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Celebrating Norah’s 10-Year Dandelion Anniversary

February 6, 2023 by Elaine Wherry

This month Norah celebrates 10 years at Dandelion! Elaine sat down with Norah to ask her a few questions about her decade of many roles, locations, and experiences (and to give a hat tip to her trademark bow expertise). Happy anniversary, Norah!

Norah, give us a quick two-sentence blurb about yourself for readers.
Growing up in NYC taught me what it felt like to be on the receiving end of some epic experiences. You could say I was a student of the Masterclass on hospitality without even realizing it. From party planning to retail experiences to opening the most memorable gift, what I learned was that every detail matters, especially the small ones.

Tell us about your first day at Dandelion.
In November 2012, the WSJ wrote, “Dandelion Chocolate makes some of the best chocolate in the U.S.,” and suddenly Dandelion’s online store blew up with orders that they desperately needed help filling. I accepted a one-day gig to help label chocolate bars because I thought it sounded like fun. I remember Maya making us race to hand-label bars and hand-write the chocolate maker’s initials on the front label. As soon as we would finish a case she would swoop in and take them to ship off to their new owners.

Since then, what various hats have you worn? Which one was your favorite?
I started on the chocolate production team and quickly became the Production Manager, helping to establish our first systems and processes. After production work hours, I helped Todd create some gift items and loved it! I continued developing new products full time and created our first creative and product teams. In this role I produced a lot of firsts, such as the Advent Calendar, Annual Collection Box, Hot Chocolate Mixes in vials, layered experience gift boxes, our to-go drink experience with the cookie pockets, bar-paper differentiation for [cocoa] percentages and [bars made in] Japan … the list goes on.

Once that department was up and running it was time to take on my next challenge, our Ferry Building location. We were located just outside the building, which made it challenging for people to find us. We were excited to be able to secure a space inside the coveted Arcade Shops, which allowed me to oversee the buildout of our current space at this iconic destination.

Five years ago I moved to Los Angeles and Dandelion decided to try a new market. Prior to the pandemic, I opened retail pop-ups at ROW DTLA and at the Westfield Century City at their first holiday market, which was so special. We had a retail shop and a hot chocolate cart right next to Santa’s house. It snowed throughout the day and carolers performed to create the perfect holiday atmosphere.

During the pandemic, I returned to the creative team and had more fun than ever, because there were no limits to where our creativity could take us. Our Exec Pastry Chef, Lisa Vega, and I created our first shippable pastries, such as the Gâteau Basque, Cookies for Santa, S’mores Kit, and granola, along with others that ended up on the cutting-room floor. A few months ago we were offered a holiday pop-up opportunity on Abbot Kinney right next to Gjelina (checking all the boxes we had always been looking for in Los Angeles). What an amazing few months it has been here on Abbot Kinney. Since this was only a short-term popup, we will be closing our doors on February 19. I am excited to see what my next adventure will be (it’s definitely been a unique journey)!

As for my favorite role, honestly I am grateful for them all as they have allowed me to use my passion for creating extraordinary experiences in many different ways.

When I hear your name mentioned on the team, I always hear something about bows. Tell us more.
I have heard I am referred to as the “bow master.” My first summer job in high school (a long time ago) was at Tiffany & Co at their flagship location in NYC. Little did I know that the skill they teach everyone on your first day — tying the perfect bow — would lead to be, probably, the sole reason that Cam and Todd kept asking me back day after day. Tiffany taught me that the experience of untying the bow on a special gift is in itself a created experience and should be as special as what is inside the box.

You probably know Dandelion better than almost anyone. If there’s something that readers might not know or might not be readily apparent, what do you think it would be?

We are so transparent as a company, I am not sure there is much people don’t know. I can say that I have never worked for such a wonderful, giving company filled with such passionate people. The moment I fell in love with Dandelion was during one of my first days: Cam told me that if a guest was sitting at the bar, I could stop making chocolate and see if I could answer whatever question they might have or hand them a spoonful of fresh chocolate from the melanger. This is when I realized how aligned we were on creating exceptional experiences, and was also the moment when I knew this place was where I needed to be.

