Malena Lopez-Maggi, the founder of The Xocolate Bar
Last week, I introduced you to two amazing ladies doing simply amazing things. First, you learned about Ms. Yvonne Leung, the creator of a rather spiffy line of wooden cards known as Cardtorial. Then you met the Queen of Music & Mags herself, Ms. Kiyomi Tanouye, who is equal parts month-long music festival producer and magazine store assistant manager. Now, I’d like you to get to know a lady who’s making waves in the areas of chocolate and jewelry, Malena Lopez-Maggi. I was first introduced to Malena during the Solano Street Festival where she was showing local Berkeleyans what good chocolate really tastes like. I hadn’t even planned on asking to interview her about her shop, The Xocolate Bar, until two things happened: a) I tried her chocolates and b) I tried her chocolates. (Yes, they’re that good.) They have everything a Bay Area foodie wants in a sweet: dynamic taste, intriguing ingredients of the highest quality, and a hint of personality. Luckily, I was able to snag an interview with the lady who seems to always be doing ten things at once and learn more about her ideal chocolate bar, her obsession with making jewelry, and more.
Brittany: Can you tell us a bit about
yourself?
Malena: I am a full-time student at Mills College, studying Studio
Art (painting and sculpture). I also own a chocolate shop and I'm obsessed with
making jewelry. I love moving and making things with my hands.
Brittany: Have you
always been interested in working with food?
Malena: Yes, I've
loved cooking ever since I was a little girl. My grandma is the best cook ever
and I learned a lot from her.
Brittany: What inspired you to open The Xocolate Bar?
Brittany: What inspired you to open The Xocolate Bar?
Malena: Chocolate
just seemed like something fun to get into -- the craft of it, the different
shapes and flavors you can make -- and my partner and I were ready for a
change.
Brittany: What are
your favorite types of chocolate to make?
Malena: The salty
ones are the best to eat: OMG Bar (honey roasted almonds, salted caramel, and dark chocolate) and Salted Toffee Bark. They are a pain to make, but worth the
effort. My favorite chocolates to make are the big showpiece figurines because
it's like sculpture.
The OMG Bar, quite worthy of its name
Honey Roasted Almond Bark
Karma sutra inspired dark chocolate
A huge Aztec inspired chocolate disc
Brittany: Can you
describe the process of creating a new type of chocolate?
Malena: 1) Eat
something unusual and delicious. 2) See how it tastes with chocolate. 3) Whip
up a small batch and tweak the recipe as needed.
Brittany: Can you
describe your typical day?
Malena: Hmm… well
yesterday was a great day and consisted of a quick ballet workout via YouTube,
then drilling and bending rainbow colored acrylic sheets for a sculpture
project, followed by a shamanic journey meditation, then a tour and lecture at
SFMOMA, and finally a History of Performance Art seminar. They're not all
whirlwind days, but most of them are. I like to keep busy -- better busy than
bored.
Brittany: If you
could use any ingredients in the world, what would you put in your ideal
chocolate bar?
Malena: Butter,
brown sugar, sea salt and the freshest of fresh roasted nuts. That is all. Dark
chocolate of course, preferably Pralus.
Malena’s handmade earrings
Brittany: In addition
to running The Xocolate Bar, you sell your own line of jewelry on Etsy. Can you
tell us more about this?
Malena: I have
been obsessed with making jewelry since I worked at Baubles and Beads seven
years ago. It's something I take breaks from because I have other things on my
plate, but it's the one thing that calls me back the strongest. I studied
jewelry and metalsmithing at College of Marin and toyed with the idea of
ditching chocolates to apprentice for a goldsmith. In the end, I got tired of
metal and more excited about non-traditional materials. Right now I'm loving
resin, Shrinky Dinks, and Lucite.
Brittany: Do you use
the same thought process as a chocolate maker as you do as a jewelry designer?
Malena: No, it's
completely different. Or rather, there are completely different sets of
parameters. With chocolate, the restrictions are much tighter. It has to be
delicious above all, but it also has to have a two week shelf life without preservatives.
It has to be the right texture. It has to please the customers. It can't have
toxic junk in it. It can't be too expensive. And, it has to be able to be
reproduced consistently and efficiently, batch after batch. It's more like
factory work than art. The jewelry, on the other hand, is more like play. I can
just mess around with things, arranging and rearranging, and making
one-of-a-kind pieces out of a variety of materials. Cost, wearability, and
durability are always considerations, but the parameters aren't as strict as
with chocolate. Jewelry is tactile and colorful and visual. Chocolate is about
taste and smell and texture.
The Xocolate Bar’s signature line of bars. I recommend the lavender (not pictured).
Pomegranate Truffle
Dark chocolate molded into Buddha heads
Dark chocolate with brandied cherry
Fleur de lys and full-body Buddha
pieces
Brittany: How has living in the East Bay influenced your work?
Malena: Well with the chocolate, everything has to be as green, sustainable, local, organic, and fair trade as humanly possible or our Berkeley customers
would revolt. With my art and jewelry, I find a lot of inspiration walking
around Point Isabel and living very close to TAP Plastics. Mills College in
Oakland has had a huge influence on my life and work as well.
Brittany: When you’re
not working, how do you spend your time?
Malena: It's hard
to say, because what most people call work I call play. When I'm not working
making chocolates, I'm making other things but getting a great deal of
enjoyment out of it. I mostly hang out at home with my partner, Clive,
listening to music and singing along while working on an art project.
Brittany: What can we
expect to see from you in the future?
Malena: More art
and jewelry, less chocolate... but don't worry, I'll give plenty of notice.
