Dark, milk, white, fruity, crunchy, or smooth, these chocolates give a visual, olfactory and gustatory temptation that is the greatest of all sugary delights – Sugar High, here we come! But this story is not just about the sweets, it’s more about the man behind the chocolate, Marvin Lynch!
and knotting each hair, strand-by-strand. This focus on detail would help him later. Graduating in the late 80’s – still part of the “go-go” era – he started a hair and makeup salon that dovetailed neatly with an older brother’s photography. Marvin found success with 260 clients, some of whom were traveling three or more hours to his salon.
Who? Marvin Lynch, the creative and production chocolatier for the Mount Dora Confectionary on Donnelly Street just below 5th Avenue. Think of him as our own Willy Wonka. Born in Belgium to an American father and a German mother, Marvin grew up in Frankfurt, Germany. From there, his unique blend of education, encompassing many European cultures, absorbing a wide range of culinary skills and fashion ideas has landed him smack in the center of Mount Dora making exquisite chocolate delights. His cooking skills he learned as a boy by watching his mother and grandmother making meals from scratch – no recipes – no processed foods. Like a sponge, he absorbed their collective experiences and received hands-on instructions, “a little of this, a bit more of that, fold ingredients like so.” As part of a NATO-family, he traveled the Continent. Escargot from France, seafood and pasta dishes from Italy’s Piedmont, Austrian desserts – dishes that became favorites. Pulling a scientific exactness from his father’s engineering background he coupled these experiences with his own intuitive approach to create his own dishes – whenever he got the chance. Did he make a direct leap from acquiring these skills to making chocolates? No. As with any journey detours and bypasses abound. Marvin spent his first years as a young man studying hair styling and make-up application in demanding German schools. As part of his final exam, he made a wig from scratch – from constructing the netting base to inserting
But Marvin’s dreams were calling. Though still unknown to him, the chocolate in Mount Dora was beckoning. The result? Marvin landed in Los Angeles. Wait – Los Angeles? Yes, there were more detours since the path to Mount Dora is not always a direct one (as this writer well knows). The young salon owner dreamed of going to Hollywood and performing his craft on the “beautiful people” in the movies. He wanted to style the stars, but would the stars want him? After paying his dues in the world’s image-making capital, Marvin found himself in demand hustling from catalog photo-shoots to reality-show locations in the South Pacific. In spite of success, he realized his creative muscles needed a different exercise. Experimenting with fashion accessories, like watch bands and belts, led Marvin to explore a different creative facet – jewelry, bringing his detailing skills into play. When a theft of his best pieces also stole his creative desire, he returned to the cooking of his childhood. This time however, he was the chef, not the student. Still unknown to him the chocolate in Mount Dora kept beckoning and the agent that brought him to Central Florida was love. While visiting his fiancée Shaimayne’s mother in Mount Dora and staying at the Lakeside Inn, Marvin suddenly blurted, “Let’s move here.” So in two months, the creative chef/jewelry maker/hair stylist – with no job and no job prospects, moved to a 5-acre farmette near Eustis. It turns out he had all he needed. After a year, he and Shaimayn moved into a house in Mount Dora. When she suggested Marvin go in her place to interview for a position working as a clerk at the candy store, he gave her a “why not” shrug, set out for the PULSE • WINTER 2012 | 43