Condor Chocolates, located at 1658 S Lumpkin St, ensures their chocolate comes from specific farms in Ecuador, rather than buying in bulk “I think for people that are really interested in food and where their food comes from will really appreciate chocolate and knowing where their food comes from it will be really beneficial,” Condor co-owner Peter Dale said. Photo by Karla Dougan.
Story by ROBERT WALKER – Managing Editor
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Native Athenian brothers Nick and Peter Dale have opened Condor Chocolates together, a chocolate shop dedicated to serving fresh, high-quality Ecuadorian chocolate.
Local restaurateur and chef Peter Dale’s latest culinary endeavor is a family one, and one that sprouted not as a business plan, but something much simpler.
“A couple of years ago, when I was in Ecuador, I wanted to bring back some chocolate as gifts for friends (in Athens),” Peter said. “And when I was there, I found that there wasn’t really a nicely-packaged and artisanally-produced chocolate, and there were also no companies that were highlighting the unique qualities of Ecuadorian chocolate.”
For the Dale brothers, making sure that their chocolate is unique is high on the priority list. “What we’re interested in is beans from one particular farm, rather than what big companies do which is take beans from say, 50 different farms, and put them in one big warehouse and then mix them all together,” Condor Chocolate Co-Owner Peter Dale said.
After this trip, Peter teamed up with his brother, Nick, in order to start Condor Chocolates, which opened on Dec. 20, 2014. The business focuses solely on Ecuadorian chocolate, something that both brothers share a passion for, as well as their 10 employees.
“Our mom is from Ecuador originally, and Ecuador produces the most cacao of any country in the Americas. We grew up eating Ecuadorian chocolate and really loving the good flavor profile of it,” Peter said.
As opposed to chocolate stores that simply buy pre-made ingredients, the determination of the Dale brothers to be as authentic as possible is evident in both of their enthusiasm for real, Ecuadorian chocolate.
“Condor is a bean-to-bar business, and what that means is that we take the raw cacao and manufacture it all the way to a bar form, or other types of chocolate products,” Nick said. “We are a little bit unique, as there aren’t too many other bean to bar producers (in Georgia).”
It is important to note that while companies like Mars and Hershey can be categorized as bean-to-bar businesses, the term more appropriately applies to much smaller companies, like Condor.
“As far as we know, there is only one (chocolate shop) in Atlanta, and those are the only two in Georgia. There are a lot of chocolate shops, but not too many that go directly from the bean,” Peter said.
What is very noticeable on the walls of Condor is the art, from the list of steps in the process of how Condor produces their chocolate: grow, dry, ship, roast, grind, temper and form, as well as the large birds, drawn on the walls.
“We wanted education to be a part of the shop, so we wanted people to know the process. We had (David Hale) list (the steps of production) over there on the wall, so people can know how we get the chocolate to what they are eating,” Peter said. “(Hale is) really well known for his birds, and because the name of the store is Condor, which is the Ecuadorian version of the bald eagle, it’s on the flag, the emblem, everything, we wanted a name that evoked a feeling of Ecuador.”
Condor boasts a large variety of products, from traditional bars to chocolate with cayenne in typical Ecuadorian style to sipping chocolate.
“I first had Condor at an event, but this is the first time that I’ve been to the real location, because I’ve really wanted to try the sipping chocolate, and it is really good,” customer Andre Gallant said.
Audio clip by Jordan Rhym.
The experience of both of the Dale brothers has contributed to the final product of Condor. Peter brings the experience of running a restaurant, serving as head chef of The National, a partner at 5 & 10 and co-founder of Seabear Oyster Bar.
“There’s not a lot of free time now, but I’m having fun. I’m mostly at The National now, so my brother is running the day-to-day operations and the chocolate making,” Peter said. “I help him with big picture things like marketing and packaging and things that don’t require me to be on site during business hours.”
While Peter brings the knowledge of the business, Nick brings with him the experience of understanding how to make chocolate and operate the machinery used in the process of chocolate making.
“I’ve been making chocolate for almost three years now, I call myself a self-taught chocolate maker. There (are) a lot of resources online, so a lot of it was me figuring it out in the kitchen,” Nick said.
Nick is the daily manager of the restaurant, who handles the day-to-day operations of Condor, as well as experimentations with recipes.
Along with their chocolates, Condor also sells hot chocolate, sipping chocolate and other beverages.”I first had Condor at an event, but this is the first time that I’ve been to the real location, because I’ve really wanted to try the sipping chocolate, and it is really good,” customer Andre Gallant said.
“I do a lot more back of the house work, mainly managing
employees, but I also create all the recipes for the chocolate,” Nick said. “I also do the tests for all of the (chocolate making) machines, but on a much smaller scale, so I know what they will taste like.”
The atmosphere of Condor was very important to the Dale brothers, as they wanted Condor to be more than just a place that customers rush in and out of.
“We really want people to come in and to buy a box of chocolate as a gift, but also to come and hang out and watch what is going on, so that’s why we have the bar and the tables near the big windows,” Peter said.
After opening at the height of the holiday season, Condor saw an early boom in sales, firmly introducing themselves into the Athens culinary scene.
“We opened on the 20th (of December), and on the 23rd we sold out of every single piece of chocolate we had here, which is a really good problem to have,” Nick said. “And since then we’ve been analyzing the trends of when customers come in, so that we know when we need to have a lot of chocolate on hand.”
Following their booming winter period, both Dale brothers are looking ahead, so that they can remain an institution in the five points food scene.
“Our goal is to produce enough bars so that we can sell them outside of the store, be that on the website and also in specialty food shops,” Peter said. “That’s really my goal, to produce enough so we can expand outside of our own store, and maybe beyond Athens, and spread the word about Ecuadorian chocolate.”
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