Articles about Oliver Kita Chocolates
• Culinary Institute of America magazine (Mise en Place)
• About Town
• Chronogram
• Hudson Valley Magazine
Interview with Oliver Kita in Culinary Institute of America magazine (Mise en Place), November 2008
Hudson Valley Chocolatier
Hudson Valley Chocolatier Walk into Oliver Kita Fine Confections in Rhinebeck, NY and the rich cinnabar-colored walls and deep browns of the elegant display furnishing immediately set a tone. You get the impression of quiet luxury and a European sensibility. But step further into the space and you see a huge serviceable marble-topped worktable, a chocolate tempering machine, and shelves of molds just waiting to be filled. At the helm of all of this is Oliver Kita ’89, a man who loves the process of creating chocolate confections, recognizes the importance of presentation, and immediately conveys his all-encompassing passion for his work.
A long-time resident of the Hudson Valley, Oliver owned Heaven Café in Woodstock for 13 years until he felt he had done all he wanted to in the restaurant business. He decided to turn his attention and his hand to chocolate. Determined to succeed, he studied at L’Ecole du Grand Chocolat Valrhona in France, the Academy du Chocolat, Barry-Callebaut in Montreal, and was mentored by the famous French chocolatier, Michel Cluizel. An avid reader and gardener, Oliver says he often gets ideas for his chocolates as he pursues these interests. While watering a violet flower, he has been inspired to create a delicate violet chocolate that melts in the mouth and leaves a hint of violets in its wake. While reading a Pearl Buck novel, he has been moved to create chocolates with an oriental flavor palate. He firmly believes in the health benefits of chocolate, leading him to coin his company’s trademarked tag line Mind • Body • Chocolate Every Day.
Setting and reaching goals is, in fact, Oliver’s trademark approach to life. “Four years ago I set a goal to change my career path and I’m doing it. It’s not always easy but I’m creating a business exactly the way I want,” he explains. Meticulous attention to detail when it comes to packaging and creative marketing is all part of why his shop is such a success. And his roots in the Hudson Valley have enabled him to forge interesting partnership. He recently began a line of “Handmade in the Hudson Valley Estate Chocolates” sold at the great estates along the Hudson River. They include such delights as Clermont Cappuccino (Clermont Estate), Vandermint (Vanderbilt Estate), Fala’s Peanut Butter Bon-Bon (FDR’s Home & Library), and Mills Pistachio Marzipan (Mills Mansion), to name a few.
Next time you visit the Hudson Valley, don’t hesitate to stop in and chat or visit his shop at oliverkita.com.
Nancy W. Cocola Editor/Writer
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appeared in ABOUT TOWN
Chocolate Nirvana
by Cait Johnson
Oliver Kita may be known to some of you as the former owner of the successful restaurant in Woodstock, Heaven. Now he has turned his considerable talents to creating what can only be described as a bliss-inducing nirvana for anyone who appreciates fine chocolates. His eponymous artisanal chocolate boutique recently opened in Rhinebeck, offering 38 different confections, from Oliver’s signature candy, flavored with sweet-tart cassis, to small works of art topped with fetching plaid, polka-dots, or exquisite candied flower petals, to pieces embossed with intriguing swirls tinted with metallic gold or silver.
But the confections offer more than just eye appeal. Kita studied his craft with the most respected teachers in France and Canada, and he insists on using the finest quality chocolate (Valhrona, including their sought-after organic line. “The company basically decides if you’re worthy of using the organic chocolate,” Kita says. “It was a great honor to be chosen.”) Valhrona is known for its silky smooth feel in the mouth, and Kita certainly has a masterful way with it and with his other flavorful ingredients.
Oliver Kita offers something for every palate. Try the double-shot espresso truffle with bits of coffee bean or the almond pralinette, with its winning combination of crunchy topping over silky dark ganache, enrobing a mousse-like caramelized almond filling. The fig and cognac confection is delightful, and the Palet d’Opium is a sublimely unique combination of smoky Lapsang Souchong tea and blood orange, with floral undertones.
And we can indulge without guilt: according to a recent issue of Natural Health magazine, dark chocolate offers fantastic health benefits, from lowering your blood pressure to decreasing your risk of heart disease. This is undoubtedly why chocolate has always played such a central role in my diet.
Kita is clearly passionate about what he does and it shows in every exquisitely designed detail. He creates stunning gift boxes and will ship orders from the website at www.oliverkita.com. The shop, which is also the central location for Oliver Kita’s fine catering business, is located in Astor Square on Route 9 in Rhinebeck. It will be open Fridays through Mondays from 11 to 7, and on the Tuesdays and Wednesdays before major holidays. Call 845-876-COOK.
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appeared in Chronogram
Chocolate Perfection
by Ann Braybrooks and photographs by Jennifer May, January 25, 2007
Before opening Oliver Kita Fine Confections, Kita owned the Heaven cafe in Woodstock, where he also ran a catering business. Kita ran Heaven for 10 years, and although he shuttered it in early 2006 to focus on becoming a chocolatier, he continues to operate Oliver Kita Fine Catering. The catering business is one of the reasons that Kita chose the location outside of Rhinebeck instead of in the village itself. The chocolate boutique, located in the Astor Square business complex, includes parking for a catering truck. Kita caters weddings and other exclusive events at private homes and historic sites in the Hudson Valley, including Boscobel in Garrison, Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, and Wilderstein in Rhinebeck.
