When I began Centre & Main in 2017, I thought it would remain a one-woman show.
And it did, for 3 years, until I realized that (surprise!) I can’t do everything, all of the time. Since then, I’ve welcomed 3 talented, insightful and hardworking people to work at my side, pursuing this craft of blending chocolate with local ingredients.
Centre and Main has grown very slowly, like the pawpaw trees in my garden, and that’s just the way I like it.
Local food is celebrated in many culinary arts, but not in chocolate.
I became aware of this as I was working as an apprentice chocolatier: when shopping for chocolate, I would be sourcing exotic ingredients from faraway places, and when shopping for my family, I’d go to the farmers’ market to see what was fresh. Local food wasn’t part of the chocolate world. The reason: no one had done it.
So, I set out to do just that: to use chocolate as a medium to explore and celebrate local food and flavours. And there is so much to explore! I currently work with dozens of farmers and food producers and source their products at the peak of freshness. Over 80% of everything we create includes a local ingredient, many of these are within 100km of our studio.
The result is a range of chocolates that is diverse and totally unique. Many of these creations have won both Canadian and international awards for excellence and innovation in gastronomy.
Blending chocolate with local food requires both art and science. With training at the Chocolate Academy in Montreal and a well-honed skill of balancing complex flavour profiles I have created some truly innovative chocolate experiences that will surprise and delight your senses.
Four years ago, a friend and I met up on a hot Saturday afternoon in July to harvest a few generous mulberry trees in Peterborough. We came away with overflowing baskets and buckets and a vintage blue Coleman cooler. I drove back to Warkworth happy and grateful – and suddenly realized I had too many berries for my belly or my freezer. I texted a few friends who wanted a punnet or two, but I still had half a cooler remaining. On a whim, I stopped by Centre + Main to see if Angela could use them; I was chuffed when she happily agreed. A few weeks later she texted to say she’d finished the mulberry chocolate bar – it was a dark chocolate bar with freeze dried mulberries and chunks of freeze dried goat cheese, with my name included next to the mulberries on the ingredient list. It was a pleasure to see a beautiful product that so perfectly showcased the generous mulberry tree – and an honour to be included in it. I didn’t start working with Angela and the team at Centre and Main for almost another year after that, but this began a new chapter in my food career that encouraged and delighted in the forever-curious conversation around good food with good people.
I am a classically trained actor who was a member of the Stratford Festival company, the lead in a television series and the voice of hundreds of commercials & movie trailers for over 25 years.
I came to Warkworth back in 2009 to live in the country…and grow things. Starting with 500 garlic bulbs and 140 tomato plants “for fun”, I ended up creating True Saffron with my partner, Éric, when we planted 50,000 bulbs in the Fall of 2016. Madness ensued, but so did one of the highest rated saffron in the world as per ISO standards, as well as a chance meeting with Angela.
I sheepishly offered her some freshly picked saffron to perhaps create a new chocolate bar, even though no one had ever used raw saffron to cook or prepare food. With it, Angela created an International Chocolate Award winning bar, unlike any other.
Through this collaboration and after lending a hand with sales occasionally, I was officially invited to join Centre and Main’s crew three years ago. I am proud to support such a creative team and leader, as well as a business which initiates so many local collaborations.
This is pure Warkworth Magic!
After working in the food industry—specifically bakeries—for a number of years, I felt it wasn’t quite the right fit. A Warkworth transplant of nearly 10 years, I was well aware of Centre & Main and their creative line of chocolates, when unexpectedly one afternoon I was stopped by one of the owners who said he’d been hoping to speak with me and asked if I’d be interested in working with chocolate—of course I said yes!
I’m grateful to be trained by Angela, whose talent and passion make every day inspiring. Chocolate has always been my favorite flavor, and now I get to spend my days making all sorts of creations with the most wonderful team.
