By now, you no doubt have heard that Greenville’s own LaRue Fine Chocolate was recently named as the #1 Chocolate Shop in America by USA Today. Owned by master chocolatier Elizabeth McDaniel, the original LaRue lives in Poe West, with a satellite in the new wing of The Commons.
It was 2020—right before COVID shut down the world—when McDaniel opened her brick-and-mortar shop in the Village of West Greenville. While her original business was based solely on chocolate, she expanded that concept in the new storefront. “I decided I would take all the things that I love and that I know how to do and that I enjoy doing and make it a whole experience instead of just being a chocolate shop,” she says.
That meant not just hand-crafting chocolates, but also offering food items, both sweet and savory. Desserts (think: chocolate silk pie, New York cheesecake, lemon bars) were always in the plan, as were wine and cocktails. Throughout her decade of experience as a wine rep, McDaniel developed her palate for tasting wines, as well as her skill for shaking up a great cocktail.
Savory options at LaRue Fine Chocolate
Because LaRue was serving alcohol, they were also required to serve food. So, McDaniel dreamed up an enticing menu of snacks, including charcuterie boards, blue cheese pecan crackers, and sandwiches like the Hot Mess, a fancy riff on ham and cheese—along with a list of desserts. All derive from recipes of “things I’ve loved through the years,” she says, though the recipes for the popular chocolate mousse and crème brûlée are her own.
The chocolatier and her staff come up with all the cocktails, often tweaking formulas for existing libations. Case in point is the LaRue Fine Manhattan, which adds chocolate bitters and chile-pepper-infused chocolate liqueur to the classic bourbon and vermouth. Wines by the glass list a thoughtful range from bubbles to red blends, all chosen to pair well with chocolate. They don’t serve alcohol at The Commons location, where offerings focus on house-made ice cream and cookie ice-cream sandwiches.
While her chocolates will always take center stage, McDaniel relishes rounding out the experience with a crowd-pleasing menu of food and drink. You could say it’s just her way of breaking out of the box.
Chocolate Pairings
During her years working as a wine rep, Elizabeth McDaniel learned to think about the way a thing tastes and what pairs well with it. “When you’re taking wine seriously, and doing the whole experience of smelling it, and sipping it, and swishing it around in your mouth, you’re really looking for how it starts and how it finishes and how it lands [on your palate] mid-level,” she explains. And that’s the way she approaches layering flavor in her luscious chocolates at LaRue. “I want my chocolate to tell a story like a good wine tells a story,” she says. “I want it to unfold properly.”
Blue Cheese and Pecan Crackers Recipe
From Elizabeth McDaniel, LaRue Fine Chocolate
Yield: about 4 dozen crackers
These craveable crackers are one of Elizabeth’s favorite things on LaRue’s food menu.
Ingredients
- ½ stick of butter, at room temperature
- 4 oz. blue cheese (I like using the little tub of Clemson Blue Cheese)
- 3 oz. all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 oz. chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, then add the blue cheese. Add the flour, salt, and nuts and mix until combined.
- Roll the dough out into logs, wrap them in wax paper, and chill for at least an hour.
- Slice crackers (approximately 1/8-inch thick) and bake for 8–10 minutes.
556 Perry Ave., Ste. B1115, Greenville. Open Monday–Wednesday, 3–7p.m., and Thursday–Saturday, 1–9p.m.,
