Cioccolatier owners Silvia Valentoni and Ronald Peach Jr.’s dedication to the art of making chocolate produces a display case filled with an array of beautiful, colorful, delicious creations. The Park Meadows Retail Resort location has been open since August 2022 and is a popular destination for chocolate lovers craving the high-quality, unique offerings created by Valentoni and Peach.
They ensure the quality of their chocolate by only sourcing cocoa from reputable farms in Brazil. For inspiration, they look to the traditions and culture shared with them by their families.
Valentoni and Peach are Brazilian. All of Valentoni's family is Italian, and Peach’s background includes two Italian grandmothers, one English grandfather, and one gaucho grandfather.
In Italian, cioccolatier means a maker or seller of chocolate candy. This is why you can find Brazilian specialties like Brigaderio and Honey Bread alongside traditional Italian creations like Antique Marzipan. Brigaderio is fudge that Peach describes as “a cloud of soft chocolate.”
One of the darkest chocolates Cioccolatier offers is a 73% cocoa bar sprinkled with cocoa nibs.
Peach says, “Fifty percent of the people that come here say to me, ‘But Ronald, I don’t like dark chocolate because it’s bitter.’ And I say, oh no, it’s not, and it shouldn’t be.”
He’s right. There is a pronounced cocoa-forward taste to the 73 percent bar. Even with actual cocoa nibs on the chocolate, there is no bitterness because of the quality of the ingredients and the touch of the master chocolatier. That’s why Cioccolatier’s motto is “the taste of the real chocolate.”
1. The fruit of the cocoa tree
Unripe fruit is green and changes color as it ripens. A fermentation process cracks the cocoa seed skin, revealing the sought-after cocoa nib inside. Cioccolatier’s cocoa is sourced from reputable farms in Brazil and shipped to their warehouse in Castle Rock, Colorado.
2. Salted Caramel. Cioccolatier’s bestseller
The Salted Caramel is a chocolate shell filled with caramel. Cioccolatier’s owner, Ronald Peach, recommends holding the chocolate on your tongue for five seconds before eating. This warms the chocolate slightly for an even smoother combination of chocolate and caramel filling. Peach describes the importance of providing contrasts in the flavors of each chocolate. The Salted Carmel is the perfect example, with three layers of flavor that combine beautifully for the finished item.
3. Lemon Pie
Cioccolatier’s second best seller. The Lemon Pie is a white chocolate shell with lemon ganache filling. White chocolate is created by mixing cocoa butter, sugar, and powdered milk. The master chocolatier ensures that the lemon flavor is bright and very much the star of this chocolate. Each chocolate is hand-painted.
4. Pistachio Praline.
The pralines are made in a traditional manner, mixed in a melanger, a stone mill. It takes approximately 48 hours before the correct consistency for the praline is reached. Made by hand, each chocolate then receives a whole nut. A praline luxury assorted box contains a flavorful mix of Walnut, Almond, Pistachio, and Ciocollatella pralines.
5. Honey Bread
This is a traditional Brazilian dessert. To create the Honey Bread, a Brazilian cake is made with honey and spices and is then enrobed with chocolate. A specialty item, the Honey Bread is in high demand and often sells out quickly.
6. Cherry & Champagne Ganache
All ganache fillings are made with traditional Italian recipes and use only pure and natural ingredients. The 15-item assorted ganache box flavors are Cognac, Cachaça, Dulce de Leche, Orange, Lemon Pie, Mint, Italian Ganache, Pure 38% Milk, Hazelnut, Red Berries, Pepper, Toffee, Salted Caramel, Caffe Latte, and Colombian Coffee. In addition, seasonal and specialty flavors are created and rotated throughout the year.
7. Antique Marzipan
Love is in the air, and it smells like chocolate. Beautiful heart-shaped chocolates handcrafted with a traditional and secret Italian recipe. Marzipan is a combination of almond, sugar, and rose water. The marzipan must be fresh, and Cioccolatier makes theirs weekly to ensure the quality remains consistently high. The master chocolatier combines the marzipan with ganache, and then each piece is hand painted with gold edible paint.