Kita was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and, as the baby of the family and only son, he admits to being spoiled by his mother and three older sisters. He didn’t learn any “domestic skills” until he became house manager at the Phi Delta Chi fraternity at Ferris State University, where he studied pharmacology and earned a degree in microbiology. Instead of becoming a pharmacist, Kita worked briefly in the restaurant business before receiving a fellowship to study at the Culinary Institute of America. While still in school, he operated a wholesale pastry company called New York Biscuit.
Like many CIA graduates, Kita left the Hudson Valley to take a professional position in a large metropolitan area. For one year, he worked as the pastry chef for the Russian Tea Room in Manhattan, but he gave up big-city life, including employment with a renowned restaurant, when he fell in love with someone who had no desire to leave the Valley and move to New York City. For five years, Kita was the executive chef at the Park West Conference Center in Kingston. In 1996, he opened Heaven and started the catering business.
Seven years ago, Kita designed a mold for a chocolate Buddha that he intended to sell at the cafe in Woodstock. Inspired by his quest to find high-quality chocolate, he began educating himself, which led to studying with masters in Canada and France. In St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, not far from Montreal, he studied with Julian Rose at the Barry Callebaut Academy du Chocolat.
“I spoke enough French to go to Canada and not be kicked around,” Kita says. “I chose to go to Quebec because the people were kinder, and it was an easier start. It’s like learning to swim in the ocean versus trying the pool. So I went to the pool to get ready for the ocean.”
In Paris, Kita studied at L’Ecole Lenotre before being given a full scholarship by Valrhona, a small French chocolate company, to attend its prestigious L’Ecole du Grand Chocolate in Tain L’Hermitage, a small town in a wine-growing district near Lyon. Today, Kita has a direct-buying relationship with Valrhona that allows him to purchase chocolate from the company at an attractive price, as well as obtain recipes and information solely available to Valrhona-approved artisan chocolatiers. Kita is the only chocolatier within a 90-mile radius of Rhinebeck with an exclusive contract, and in December, says Kita, “The sales representative for the East Coast came to visit me and photograph the studio, and they’re going to use [the collection of photographs] as an example of how they want other Valrhona artisans to portray themselves.”
Kita uses seven different types of Valrhona chocolate, one of which is organic. Each has a different flavor profile, which Kita considers when creating a new piece of chocolate to add to his line. He uses dark chocolate from Madagascar, Ecuador, and Venezuela. A blend from Indonesia is used for the milk chocolate.
Like coffee, chocolate is grown in equatorial regions of the world, and in order to assist the cocoa growers and their families, Kita has become a member of the World Cocoa Foundation.
The organization provides programs that help raise farmer incomes and encourage responsible, sustainable cocoa farming. Says Kita, “I think it’s important to give back. The World Cocoa Foundation is doing its very best to help farmers in West Africa, where there is a great deal of suffering and disorganization and chaos based on political structures.”
Kita has come up with a slogan for his business: “Mind, body, chocolate: Every day.” He says, “It’s about opening up your awareness and understanding of this experience of appreciating chocolate.” By tasting a finely crafted piece of chocolate, he adds, “you can understand where you are and appreciate what you have, right now, today. It’s focused attention through pleasure.”
At Heaven, he composed his menu according to the season. “Autumn was inspiring. Spring was rejuvenating. Summer was soothing. Winter was satisfying. I took those four buzzwords that create an emotion and attributed them to the chocolates.”
At oliverkita.com, from which chocolates can be ordered and shipped, the four collections are Inspiring (ganaches), Soothing (caramels), Satisfying (truffles), and Rejuvenating (a selection of all three). A nine-piece box ordered from the website costs $23 plus shipping and applicable taxes. At the shop, a nine-piece box is $22.75—about $2.50 per piece.
Kita crafts and finishes the chocolates in view of customers, who are encouraged to ask questions and chat with him about artisanal chocolate. He employs one assistant, plus a counterperson on weekends.
Regarding his slogan and philosophy about chocolate, Kita says, “A lot of people need to be gently poked and told: You can be inspired today. Perhaps you can be inspired by chocolate. Or maybe your child’s laugh will inspire you. Or the music on the radio will inspire you.” By making the most magnificent chocolates that he can, Kita says, “I’m just part of that picture.”
Oliver Kita Fine Confections and Fine Catering is located at 6815 Route 9, Astor Square Number 8, Rhinebeck; (845) 876-2665; www.oliverkita.com
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appeared in HUDSON VALLEY MAGAZINE
BEST OF 2007
Chocolatier
Oliver Kita Rhinebeck
Long known for his fabulous cakes and catering, Kita now crafts (and that’s the word) satiny, buttery, creamy ganaches, pralines, truffles, caramels and other simply mouthwatering chocolate confections in his Rhinebeck chocolateria. Scientists recently discovered that when we eat chocolate (especially the dark stuff) it releases a “happy” chemical. Well, we already knew that, but it turns out it has all kinds of health benefits, too. Isn’t science wonderful? 845-876-2665; www.oliverkita.com.
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