Chocolate Ganache Macaron Gift Box for Valentine’s Day

February 4, 2019 by Karen Solomon

Loving people can be sweet. But the love of a good cookie can be transformative! For the third year in a row, we are delighted to be tucking our kitchen’s handmade pink macarons into pretty bowed boxes special for Valentine’s Day. Crisp and chewy almond meringue cookies sandwich a Camino Verde, Ecuador single-origin chocolate ganache — this year with the flavors of the kitchen team’s favorite cocktails.

If you’re local to San Francisco, we can’t wait for you to see these – and, of course, to taste them! Mary and the whole kitchen team have been flooded with preparations. You can only imagine what 2,000 macaron tops and bottoms in petal pink look like when spread across our tiny kitchen. We’re only able to produce 100 boxes. And because they’re too delicate to ship, you can only find them at our SF Valencia Street and Ferry Building shops.

In the 2017 blog post Mary wrote the first year we offered this seasonal gift, she points out the difficulty of getting the texture of the cookies right while trying to make so many all at once. “The reason macarons are usually only found in bakeries and restaurants, rather than the home kitchen, is probably that they are a rather intimidating project to take on. Admittedly, if you don’t have a great deal of experience making them, even if you’re a professional baker like I am, the prospect of making macarons can be a little…frightening.”

Why the fear? “The thing about macarons is that something can go wrong at nearly every single step of the process, and they are delicate: the almond flour must be ground and sifted finely enough, the egg whites must be at room temperature, the meringue must be folded into the almond-sugar mixture enough (but not too much!). This process is known as macaronage, and when done correctly, it produces a thick batter that flows like lava but still holds its shape when piped.” Like many great elements of French cooking, the ingredient list for the cookies is simple: ground almonds, egg whites, and sugar. And quite literally, the temperature or humidity of the air can make or break these cookies. It is no small feat to get that perfect crisp-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside texture every time.

The single-origin chocolate ganache filling, made with our Camino Verde, Ecuador ground chocolate and rich cream to make it silky, takes a new twist every year. For 2019, it’s cocktail time! (The rich, chocolatey center will have the flavor of the spirits, but almost none of the booze.) Each box contains 10 macarons total with two of each flavor: Fernet, Mai Tai, Manhattan, Negroni, and Paloma.

The beautiful, reusable gift box is decorated with one of the pretty patterns we design ourselves, and finished with a satin bow we tie by hand. Find the macaron gift box in both of our SF shops February 13th and 14th, 2019, for $35. We’ll also have bouquets of flowers on hand on Valencia Street to help you woo your Valentine.

My unexpected path to
Dandelion Chocolate Los Angeles

December 3, 2018 by Norah Hernandez

Norah is one of our original employees, and she has worn many hats and tied a lot of bows on our behalf. Right now she’s writing to us from LA, where she’s heading up our newest pop-up shop.

Six years ago this month, the WSJ published two tiny lines that declared: “Dandelion Chocolate makes some of the best chocolate in the world”. Dandelion Chocolate was so small back then, they could not handle the influx of online orders that came through following this little write up. With only 11 or so people in the company at the time, they needed some extra hands to help fulfill these orders for some of the best chocolate in the world – and this is where my journey with Dandelion began.

Norah and her team inside Dandelion Chocolate LA

At the time, I had no experience in chocolate, and thought, what the heck, how fun would it be to help at a chocolate factory! The one day gig included stickering bars (which we did by hand back then), sorting beans, foiling bars and tying the three packs with ribbon. Without realizing it, my first summer job at Tiffany & Co. many, many years prior, helped shaped the iconic Dandelion Chocolate bow. Maya showed me how they had been tying the bow, and without thinking, my muscle memory kicked in and I started tying the bows as I had been trained so many years ago. I owe this talent to be possibly the single reason that I was asked to come back day after day (at that time they could not afford to officially hire me until February of the following year), so I came in every day not knowing if it would be my last and this magical workplace would come to an end. My patience paid off and in February of 2013, I became an official employee and started working on the production team.

