Enjoy the Food of the Gods at Oh! Chocolate

Nothing says "Happy Valentine’s Day" quite like chocolate, and fortunately for Mercer Islanders, has been creating luscious handcrafted chocolates here for 25 years as of Feb. 14, 2011.

Founded by Carl and Gertie Krautheim in their Hawaiian kitchen 40 years ago, the Krautheim’s daughters Margo and Nola took over the business 10 years ago, and hired their children to help run four Oh Chocolate stores in Bellevue, Mercer Island, Seattle’s Madison Park and in Peachtree City, Georgia.

Marisa Barrett, Krautheim’s granddaughter, who manages the Oh! Chocolate on Mercer Island said her family comes up with something new and delicious every Valentines Day for their rush of customers. “We have the raspberry champagne truffle, pink champagne truffle and the red velvet truffle, which contain champagne, she said “ But our most popular item is the Fleur De Sal sea salt caramels dipped in chocolate, which has a sweet-salty flavor.”

There are literally dozens of types of truffles, creams, nuts and chewy-centered chocolates, from exotic tropical fruits like mangos to homemade marshmallows dipped in Oh Chocolate’s full-cream caramels made in their professional chocolate kitchen in Seattle.

“I eat chocolate everyday—my favorite is the honey ginger caramel,” said Barrett, “But my rule is that I don’t eat when I’m in the store because I won’t be able to stop!”

Chocolate contains “theobroma” which literally means “food of the gods” and is derived from the theobroma cacao seedpod that is roasted and ground to make cocoa. Oh! Chocolate imports a majority of their chocolate from France from an old-world confectioner, and once they get it to their Seattle kitchens, they use Gertie’s time-tested recipes for the basis of all their chocolates, only adding new flavors in small batches for freshness and to gauge customer response. “We haven’t had too many duds,” said Barrett. “Chocolate goes through crazes and fads…a few seasons ago it was spicy/peppery flavors, and now it’s salty and sweet flavors with dark chocolate, which is in favor now because doctors say it’s healthier for you, and full of antioxidants.”

Though she wasn’t expecting to become a chocolatier, Barrett said that she loves her work, particularly since she moved to Mercer Island from California in 2003. “I love working with my family,” she said. “California is not a good place for a chocolate business, but Washington’s a terrific place for chocolate-making—its cool, dry and people enjoy the mood boost they get from chocolate.”