goodeats
not just
eye candy
Husband and wife team open artisanal chocolate and cake shop by downtown Roswell By KELLY BROOKS
editor@northsidewoman.com
B
PHOTOS 1-3 AND 5-8 BY JANE AMIRJANOVA. PHOTO 4 COURTESY OF NATALYA SHAPIRO.
efore Natalya Shapiro and her husband Arthur opened Chef Brulée Chocolates and Gâteaux in Roswell, they created their confections in their East Cobb home. That posed some delicious challenges. “The kitchen was covered in chocolate,” Natalya said. The Shapiros also had a pint-sized sweets thief in their midst. Last year, their younger daughter Korina, now 11, absconded with 30 chocolates in three days while Natalya was making the white and gold caramels for a wedding. But one can hardly blame a sugarhigh Korina, given the artistry and lusciousness of her mom’s chocolates. “I’m trying to combine beauty, taste and freshness,” Natalya said of her sweets. “I want them to be as beautiful as they taste.” After about four years of making cakes and then chocolates for friends and family, the Shapiros opened Chef Brulée in November. Business boomed over the 6 | northsidewoman.com | february2014
holidays and Natalya’s loved ones pitched in to put bows on chocolate-filled boxes. Right from the start, people couldn’t resist the chocolates that look almost too good to eat. Almost. From the conventional caramel, pecan and coconut fillings to the more exotic combinations such as yuzu (a Japanese citrus fruit) with ginger and pine nuts, Natalya decorates her treats with meticulous yet colorful gradients, lines and Jackson Pollock-like splashes. They also come in a medley of shapes including lips, hearts, butterflies and drops. The 2013 graduate of Vancouver’s Ecole Chocolat professional chocolatier program doesn’t have a formal art