Busy making a Model B

Marisa O’Neil

Forget the bikini. It’s Easter.

Somewhere along the way, the Christian holiday became associated

with jellybeans and chocolate bunnies. And chocolatier Bodega, which

has its flagship store at South Coast Plaza and its factory in Costa

Mesa, has some of the richest, darkest, most decadent bunnies in

town.

It’s almost too decadent for some, at least temporarily.

“Lots of people gave up chocolate for Lent,” said employee Darla

Sink as she tempted passers-by with free samples in front of the

store. “But they say: ‘We’ll be back.’”

And after a national magazine compared the pleasures of Bodega

chocolate to the pleasures of the flesh, co-owner Jene Paz said, one

sales rep told her it was too hot for his Bible Belt territory.

“I said ‘you’re kidding me, it’s chocolate,’” Paz said.

Bodega, which means “a place to meet” or “corner store” in

different Spanish dialects, started as a family business, producing,

selling and shipping handmade chocolate in a 690-square-foot space in

Dana Point.

Paz and sister Martucci Angiano use recipes from their

Spanish-born grandmother.

Now, they have the South Coast Plaza store, a new one at the Grove

in Los Angeles and a 7,000-square-foot factory in Costa Mesa that is

their main base of operations. Their chocolate has been praised by

culinary publications, enjoyed by celebrities and even served at the

U.S. Embassy in Belgium.

But they still make all their chocolate by hand, in batches no

larger than 75 pounds -- even in their busy season, when they produce

300,000 pounds in the last three months of the year. Most

chocolate-makers, Paz said, make batches by the thousands of pounds.

“We’re one of the last of the old-fashioned chocolate makers,” she

said.

The Bodega factory makes its truffles, chocolate, toffee and cakes

using simple machinery and workers who add details by hand. They even

have a machine with a conveyor belt on it, just like the one that

confounded Lucy and Ethel on the infamous chocolate factory episode

of “I Love Lucy.”

“This is the exact machine, with a few upgrades, as Lucy,” Paz

said.

A few days before Easter, workers were still making the Bodega

bunnies that will be in stores today.

One by one, a worker carefully placed the bunny-shaped pieces of

rich, fudge chocolate on a small conveyor belt. They waded through a

shallow pool of melted dark chocolate and passed through a curtain of

more chocolate, fully enrobing the bunnies.

After traveling in style through an air-conditioned tunnel, the

bunnies continued on the belt. Another worker picked up each of the

bunnies and got them ready for packaging.

Fortunately for her, it ran a lot slower than Lucy’s.

The next day, more bunnies -- and chocolates filled with kosher

marshmallows from Israel -- awaited customers in the store.

“I love the dark stuff,” regular customer Leana Dominge said as

she picked a truffle sample off Sink’s plate. “I’m getting some

Easter stuff for my mom.”

Bodega gives out samples to let their chocolate speak for itself,

said manager Tom Riggle. More often than not, he said, people end up

buying some.

“People love its texture -- the fact that when they take it in

their mouth it dissolves and explodes [with flavor],” he said. “It’s

great stuff.”

They added coffee drinks, including a caramel latte that uses

their dulce de leche sauce, to the menu and have added a new retail

line. The Habana products, Paz said, are the same as the Bodega line

but are available in upscale supermarkets and club stores.

The Bodega line is priced between that of See’s and Godiva

chocolates.

On the other end of the spectrum, they also sell gift chocolates

in personalized packages for weddings, showers and corporate events.

They donate a portion of large, company orders to the charity of

their choice.

Getting the chocolate into the hands of as many people as

possible, Paz said, is the best way for them to get new customers.

“We use nothing but the finest, nothing but the best,” Angiano

said. “This, they will remember.”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.