The first thing that hits you when you walk through the door of NU Chocolat is the smell. The comforting scent of chocolate envelops you and promises the familiarity and warmth of a nostalgic treat.

It’s a promise that NU Chocolat delivers on.

“When people step in the shop, they really taste that freshness and purity and quality,” said co-owner Kevin Toohey. “They’re not just buying something to take home or they’re not just eating something. They’re actually having a complete experience.”

You can feel the commitment to quality when visit the family-owned shop on Battery Street in Burlington. 

The displays of small-batch chocolate bars sit next to samples of sea salt caramels and chocolate-dipped candied oranges. Under the glass case, chocolate truffles look like art pieces.

Behind the counter, an employee mixes up a cup of hot chocolate for a customer sitting near the front window. 

Weaving through it all is the decadent smell of chocolate, providing a full sensory experience for anyone who enters the space.  

“So much of what we do is about being a part of the community where we’re able to open our doors to people so they can have a little bit of an experience of loving life,” Kevin said. “The stimulant in chocolate is theobromine, and the way it stimulates it opens up the cardiovascular system.

“It’s literally opening up your heart.”

Crafting a world of chocolate that embodies the inherent beauty and goodness in their main ingredient was the central philosophy for the Toohey family – Kevin, Laura, Virginia and Rowan – when they opened NU in 2019. 

In fact, they took their commitment to their main ingredient so seriously that they wove it into the store’s name. Nu, which means ‘naked’ in French, embraces their dedication to providing unadorned and authentic chocolate experiences for their customers. 

“We, in a sense, take that experience of family and branch it out into even the customers that walk in the door,” Kevin said. “We try to regard them as family and treat them with that level of goodwill and respect.”

“To have a chocolate that’s made from one particular bean, a single origin, is really quite unique and wonderful because it expresses a very particular flavor profile that most of us find really enjoyable,” Kevin said. “What we’re really striving for is something that is more true to the fine flavor of chocolate.”

NU takes their single-source mission farther than just the chocolate. They use locally sourced honey and cream, herbs grown at Red Wagon Plants just down the road, and any ingredients they can source from right here in Vermont.

“One of the gifts of being in Vermont is that the whole idea of fresh and local and a single origin is almost, you could say, indigenous to the culinary scene here,” Kevin said. “It’s not like we’re having to effort or think hard or work hard to think from the point of view of single origin and local and fresh. It just is right here as a gift to us.”

NU Chocolat has been a partner of Hotel Vermont since the store opened and remains a central part of the guest experience.

“The fundamental essence of that is really the wonderful community that we’re a part of here in the state,” Kevin said. “In a way, that’s why I would want to move to Vermont, that basic goodness that we have for each other.”

The family has been bringing chocolate to Vermont since they moved to Hardwick in the 1990s. Kevin studied under master Swiss chef Rene Neussbaum, and together he and wife, Laura, have been creating chocolate creations ever since.

They spread the love of chocolate to their children, and in 2019 they decided to open NU Chocolat in the heart of Burlington. 

It remains a family affair in their Battery Street storefront. Kevin and Laura handle the kitchen where truffles, chocolate bars and more roll out daily. Daughter Virginia runs the business side, and son Rowan helps with the design of their website, logo and packaging. 

“The four of us really did everything in the beginning and everything that you see there really arises out of our family,” Kevin said. “It’s just incredible to see each of the kids just rise to the occasion in difficult times and be really creative and talented.”

In the seven years since NU opened its doors, it has quickly embraced the idea of community and its place within the Vermont landscape. Locals who stop by to get chocolates for important moments in their lives stand out to the Toohey’s. 

“We’re a part of people’s lives – their celebrations, their birthdays, their anniversaries, knowing whether they prefer milk chocolate or dark chocolate,” Kevin said. “That seems like small things, but …on Christmas morning, we wake up and we just reflect on the fact that all across the United States, people are celebrating one of the most endearing holidays of their lives with our chocolate.”

As important to NU is their space within the Vermont food community, which embodies the same commitment to fresh, pure, local ingredients. 

“It’s really like being a playwright on Broadway in New York,” said Kevin of working in the food scene in Vermont. “To be encouraged to want to do something with food, to create the miracle of opening a brick and mortar store…to put ourselves out there for everyone to come in and taste and sometimes criticize and judge. 

“That’s really a wonderful opportunity in the Vermont food culture.”

NU remains committed to its place in the local community, spreading a love of chocolate that emphasizes its freshness, authenticity, and beauty to all who walk through their doors. 

“Chocolate is something that people love,” Kevin said. “We’re just a chocolate maker on the street corner in Burlington. But people regard us as an important part of who they are and their families and our place in the community. We didn’t really plan that or try to figure that out. That just is how it happens. I think it happens out of this place of beauty and goodness and that people experience it directly, especially when they taste the chocolate.”

When you join us for a night away, find Nu on your pillow as you turn in for the evening. Just a few blocks around the corner, we encourage you to visit the Nu family – and taste the beauty and goodness – for yourself.