Wednesday, April 24, 2024
As the drum of a chocolate machine whirred in the background, Terrence and Vlada Kenniff, of Glen Head, re-called brainstorming ideas for their wedding favors a decade ago. Hoping to diverge from the traditional coaster or wine stopper, they instead partnered with a Brooklyn chocolatier, whose shop they frequented, to create a tea-infused truffle made special for their big day.
“In Vlada’s Uzbek culture, tea is something that’s very important, and with tea comes something sweet, like fine chocolates,” Terrence, a 30-year veteran of the food service industry, explained. “We decided that we would incorporate Vlada’s culture with my passion for food, and came up with our wedding favors, which were Earl Grey-infused chocolate truffles.”
“In that process, we were saying we would want to open a chocolate shop,” Vlada said. “So here we are, 10 years later.”
The Kenniffs’ shop, COCO Confections & Coffee, at 365 Glen Cove Ave., combines the couple’s fervor for food and travel to metaphorically transport customers to cocoa and coffee-producing regions of the world to get a taste, as Terrence puts it, of “the finer things in life.”
The couple have traveled around Europe and Central America, curious about how other cultures consume chocolate and coffee. “We’re definitely going through our travel list here,” said Vlada, who favors Tanzanian coffee. A couple of years ago, she stayed on a coffee farm in Tanzania after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
*Editor's note: When this story was printed it was incorrectly stated that the new business had replaced Gilligan Realty. It has not. Gilligan Realty remains at the same location, 365 Glen Cove Ave. in Sea Cliff. Gilligan owns the building and is leasing space to COCO. Gilligan Realty can be reached at (516) 674-3777.
We would also like to clarify the mission of Kristi Wilson’s company, Sweet Impact Chocolates, which is to raise awareness about the use of child labor and slavery in cocoa-producing regions in West Africa. Wilson’s chocolate is actually sourced from countries in Central and South America, and not Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, as it was printed. We regret the errors.
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