It's time for chocolate lovers to rejoice. Where to get your fix on Aquidneck Island.
This will be a good week for chocolate lovers. On Tuesday, the granddaddy of all chocolate days will be here: Halloween. It’s the one time of year when, for the small price of wearing a silly costume, you can go to your neighbor’s door and beg them for chocolate. A sack full of free candy bars is always a treasure. And if you think yourself too old for the door-to-door solicitation, at the very least you can use the holiday as an excuse to fill up a giant bowl with an assortment of candy. You can rationalize that you need to be ready for the trick-or-treaters, but deep down, you won’t be upset if no one comes to the door and you are stuck with a bowl of Snickers and Twix Bars.
The party continues on Wednesday for all those cravers of M&M’s, Kit Kats and Hershey’s. All you have to do is head to your local store and you can stock up on the half-priced Halloween candy. Retailers need to make space for the Christmas merchandise, so the faster the Halloween stuff gets out their door, the better. It’s the perfect time to load up on all your favorite Halloween delights and your purchases will be helping your local retailers. A few bags of pumpkin-shaped Reese’s in the name of helping the community is almost an act of selfishness. You’ll be a happy, chocolate-eating, do-gooder.
But before all that, there is another holiday to celebrate. Saturday is National Chocolate Day – a day dedicated to enjoying all the joys and delights that come from chocolate. Naturally, there are lots of delicious places to commemorate the day on Aquidneck Island.
A great place to start your chocolate parade is at the Newport Sweet Shoppe on William Street. The family-owned and operated shop has been bringing smiles to our community since 1995 with over 90 varieties of milk, dark and white chocolate specialties. Their menu is an Augustus Gloop dream with everything from truffles to dipped marshmallows to chewy pecan turtles, all made with fine imported Belgian chocolate. They feature festive molds for the holidays too, like chocolate pumpkins and witches that they offer specially for Halloween. (Start considering ordering chocolate turkeys for your Thanksgiving table.) If you want to celebrate National Chocolate Day in Newport, the Sweet Shoppe should be your first stop.
To make your celebration complete, you will need to put some fresh-made fudge in your fiesta. There’s no shortage of great fudge on the Island, but there are some standouts. The Newport Fudgery on Thames Street is one of them. If you have the time, watch the fudgemasters hand-whip the freshly made fudge which was cooled in copper kettles. All your favorite flavors plus a few surprise additions to keep things mixed up. Every bite is indulgent and rich, which means you’ll thoroughly enjoy it walking down Thames Street eating it with the little knife. For more fudge, there’s always Kilwins Chocolates. Although part of a chain of chocolate shops based out of Michigan, Kilwin’s has been part of the community on Thames Street for a long time delivering lots of happy, chocolate smiles along the way. You can smell the chocolate aroma as you walk past, beckoning you to come inside. Head to the counter and take your pick from the fresh batches of Mackinac Island Fudge like their signature Turtle Fudge or a more classic Chocolate English Walnut Fudge. Might as well get some Chocolate Toasted Coconut ice cream while you are there too. You’ll feel like a kid in some kind of store. Kilwin’s has great chocolates too, so don’t miss out on a delightful cream or truffle to complete your chocolate adventure.
On the other end of the Island, don’t miss out on Clements Marketplace in Portsmouth where they feature Asher's chocolates. Asher’s is a family-owned and operated candy maker out of Souderton, Pennsylvania who has been making fine chocolates and other classic confections since 1892. Clement’s carries a great selection of chocolates including specially filled creams (like orange and vanilla buttercreams) and other specialties like Sea-Salt Milk Chocolate Caramels and Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers. If you were used to finding these delicious morsels over by the Flower Cart in Clement’s, the store has recently moved them into the Bake Shop section. Now they are easier to find, and you’ll be so glad you found them. They are the perfect pick-up for an easy gift or as a simple Treat Yo’ Self indulgence for doing all that grocery shopping.
We are in for some sweet days of chocolate in the coming days. Join the celebration. Grab that chocolate chip cookie from the Cookie Jar. Order up the Chocolate Awful Awful at Newport Creamery. Pick up that extra bag of Milk Duds to have on hand. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, so might as well eat all the chocolate.
Dan Lederer is a Middletown resident with 30 years experience in the food service industry throughout New England. He continues to work locally behind the scenes within the industry and remains a devoted fan of all things restaurant and hospitality related. His column appears on newportri.com and in The Daily News. Cheers!
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Where to find handmade chocolates in Newport, Portsmouth
