FROM ECUADOR TO EMPIRE: ONE WOMAN’S QUEST FOR THE PERFECT CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE

A Press-Ready Travel Feature 
From the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau
Please feel free to use this material in any way you like. You may run it in part or in its entirety (with or without byline), or use it as a source for stories of your own. And if I can be of any additional help, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Michael A. Norton
Media Relations
(800) 940-1120; (231) 947-1120, fax (231) 947-2621
mnorton@VisitTraverseCity.com

Photo Credit: Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau

Cutline: Chocolatière Mimi Wheeler infuses her “soulful” Ecuadorian chocolates with organically-grown Michigan fruits and pungent herbs from her own garden. Her tiny factory, Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate, is perched on the side of a forested dune in the beachfront village of Empire.

(Other high-resolution photos available on request.)

By MIKE NORTON

EMPIRE, MI – There’s no denying that the coastal villages of Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula are charming and picturesque. Indeed, there are times when their relentless cuteness can be a bit cloying.

For some reason that’s not true of Empire, the peninsula’s southernmost town. Located about 20 minutes west of Traverse City, Empire is the headquarters for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. But in spite of its splendid Lake Michigan beach, storybook houses, fascinating shops and tree-shaded streets, it still feels more like a community than a theme park.

Founded in the 1860s as a frontier sawmill port, Empire never attracted many of the wealthy summer residents whose extensive resort colonies shaped the cultural and economic landscape of neighboring towns. And even though a fair number of artists and other creative folk have settled in Empire over the years, they’re as self-deprecating and unpretentious as the farmers, auto mechanics and beauticians who live and work beside them. As a result, the prevailing atmosphere in places like Joe’s Friendly Tavern, the Village Inn or Sleeping Bear Surf & Kayak is relaxed, egalitarian and a little funky.

That’s the atmosphere that attracted Mimi Wheeler to Empire. Her tiny candy factory, Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate, is halfway up the backside of Empire Bluff, a magnificent forest-covered dune that broods above the town like a great shaggy beast -- but her chocolates have begun to attract a cult following around the country. She makes intensely-flavored “artisan chocolates” using powerful Ecuadorian cocoa flavored with local herbs, flowers, fruits, nuts and honey.

“I aspire to sell beautiful, soulful chocolates that are delicious, wholesome and sing in your mouth,” she proclaims.

Consider the idea of a lavender truffle… a rosemary truffle… a Mayan truffle flavored with a subtle but unmistakably warm dose of chili. Even something as innocent-sounding as a blueberry truffle can be impressively complex, made with organic blueberry butter from local fruit, partnered with sage from Wheeler’s garden and a pinch of lemon zest.

A native of Denmark, Wheeler made her first truffle when she was nine years old but after emigrating to the U.S. in 1980 she spent the next several decades as a social worker. Only after retiring to Northern Michigan did she return to her childhood dream of designing and selling chocolates. In 2004 she founded Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate (The company name is a tribute to Mimi’s mother, whose sepia-toned portrait adorns every box of chocolates.)

After working for several years with Belgian chocolate, the variety used by most commercial confectioners, she eventually switched to the potent dark Ecuadorian cocoa. It’s that strong South American chocolate – her blends often contain as much as 75 percent cacao from fragrant Arriba beans – that clinches the deal.

“I’ve always loved chocolate, but this is something special,” says the petite chocolatière. “I actually traveled to Ecuador and was able to meet the people who grow and process and package this chocolate. It’s a wonderful privilege to be able to use such a wonderful product.”

Apparently, there’s still a bit of social worker left in Wheeler, too. The cocoa she uses is a Fair Trade product, which means the Ecuadorian growers receive a larger share of the profit from its sale. It’s also certified by the Rainforest Alliance -- unlike commercial cacao varieties, Arriba plants can be grown in deep forest shade, which means farmers don’t have to cut down the surrounding jungle to cultivate them.

Truffles aren’t Wheeler’s only stock in trade. She makes enormous hazelnut-covered Turtles, whose caramel centers use with thick local cream and honey from the star thistles that clothe the Leelanau hillsides with purple blossom every summer. And there are Puddles: flat pancakes of melted chocolate flavored with fruits, nuts, seeds and coffee. And Wally Bars, which are huge bricks of chocolate mixed with a special trail mix of nuts and fruits.

Grocer’s Daughter has developed a brisk mail-order trade, and Wheeler’s chocolates can be found in many stores, markets and gift shops in the Traverse City area. (One of her best regular clients is the Black Star Farms winery in nearby Suttons Bay.) But a goodly number of her customers are still visitors to Empire who see the little chocolate factory with its herb garden and café tables halfway up the back of Empire Bluff and can’t help stopping for a taste.

More information about Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate can be found at www.grocersdaughter.com

WHAT ELSE TO DO:
 As headquarters for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Empire is the perfect starting-point for an excursion into this 64-mile curve of beaches, coves, islands, forests, meadows and lakes. But the village has many charms of its own, including a number of galleries, antique shops and cafes; most can be sampled along the two-block stretch of Front Street, its main shopping area, but several charming coffee shops and restaurants are also found on M-22 north and south of downtown. The village also has a top notch historical museum complex that includes four restored 19th century buildings.

WHEN TO COME: 
Beach lovers find it hard to avoid Empire in the summer; its public beach, framed by lofty dunes is one of the most beautiful in the entire Great Lakes region. Every August, the town hosts the annual Sleeping Bear Dunegrass & Blues Festival. But it’s hard to find a season when something isn’t going on in this bustling little village; their February Winterfest includes a popular “polar bear swim” through the ice in nearby South Bar Lake, while the funky May Asparagus Festival features (among other zany things) an annual competition for the best “Ode to Asparagus.”

For information about other events and activities in the Traverse City area this year, as well as a comprehensive listing of area restaurants, accommodations and attractions, contact the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-TRAVERSE or on line at www.VisitTraverseCity.com