By James Lomuscio
Barista Jessica Kerch was busy serving up truffles and cappuccinos Friday when questions came from the curious who breezed through Cocoa Michelle at 190 Main St. in Westport.
Coca Michelle regulars, including Jim Fine (hat) of Weston, were sad to see the Main Street store close. “We have come to rely on it,” he said. “I’m furious.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
“Today’s the last day?” a woman asked. Kerch nodded.
“What are you going to do with all the chocolates?” the woman continued. “Any discounts?”
Kerch confirmed that it was the last day of operation for the chocolate seller and cafe, but there would be no discounts.
“Everything goes to the other store, all the seating and all the chocolate display cases,” she said.
The other store, Cocoa Michelle at 54 Railroad Place in Westport’s Saugatuck area opposite the railroad station, would not only remain open but be expanding, said Kerch. And it would offer a food line beyond biscotti and cookies to include bagels and panini.
While sweet news to chocolate lovers, the closing of the Main Street store at 5:30 p.m. Friday struck a sour note with regulars.
Many have made the downtown shop—located in an historic, wood-framed building with an antebellum porch and adjacent the Westport Historical Society—a hangout since longtime Westport resident Michelle Weber first opened it in September 2006.
“I’m really angry at Michelle as much as I love her,” said Jim Fine of Weston. “We have come to rely on it. I’m furious.”
The retired marketer said he would spend two hours a day there “year round Tuesdays through Saturdays.”
College student Jessica Kerch oversaw the store on its final day as owner Michelle Weber was away. “I am very sad and was crying when I left the shop on Wednesday,” Weber said. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
“I was there a lot because I was retired, and I met a lot of nice people,” said Fine. “Where are we going to go now? Crumbs, with all the mothers with strollers and on cell phones?
“We were all kind of saying if the rent wasn’t what it is, we would do it, take it over and make some changes,” he added.
Fine said that a real estate agent told him “the current asking rent is in the neighborhood of $6,000 a month, a little hard with just coffee and chocolates.”
The reason for the consolidation is strictly financial, Weber said.
“Main Street is not what it used to be,” she said by telephone from an out-of-town location where she is celebrating her 10th wedding anniversary. “It’s so quiet, you can always find a parking space. We saw our business decline sharply after the ‘08 crash.”
Saying she has put “a lot of sweat and tears” into building up the Main Street business, Weber added, “I am very sad and was crying when I left the shop on Wednesday.”
“I was one of the first people to come in here when Michelle opened it,” said Patricia Jones of Easton. “It’s terrible that it’s closing.”
“We come here at least once a week, usually more than that,” chimed in her husband Robert Jones, who serves on the Westport School of Music’s board of trustees. “First, it’s the ambiance. Then, it’s the taste, the quality.”
The Saugatuck Cocoa Michelle store at 54 Railroad Place is expanding. It will be open seven days a week and add bagels and panini to its menu. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
At first blush, the shop resembles a jewelry store with various homemade chocolates in glass display cases. Near the front window is a small cafe table.
To the right rear is the equivalent of a lounge with a coffee table, artwork, and plush chairs where regulars come to relax, if not to hold business meetings or work on their laptops.
“There’s nothing like this in all of Westport,” Robert Jones, husband of Patricia, said. “She makes all of her own chocolates, as you know.”
On her Web site, Weber states that opening the shop was was the fulfillment of a “long time dream,” one that allowed her to create “a dazzling array of artisan truffles and chocolates presented as one-of-a-kind jewels.”
More than just a chocolatier, she wedded her concept with what she dubbed “Euro Cafe serving cappuccinos, espressos, lattes, Euro-cocoa (a chocolate lover’s dream) and teas from India.” The place has even boasted gourmet pastries delivered from the New York City restaurant and bakery Balthazar’s.
“At Cocoa Michelle our wish is to bring a sense of euphoria and tranquility to each and every guest that walks through our doors,” Weber states. “We want your experience to be like no other. With each bite of chocolate and sip of coffee we are sure to leave your taste buds dancing.”
The interior of the Saugatuck Cocoa Michelle. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Debra Singleton of Wilton, a Main Street regular, seemed to agree.
“Thank God they’re not closing that,” she said about the Railroad Place store. “I’d die. They have the best coffee.”
Weber said that Monday morning the renovation and expansion of the Railroad Place store, which she opened in November 2008, would begin.
According to Taylor McPhail, an employee at the Railroad Place location,“While the wall comes down on Monday, we will continue to remain open and hope to have it all completed in September.”
He said the menu will also expand to include fresh bagels delivered daily from New York.
“We’ll have breakfast sandwiches, paninis and two new chocolate cases and we’ll be open seven days a week,” McPhail said.
The cafe is currently open Monday through Saturday.
—Dave Matlow contributed reporting for this story.
