Cocoa Cinnamon

Martin Luther King, Thoughts on the Public House, & In For Good @cocoacinnamon writeup

Areli and I believe you have to love what you do.

This past year and 1/2, as Areli and I have transitioned places, broadened our concept with chocolates and gone from one brick and mortar shop towards a new one, we’ve had a lot of moments to try new things and redefine ourselves and our business ideas. A couple come up again and again. 1. If I’m not in love with it, I shouldn’t do it. 2. We thrive off of people. We do love wholesale and behind the scenes, but what we thrive to be a part of and what makes us feel more alive is interacting with people and all the different stories, personalities, beliefs, ideas and surprises.

At the DtownMarket!

Yesterday was a holiday to remember Dr. Martin Luther King. As we all know, Dr. Martin Luther King was an extraordinary human being who played a key role in an extraordinary human time. Sometimes, I feel like our time may become such a time of real change. I also believe that change can happen in leaps AND through small changes in daily behavior. That’s why we got into commerce.

When Cocoa Cinnamon, the shop comes alive, we hope that it will be a place where almost anyone can feel comfortable and have a pricing structure where anyone can sit and enjoy and talk. And people of all colors, beliefs, languages and backgrounds can make it a kind of public house.

We think it is amazing that we live in what The Daily Beast has called “America’s Most Tolerant City,” I think it is obvious that tolerance does not imply a human state of flourishing, only a step towards it. I think we should be careful to feel too successful with tolerance alone. Martin Luther King day serves to remind us of this and all the hard work of many groups and individuals who changed our world for the better. Dr. King, like Gandhi is a hero for all people, in all nations. Dr. King’s memory reminds of his words and deeds to work towards thriving together, to “work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together!”

Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, 1964 - Photo By: Marion Trikosko

In memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, and at the prompting of @jeffandking, we’re going to make sure we move beyond our usual patterns, beyond our visits to downtown shops and even Not Just Wings and Joe’s Diner to more and more businesses around the city, owned by people of many different colors and creeds. For one, my next stop is at Jeff’s family’s Chicken Hut, in “the bottom” on Fayetteville Street. I’ve been craving some chicken! Plus they have awesome reviews all over the internet.

Speaking of reviews and public houses. As part of our preparing for the shop, we’ve started doing tasting and feedback sessions with some customers and friends. We had one at Fullsteam’s Tavern last Saturday! Meredith Stewart, one of the attendees and a prolific and talented writer and teacher, wrote up her thoughts on the tasting. She touched on many of the things that we too love about what we do. Thank you so much Meredith! (p.s. I went to Teachers College too!)

Read the full article, A Masterful (and Tasty) Lesson, by clicking HERE.