Chocolate
Sweet shops
Bean-to-bar chocolate making at Loon Chocolate in Manchester. Courtesy photo.
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ffering everything from handcrafted chocolates to novelty goodies, here are 12 spots that are guaranteed to make you feel like a kid in a candy store.
1. Granite State Candy Shoppe Best of the best 13 Warren St., Concord, 225-2591, granitestatecandyshoppe.com Established by the Bart family in 1927, Granite State Candy Shoppe has been offering all kinds of homemade chocolates, candies and nuts for three generations. Founder Peter Bart came to Lawrence, Mass., in 1909, from the Greek island of Lesvos, where he found a job as a candy maker. He moved to Concord several years later, where many of his original recipes and candymaking techniques and equipment are still utilized today. 2. Van Otis Chocolates 341 Elm St., Manchester, 627-1611, vanotis.com Van Otis gets its name from Evangeline Hasiotis, who opened a small candy store inside a family apartment in Manchester following completion of a candy-making course in Boston in the fall of 1935. Today the business continues to thrive in the form a retail store and large candy kitchen on Elm Street and has also expanded into various wholesale initiatives — Van Otis purchased the assets of longtime New Hampshire staple Hutchinson’s Candy in 2020, and now produces its own candied popcorn under the “Evangeline’s” brand. A second Van Otis store also opened in Wolfeboro the following year. 3. Nelson’s Candy & Music 65 Main St., Wilton, 654-5030, nelsonscandymusic.com A Wilton institution, Nelson’s has been making its own peanut brittle, fudge, chocolate turtles and other indulgent treats for more than a century. The late
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Doug Nelson was a third-generation candy maker from Lowell, Mass., before selling his shop in 2019. Current owner Nancy Feraco continues to carry on the candy-making tradition at the Main Street shop. 4. Loon Chocolate 252 Willow St., Manchester, loonchocolate.com Loon Chocolate was born when owner and founder Scott Watson watched a Netflix documentary about a Southeast Asian coffeehouse that produced its own chocolate on site. He got inspired enough to start making chocolate out of his own house, eventually selling his first bar in the spring of 2018. Today Loon Chocolate operates out of an adjoining chocolate production facility and retail space, the latter of which Watson shares with Theresa Zwart of 603 Charcuterie. All of his chocolates are handcrafted in small batches from bean to bar, the cacao beans sourced from multiple growing regions in South America and Africa. 5. Dancing Lion Chocolate 917 Elm St., Manchester, 625-4043, dancinglion.us Dancing Lion Chocolate, which opened in 2007, is owned and operated by master chocolatier Richard Tango-Lowy. Originally a physicist, TangoLowy has been working with chocolate since 1996. He graduated from Ecole Chocolat in Vancouver before going on to earn master chocolatier designations in both France and Italy. Chocolates from his quaint downtown shop are sourced from cacao beans all over the major Central and South American growing regions. His line of products includes bars, Mayan drinking chocolate and bonbon sharing boxes, as well as house-baked croissants.
