Main Street Chocolates Owner Gets Excited about the Art of Chocolate!

Main Street Chocolates owner, Andrew Briggs, tries his hand at creating custom confectioneries
Yep, that's a chocolate-covered wine bottle. Layer by delectable layer can be pulled off while simultaneously opening, pouring, and enjoying the wine.

Food of the gods! That’s the translation of the Latin term, Theobroma cacao, meaning cacao trees—the trees from which cacao beans are harvested to create chocolate. When Andrew Briggs decided to open Main Street Chocolates in Maple Grove earlier this year, he set upon a mission to continue bringing quality chocolate, food of the gods, or at the very least, some of the most heavenly food, to Maple Grove chocolate lovers.

Main Street Chocolates was previously Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory which closed in March of this year. Around the same time, Briggs was looking to buy a business. “I enjoy working with food and people,” says Briggs. “I originally imagined opening a bakery. Then this opportunity came along.” Briggs adds that the prior chocolate shop owner ran a good business, allowing for a smooth transition to new ownership. Shortly after Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory closed, Briggs moved in, remodeled the space, and opened Main Street Chocolates last April.

Since Easter, Main Street Chocolates has been flowing with delectable treats, small pieces of art for the eyes and extravagance for the taste buds. Briggs says that he’s kept many of the same Rocky Mountain chocolate products on his menu and still uses the same quality chocolate ingredients. “There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel,” he says.

One of Main Street Chocolates’ popular and unique gift items, a holdover from the previous establishment, is the chocolate dipped wine bottle. Customers bring in their own unopened bottle of wine. Main Street Chocolates shrink wraps the bottle and then dips it in a half pound of chocolate. Later, layer by layer of delectable chocolate can be pulled off of the bottle and nibbled while simultaneously opening, pouring and enjoying the wine. A novel treat for holidays, birthdays and the most romantic of occasions like anniversaries or Sweetest Day.

Even though Main Street Chocolates incorporates many melt-in-your-mouth treats from the past, they have a distinct advantage over the previous owners. Briggs is able to make many more tempting confectioneries on sight and is able to act promptly to customer recommendations. “I don’t need corporate permission to try new things,” says Briggs. “Once, I was shopping for ingredients and saw blueberries that looked good. I bought them and decided to try making blueberry clusters!”

A pharmacist by profession, Briggs has also held various food service jobs during his lifetime. He says he’s excited to now build upon prior knowledge of chocolate. His family is also getting into the act. Briggs’s 14-year-old daughter, Madisen, is considering a culinary future. She occasionally helps out at Main Street Chocolates to get a taste of the food business.

Briggs is also dedicated to the surrounding community. “We try to use local products whenever we can,” he says. “Things like our boxes and labels are from local suppliers. And this fall, when specialty caramel apples are popular, we hope to create 2-3 new flavors of candied apples made with apples from local orchards, if cost effective.” Main Street Chocolates’ fall product lineup will also include traditionally favorite caramel corn and specialty Halloween chocolates packaged for treat giving.

Briggs says he’s most excited to continue experimenting and defining new products for customers. “I’m happy to have the opportunity to provide Maple Grove with high quality chocolate and a variety of new offerings.”