At the far end of a long bar, an espresso machine hisses as it sends up steam. Glass cases line the countertop, holding neat rows of handcrafted chocolates — solid chocolate flowers and sea-salt caramels, toffee squares and pecan bark, and delicately decorated bonbons in more than a dozen flavors. When you step into Venture Chocolate + Wine Co. from West King Street in downtown Boone, you’re greeted by the sights and scents of that familiar, comforting pair: coffee and cacao.
Josiah & Meredith Davis photograph by David Uttley
From the bar, the shop expands into a series of sections: a selection of olive oils and balsamic vinegars in silver dispensers, a tea bar, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, a reading loft, and, in the basement, a dimly lit wine and charcuterie bar. As you move through the space, the aromas change. But natural wood accents, seating nooks, warm spring light, and the low notes of Etta James’s “At Last!” draw together the 9,000 square feet.
Venture began 14 years ago with Local Lion, the nearby coffee shop that Josiah and Meredith Davis opened in 2012. When the historic downtown Greene & Wilcox building had an opening — which included space that once housed a barbershop and a music store frequented by Doc Watson — the owner asked the Davises to open a second Local Lion.
Browse the book selection, while sipping a hot chocolate topped with toasted homemade marshmallows (feature photo, right). photograph by David Uttley
Instead, Josiah proposed a shop focused on chocolate and wine. He’d recently discovered commonalities between roasting coffee and roasting cacao, and he and Meredith had become wine enthusiasts. He recruited Jeshua Jolly, formerly Local Lion’s head baker, and sent him to chocolate school.
Venture opened its doors in 2022, with Jolly leading its chocolate program. Last October, it expanded into the space next door.
Savor bonbons made by Jeshua Jolly. photograph by David Uttley
“Coffee, cacao, wine, olive oil — these are all products that have terroir, or provenance,” Josiah says. “Taste a Haitian chocolate bar beside a Ugandan bar, and they’re going to taste different.”
Venture has terroir, too. Sitting at a bistro table overlooking downtown Boone as the spring leaves return, with a bright cherry-almond bonbon and a dark chocolate square ridged with improbably soft toffee — you couldn’t be anywhere but here and now.
Venture Chocolate + Wine Co.
605 West King Street
Boone, NC 28607
(828) 865-1600
venturechocolateandwine.com
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