Localmotive: Sweet Retreats Chocolate Shoppe

Having landed some loot recently, I went mall shopping, which I do once a decade. I needed the Apple Store, Crabtree & Evelyn, so amalling I did go. Too many kids in the Apple store, playing with every device available, so I then needed chocolate. Immediately. Mall chocolate is Godiva. I got chocolated, against my better judgment. That's what loot does: the more you have, the less sense you use. It's a mathematically proven correlation. I ate the Godiva chocolate. What this did is remind me that Godiva is not great chocolate: I don't know why it's waxy, but it is. It does not taste good. It doesn't melt in your mouth (although it did melt in my car.) I don't like Godiva chocolate, it's expensive for no good reason and I wish I remembered that, even if I think it's a chocolate emergency.

Truly great chocolate can be had at reasonable prices at Sweet Retreats Chocolate Shoppe. Much of the delicious chocolate is made by Proprietor, Colleen LaClair. I walked in last Wednesday to find her banging a tray of bark on the table, an act she learned through years of experience wrangling chocolate, explaining it helps the chocolate settle better. I am a frequent customer, and Colleen remembers my name, what chocolate I prefer (only dark: no jellies) and has a pretty good idea of my background. All that is lovely and welcome, but primary is the succulent chocolate she carefully places in my bag. She has the chocolatier's sense of a true fancier, and repeat customers come back for the camaraderie as well as the chocolate. Sweet Retreats chocolate is rich in flavor and possesses every welcome trait of fine, fine chocolate. Like great wine, Sweet Retreats chocolate has multilayered flavor, nuance and an aftertaste that lives in taste memory like a favorite song. The store is a place to indulge all senses, to revel in chocolate snobbery and share space with people who know and understand.

It took a half-pound of Sweet Retreats chocolate to make me forget Godiva. My palate is cleansed, my spirit eased and I am restored to relative wholeness and sensibility. Thank you Colleen and Sweet Retreats! Sweet Retreats is located at 314 Main St., Milford, MI just past the first light into town from I-96. Park in free public parking, and wander around Milford. It's a lovely town, home to the best chocolate in Michigan.