When it comes to food, our city has always been famous for Masala dosa and the ever popular Mysore Pak. Now an expat in city is making Mysuru famous for its chocolates! David Bello, who makes artisan chocolates from his unit in Mysuru, is now gaining international repute. Intrigued, I found his company ‘Earth Loaf Chocolates’ and called him up. He promptly invited me to his factory at Hebbal Industrial area. The factory is a small unit with two big rooms — one has a few grinders and another where the chocolate is tempered. The first thing I noticed was that there was a photograph of a young Mahatma Gandhi on the wall! I asked David, why? He said he was born in South Africa where Gandhiji had found his calling and he felt the Mahatma is as much a South African as Indian and that he idolises Gandhiji and all that he stood for. Speaking of chocolates, David says there is a new kind of chocolate market that is emerging called ‘adult chocolates.’ These are chocolates that are made to tickle the taste buds of adults and not meant to impress children. In this category there is another specialty called ‘artisan chocolates’ — these are chocolates made with a sense of adventure and artisanship. And David Bello considers himself an artist and is adventurous with his chocolate creations.
