LET’S START FROM THE BEGINNING…HOW DID RADEK’S CHOCOLATE BEGIN?

Radek’s Chocolate began in 2008, after Radek was a chef at Cafe Maitreya he started playing with making vegan chocolates and truffles. They quickly became known as Radek’s Chocolates within his friendship circle and his friends encouraged him to start selling at local markets.

WALK US THROUGH THE PROCESS OF HOW YOU’VE FUSED EXTRACT ORGANIC ESPRESSO INTO YOUR LATEST CREATION. WHY DO YOU THINK IT WORKS SO WELL?

It was purely by accident. We were making a test batch of Cashew Gianduja Chocolate, which entails making a nut butter and then grinding it in the stone grinders with our cacao. When sampling it we were drinking our usual daily cup of coffee and the two were a perfect pair. The rest is history…

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR CHOCOLATE IN THREE WORDS?

Organic, Handmade, Honest

TELL US SOMETHING WE WOULDN’T KNOW ABOUT BEING A CHOCOLATIER?

Tempering chocolate is an art and science that seemingly takes a lifetime to fully understand.

RADEK, YOU WORKED AS A CHEF AT AWARD-WINNING VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT CAFE MAITREYA, HOW HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE THERE TRANSLATED INTO RADEK’S CHOCOLATE?

I explored an intuitive style of cooking, sophisticated techniques and experimenting with vegan recipes and exotic ingredients.

WE’VE LOVINGLY RESTORED OUR COFFEE ROASTERS HERE AT EXTRACT. AS A MANUFACTURER YOURSELF, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING IN YOUR WORKSPACE OR FACTORY THAT HOLDS A PLACE CLOSE TO YOUR HEART?

We have a dipping fork we use to cover our truffles. Radek bought it at a car boot sale in the south of France. It’s become pretty integral in our production.
We’re also currently restoring a handmade Latvian stone grinder. It’s been a learning curve but this beautiful machine will be something which we won’t be able to work without very soon.

ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE TO SOMEONE STARTING OUT THEIR OWN BUSINESS?

Be patient and do what you love.

ANY EXCITING PLANS IN THE PIPELINE?

This new bar is pretty exciting for us… if people like it then we’d love to collaborate more with Extract to bring out some new flavours.

LASTLY, HOW DO YOU DRINK YOUR COFFEE? BLACK OR WITH MILK?

Usually, a “Fl-OAT White” (as Radek calls it) which is a flat white with oat milk but during those long winter nights of packing truffles you might catch us drinking it with some maple syrup and a drop of organic cognac.

View this post on Instagram

Every single one of Radek’s Chocolate’s and Truffles are hand made and hand wrapped with complete love! Pass on the love this Christmas and order your gift boxes – only 36 hours left to order!

A post shared by Radeks Chocolate (@radekschocolate) on Dec 17, 2018 at 3:39pm PST