Chocolate by Wickerhead Co.

The rich aroma of melting chocolate fills the air as customers enter Chocolate by Wickerhead. The walls are a rich brown, the ceiling tiles are embossed in light and dark chocolate swirls and an oversized acrylic cherry gleams above the counter. Just as customers start to wonder how they’ve ended up inside a giant cherry cordial, Sharon Shoot bounds from the kitchen, releasing another waft of intense Belgian chocolate into Chocolate by Wickerhead’s tiny space.

Sharon opened Chocolate by Wickerhead in 2010, converting part of a run-down pub into a haven for chocolate lovers. Leaded windows and a glass door clouded with the silhouette of a wickerhead, an elegant being with a basket-shaped head, separate the retail area from the kitchen where Sharon creates her preservative-free chocolates. As she produces each batch, she tests a few chocolates to ensure they meet her exacting standards.

Sharon loves to experiment with flavour combinations and picks up inspiration wherever she can — preferably in Paris. A map of the city is the focal point of the kitchen’s “wall of inspiration,” where Sharon posts up chocolate boxes and pamphlets from her visits to the world’s greatest chocolate makers — Alain Ducasse, Patrick Rogers and many more. “The world of chocolate is actually endless. It’s so fascinating and delicious,” says Sharon. “I come up with new things all the time, but there are some traditional flavours that people always love.”