For Chocolata owner Kathy D'Agostino, owning a chocolate shop was written in the stars. The celestial-themed storefront opened on Second Avenue North this past August, but it was fated long before.

D'Agostino's love affair with chocolate began at age 15 when she took a temporary job at a chocolate shop in her hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. Ten thousand wrapped chocolate Pharaoh heads later, D'Agostino had herself a long-term gig.

She worked at the chocolatier, learning more than just how to wrap chocolates, for more than four years, but eventually life took her other places. She moved to Birmingham in 1994 to be closer to family, and followed a career path of visual display and interior design up until a few years ago.

"I got a little burnt out on what I was doing," D'Agostino says. "So, I decided to get back into chocolate making. It was kind of a leap of faith but I'm excited."

That leap of faith wasn't without encouragement or guidance, though. The food industry isn't totally foreign to D'Agostino. Her husband, Kyle, owns D'Agostino Sausage Empire, which supplies artisan sausages to many local restaurants. D'Agostino also sought the advice of other business owners who counseled her on coming up with a business plan. But the most unique wisdom she gained was a bit more cosmic. Fascinated by astrology, D'Agostino sought the advice of her astrologist when planning the business.

"He told me that, in India, before people have a child, they make sure the name [they've chosen] is right for the timeframe the child is going to be born in. There are different sounds in Vedic astrology that are important," D'Agostino explains.

"He asked me what I was thinking about for a name, and he looked at the chart and gave me some different sounds. He told me that 'ta' was one that would be nice to use, so that's how I came up with Chocolata."

After choosing the perfect name, D'Agostino's next step was determining whether her end goal was a storefront, or simply a pop-up/custom order kind of shop.

"I was thinking about whether it was pop-ups or if I wanted to try to get into a community space like Pizitz [Food Hall], but I knew my nature, and if I don't have a place to go, I have a hard time focusing," D'Agostino says. "I was so excited about everything that's happening downtown and I thought 'How fun to be a part of that.'"

The ideal location was a small, shotgun store diagonally across the street from Paramount on 20th Street.

"Even though this side of the street is quiet as far as there's not a lot of retailers, I like this area because it's close to 20th Street," D'Agostino says. "The Pizitz has been a huge bonus for me being on this street because I'm right in between a lot of the offices and lofts."

After a 7-month build out on the space--"I was the general contractor on the entire project," D'Agostino laughs--Chocolata held a soft opening during Sidewalk Film Festival, where D'Agostino served chocolate-covered popcorn to passing filmgoers.

D'Agostino's chocolate-making techniques are all self-taught, and she offers a variety of unique and interesting flavor combinations. In the display case, you'll find a rotating variety of truffles, bonbons, caramels, and Chocolata's signature Mystic Eye chocolates filled with seasonal ganaches.

The store's celestial theme is carried throughout each of D'Agostino's chocolates, including the chocolate bars for sale in the store. Popular ones include the classic Night Sky Bar with 71% dark chocolate and a sprinkling of sea salt resembling a starry sky; the Dixie at Dusk, made from a dark milk blend and featuring roasted pecans, brown sugar, rosemary, and smoked sea salt; and the Pepe Rosa, a white chocolate bar with pink peppercorns. Even special edition chocolate bars are given thoughtful names, like the Mikadzuki Matcha Bar with matcha green tea, named because "mikadzuki" means crescent moon in Japanese. All bars are hand-wrapped in gold foil with an outer wrapping of blue or white paper with tiny holes to let the gold show through like little stars.

The top-notch quality of D'Agostino's chocolate is due in part to where it comes from. She uses discs of single-origin chocolate sourced from South America that she melts down to make her owncombinations and recipes.

"I found some suppliers who I think have the best chocolate that I can buy," D'Agostino says. "I'm not bean-to-bar, I purchase from them and use that for my recipes."

This past September, D'Agostino spent several days in Ecuador with one of the companies she purchases from, visiting the cacao plantations, dairy farms, and sugar cane plantations that make the chocolate. She got to observe the entire chocolate-making process.

"I think that's why the product is so good--the whole process is so wholesome," D'Agostino explains. "The farmers love what they do. They've been in the cacao plantations working for generations."

The dairy farm that contributes the milk to the chocolate-making process is a co-op of more than 60 farmers, many of them women, who hand-milk cows every day. They also take the milk directly to the processing plant--on four-wheelers, trucks, or mules.

"It's unbelievable to see these women and men come to the processing plant with this milk," D'Agostino says. "[Everyone involved in the chocolate making-process] is very proud of what they do, and they live this beautiful wholesome life, so I think that taught me why this chocolate is really good--because the people care about it."

D'Agostino's talent in chocolate-making makes up the other half of producing a quality product. Once she gets the chocolate, she melts it, blends it, tempers it, then molds it, or dips it to create her own recipes.

"My favorite things to make are the candy bars--coming up with different flavorings and combos for those," D'Agostino says. "I've always been creative and it's an outlet for me. I love to cook and I know what I like. I'm always trying to think of a chocolate that's a little bit different. I like interesting combos."

In addition to her chocolate bars, D'Agostino's creativity can be seen in the individual chocolates she makes. Flavors have included bergamot & cinnamon; bonbons; white chocolate-dipped rosemary caramels; and dark chocolate bonbons with dried cantaloupe. Pop into the store and you can choose from a bakery case full of individual chocolates that change daily.

D'Agostino says her favorite thing is watching people walk by the storefront and do a double take. "They don't realize we're here. It's funny to see them stop and walk back or peek in the window."

What D'Agostino wanted to accomplish was the feel of a big city or a charming European town where you can wander down the street and stop into the store to say hello or discover something new.

"Anyone can drive down here from anywhere for dinner, but what's going to keep people on the streets walking around is a community," D'Agostino says. "The little chocolate shop, the baker, the wine shop, the butcher--everyone knows each other. I love that feeling of community.

"I'm really excited that there are so many people living down here now--I love meeting them. I feel like they're my neighbors. I already have my regulars."

And sometimes a little chocolate can go a long way in fostering that community.

"You know, when I went to get my business license, the people would ask so monotonously 'What kind of business are you wanting to start?' And the second I would say a chocolate shop, their faces would just light up," D'Agostino says. "They would ask what kind and tell me about their favorite kinds. Chocolate makes people happy."

Now with her business thriving, D'Agostino is working hard to keep up with holiday orders, while creating new ideas, running the storefront, and handling her accounts. Currently, the storefront is open four days a week.

"I'm just trying to take it one day at a time," D'Agostino says. "Other business owners told me not to let outside influences change my focus. They said that what's most important is that the product maintains its quality."

And while quality does remain her focus, D'Agostino's positive outlook on life has seemed to keep the stars aligned for her and her business.

"If you're going to succeed, you have to be an optimist," D'Agostino says. "Just think positively and anything is possible. If you are passionate about your work, you will find a way to make it work."

Details

Chocolata | 1927 2nd Avenue North | chocolatachocolate.com | Hours: Wed. 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Thurs.-Fri. 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m. and 6 p.m.-9 p.m., Sat. 12 p.m.-4 p.m.

--Photos by Kelsey Justice

This story appears in Birmingham magazine's December 2017 issue. Subscribe today!