LaRue Fine Chocolate finds its retail footing at Poe West
Elizabeth McDaniel calls it the longest, softest opening ever. But LaRue Fine Chocolate in West Greenville has found its footing after launching a retail store in the middle of a worldwide pandemic.
McDaniel founded LaRue Fine Chocolate in 2015, offering a variety of handmade artisan truffles online and at the Saturday Market in Greenville. She opened her chocolate and cocktail bar at Poe West in the Village of West Greenville on April 1, 2020.
“The number one question I got asked when I was at the farmer’s market was ‘where’s your space?’” McDaniel recalled. “After about a year or so of that, I decided I should do this.”
A wine rep for 10 years before becoming a chocolatier, the Certified Specialist of Wine and graduate of Ecole Chocolat determined that opening a store that pairs chocolates, wines, spirits and specialty foods was the way to go.
“I wanted to combine all of the things that I’m good at,” McDaniel said.
House specialties include cheese and charcuterie boards, and specialty cocktails such as Manhattan’s served with LaRue’s original chocolate truffles. LaRue also features boxes of chocolate and bottles of wine to go. The store offers more than 50 types of bottled wine and eight options for in-house pours.
Located at Poe West, LaRue Fine Chocolate is in the middle of a foodie haven with neighbors like Unlocked Coffee, Carolina Bauernhaus, Six & Twenty Distillery and Greenville Tech’s Truist Culinary & Hospitality Innovation Center. Junkyard Fitness around the corner even has an in-house café.
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- Poe Wet
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- Inside LaRue Fine Chocolate.
The cozy chocolate and cocktail bar is named for McDaniel’s mother – Dora LaRue Smith Logan. Here’s what McDaniel writes about her mother on the LaRue Fine Chocolate website:
“She always hated her name, but I always thought it sounded like she should have been painted on the side of a B-17. My Momma was a badass…..she served in the Army…..she raised four boys and then gave birth to me at the age of 40. She was strong, kind, gentle, and full of love–not to mention one hell of a Scrabble player. She died October 1, 1996. She is still greatly missed.”
Want to visit?
LaRue Fine Chocolate, 556 Perry Avenue Suite B115, Greenville, SC, (864) 263-7083, laruefinechocolate.com.
Hours: Monday – Wednesday, 3 p.m. – 7 p.m.; Thursday – Saturday, 1 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Go HERE to order LaRue Fine Chocolates and gift cards online.
