove most of the water for the purest fresh raspberry extraction. He then mixes in the sugar and other ingredients.

Separately, the ganache is made by mixing cream with melted dark chocolate.

When both mixtures have reached the right mixing point after chilling in the refrigerator for several hours, Lou folds the roasted raspberry mixture into the ganache.

Using cocoa powder for ease of handling, the uniform size scoops of ganache are rolled by hand into a ball, hand-dipped in dark melted chocolate and sprinkled with dehydrated, 100 percent raspberry powder.

Roasted Raspberry Truffles are among the most popular items at Chocofin.