Back then, everyone wore many many hats and helped fill voids where ever it was needed, this led to me helping with gift box development and production after work and on the weekends, which turned into the start of our product department. In 2014 I became our first product manager and brand manager (I secretly feel I still hold this title because of the love I feel for our brand), and was responsible for developing new products, the production of current products, merchandising our retail shelves and making sure everything visual was always on-brand.

I eventually transitioned into the retail department when the Ferry Building manager gave notice two years ago. I took this opportunity to use my previous retail expertise and help the company where they needed me most. We were a small hot chocolate stand outside and this location had some challenges. After improving systems and sales during the first few months, the Ferry Building invited us to move inside to the old Scharffen Berger shop. We jumped at the chance to have one of the highly coveted shops inside this iconic San Francisco destination. Overseeing the construction last fall, we were able to open (by the skin of our teeth) the weekend before Christmas. Moving just a few hundred yards inside, we saw an immediate doubling of sales. The Ferry Building had become a real sustainable location for the company.

In the spring of last year, my family made a decision to move to Los Angeles. This decision came with the reality that I would have to leave a company that had made a permanent mark on me, and hopefully I too had made a small mark on it. When I first told Todd I was moving and joked that we should open in LA, he laughed, and then must have thought about it as a serious idea and came back to me and asked if I was really serious. I mean, how could I not be! Moving to a city that I love and bringing the chocolate and the company that I adore to share with this city has been an amazing opportunity for me. If there is anything I know about LA from living here years ago, it is that this city appreciates good food, beautiful design and amazing stories. I am so excited to share all those things through our pop-up at ROW DTLA for the next six months.

the outside of the Dandelion Chocolate LA shop

We have been open in LA for one week now and I have already met the some of the most amazing people (and kids). I cannot wait to share our story about chocolate and who we are as a company of now ~95 people. This a long way from the days when we all fit around the 12 person table on the mezzanine for All Hands, or the days when Maya started a rumor that if we hit a sales goal, Todd would take us all to Hawaii. At that next All Hands, his last slide just had the word “Rumors” on it, he told us, and I quote, “it would be crazy to shut down and pay for the whole company to go to Hawaii, so it’s lucky for you that we are crazy, we are all going to Hawaii!” Todd’s not crazy, he’s a brilliant visionary and I am so lucky to have stumbled upon his small dream for a chocolate factory he thought maybe 4 people would visit every day.

We will be open at ROW DTLA through April 2019 and our hours are M-F 11-7, Sat & Sun 10-6. We will start hosting Chocolate 101 classes on December 14 and 15 and you can find more details about how to sign up on our website under “Visit Us – Tours & Classes”.

The shelves inside Dandelion Chocolate LA

Cookies for a Cause: DOUGH & CO and Dandelion

August 10, 2018 by Omar Mamoon

Since 2013, Omar has been running DOUGH & CO, a San Francisco-based purveyor of cookie dough meant to be eaten baked or unbaked (eggs are substituted for a slurry of white chia seeds). All proceeds from this collaborative cookie project will benefit La Cocina, a non-profit food business incubator for women and people of color where he’s been a long time volunteer. We are excited to have him write about the philanthropic side of his local business.

I started DOUGH & CO five-and-a-half years ago. Though I never went to culinary school or business school, I had a strong innate passion for food. This passion was further fueled by the non-profit La Cocina.

La Cocina helps primarily low-income immigrant women of color to start food businesses; I lived across the street, so I started volunteering. Seeing people go through the program was super inspiring. I quit my desk job and started renting commercial kitchen space from them on Sundays where I’d make small batches of cookie dough.

