Perhaps only a designer like me walks into a chocolate store and is more excited by the space than the chocolate. (Well, maybe not MORE, but just as excited.) Co-owners Starr Sink, Sam Ratto, and Chris Heavner opened Videri Chocolate Factory in Raleigh earlier this year with the vision of producing high quality, hand-made chocolate, from bean to bar. The aroma of fresh ground cacao beans beckons you into the store. At the counter, you’re invited to savor samples of Videri’s gourmet flavors, from sea salt chocolate to pink peppercorn. The chocolate morsels are sweet but not cloying, sharp but not bitter, nuanced, earthy…delicious. A stack of neatly packaged bars calls out: take me home. It’s a Willy Wonka-esque moment. But enough about the chocolate, back to the space:
At the tasting counter of Videri Chocolate Factory
Videri Chocolate Factory occupies the 1912 railroad depot located in Raleigh’s Warehouse District. With exposed brick walls, concrete floors and heavy beams overhead, the style of the interior stays true to the building’s original industrial function. The space is both airy and gritty. Piercing sunlight from high windows creates a play of contrast and shadow across the rough surfaces. The furnishings are simple and utilitarian: steel Tolix-style chairs, a rough-hewn wood bench and a vintage factory work table. Even the decorations are sparse and to-the-point: huge sacks of cacao beans looking like they were just unloaded from the freight car fill the entry area. One such sack has been framed as art.
A dramatically arched window spans the entry to Videri Chocolate Factory.
Factory-style tables and chairs furnish Videri’s function space (it can be reserved for parties).
A framed cocoa bean sack decorates the wall.
A simple sofa, factory stool and rustic bench create an inviting space to lounge and enjoy Videri’s chocolates.
What I love about vintage industrial style in general, and what Videri’s space captures so perfectly, is its stark romance. It is an intriguing mix of utility, warmth, grandeur of scale, modesty of materials, and an honest sort of ornamentation where the structure itself is ornament. Videri’s founders have carried this turn-of-the-century industrial aesthetic throughout the customer experience of their brand. In the back of the store is a bright red industrial-size bean grinder, and observation windows allow visitors to see the chocolate in production. The chocolate bars themselves are packaged in nostalgia, in crisp parchment-covered boxes emblazoned with a swirling logo that somehow evokes both summers on the boardwalk and the arrival of the circus train.
Videri’s industrial-sized grinder and observation room
Videri chocolate bars
There is an excellent interview of Videri’s founders written by blogger David Garber on his blog, Preservation Nation (read it here.) In the article, co-owner Sam Ratto is quoted as saying, “This space says that we care about hard work and dedication to our beliefs of being a sustainable company. This space is welcoming and comforting, two very important things when it comes to chocolate.” What a wonderful idea, and I couldn’t agree more.
All this thinking about chocolate has me ready for a treat. And you know I didn’t leave Videri Choclate Factory empty-handed!
The perfect afternoon treat: an espresso and a few piece of Videri’s Sea Salt Chocolate
Videri Chocolate Factory is open Wednesday through Saturday, 11am-7pm.