From day one of starting DOUGH & CO, I knew that I wanted to give back to the community somehow. Part of the company mission statement is to “doughnate” 1% of our profits, 1% of our time, and 1% of our delicious cookie dough to nonprofits and causes that are important to us. Since starting my business, I’ve helped raise and donate over $25,000 to various non-profits around the Bay Area through cookie dough collaborations with like-minded folks. It’s not a lot in the grand scheme of it all, but it’s something – and that something can make a difference.

I’m stoked and honored to collaborate with Dandelion, who generously provided their 70% Camino Verde Chef’s Chocolate (which I mixed in generously with a batch of my peanut butter cookie dough). It’s like eating a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, except in a sophisticated cookie form. All proceeds from the sales of this cookie will benefit La Cocina.

The Dandelion/DOUGH & CO chocolate peanut butter cookie will only be available at the Dandelion Ferry Building cafe. And, it’s only around for a limited time – August 10-17, 2018.

I really like it, and I hope you do, too.

-xx

Omar

Dandelion Chocolate is Building a Parklet

April 15, 2015 by Dana Crary

: Parklet in front of Four Barrel Coffee
(Photo by: San Francisco Planning Department)

We are very excited to announce that this spring, Dandelion Chocolate will be building a parklet on Valencia Street. To support the construction, labor, and materials of the design we have launched a long awaited Kickstarter campaign earlier this week.

: Design Projection of Upcoming Parklet

Parklets have been built all over the city of San Francisco to repurpose simple parking spaces into creative public space. Transforming the neighborhoods surrounding them aesthetically and functionally, parklets beautify streets while offering a safe place to strengthen community. Parklets “complete streets” by balancing out “the needs of people walking, riding bicycles, taking transit, or moving around in a private automobiles.” (SF Pavement-to-Parks)

: Parklet In Front of Devil’s Teeth Bakery
(Photo by: San Francisco Planning Department)

Each month, Dandelion Chocolate donates 1% of our chocolate to various San Francisco-based groups including local schools, fundraisers, and non-profit organizations. We are very excited about this opportunity to contribute to the community and pilot a project that will enhance the street, provide a respite for pedestrians and serve Valencia Street by offering a unique space outdoors that is not an extension of our business.

The projected cost of this project is $30,000. Dandelion Chocolate will but doubling the impact of donations made during our 30-day campaign by matching funds dollar-for-dollar. That means every dollar contributed by project backers puts two towards building the parklet! Also, every $100 backed will support 1 square-foot of the parklet.

We are offering fun and unique rewards for backers, including the opportunity to be a chocolate maker for a day or to eat all the dessert you can in one sitting. Our neighbors at Mission Cheese have generously donated cheese and beverage pairings as well.

Stay in the loop and take a look at our Kickstarter Page from April 13th to May 12th where you can watch our video, contribute to the campaign, earn some awesome rewards, and help us reach our goal. Thank you for your support!

Cupid’s Pre-Funk Bash

February 3, 2014 by Maya

It’s almost the loviest day of the year! But Lindsay and I were hit with a wall of eye rolls and groans when we started talking about planning a romantic Valentine’s Day event. Instead, we’re going to have a late night, chocolatey bash. We’re looking forward to seeing you at the factory the night before Valentine’s Day so that we can all properly celebrate love and chocolate together!

Thursday, February 13th from 9-11pm

Party After Dark Chocolate! Join us at the factory as we usher in Valentine’s Day with an after hours celebration. We’ll have champagne, chocktails, delicious desserts, and dancing tunes. You’ll be able to custom letterpress Valentine’s cards on hand crafted paper courtesy of Shotwell Paper Mill. And of course, we’ll show you around the factory so you can sample cacao as it transforms from bean, to molten chocolate, to bar!

Come as a group of three to take advantage of the Third Wheel discount. Your ticket includes two drink vouchers and a delicious selection of chocolate treats!

Get your tickets on www.eventbrite.com (tickets won’t be available at the door).

See you there!
Maya