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Celebrated Asheville, North Carolina, chocolate shop French Broad Chocolate is now open at Ponce City Market. And it sells more than just bonbons and chocolate bars, as it also serves both its popular sipping chocolate and salted caramel brownies.
French Broad took over the former Batter Cookie Dough space on the first floor of the central food hall, located between LaRayia’s Bodega and Five Daughters Bakery. The shop features a retail section for purchasing chocolate gift sets, chocolate bars, and other chocolate sundries and a counter where people can order fresh-baked brownies, desserts like cookies and cream chocolate cheesecake jars, and sipping chocolate.
This is the first location of French Broad Chocolate outside of Asheville, something co-owner Jael Skeffington calls a “huge milestone” for the company she founded in 2006 with Dan Rattigan. Skeffington and Rattigan spent two years visiting cacao farms and learning about Theobroma cacao in Costa Rica before launching French Broad Chocolate and eventually opening French Broad Chocolate Lounge in 2008 in downtown Asheville. The pair followed up on the success of the chocolate lounge with a small chocolate factory in 2012, expanding once again in 2018 into a new facility along the French Broad River.
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French Broad Chocolate joins a number of new food and drinks stalls at the Ponce City Market food hall.
Poke Burri co-founder Seven Chan opened Umbrella Bar in a new section of Ponce City Market in May. The bar serves food and drinks styled after stalls found at Asian night markets, including Korean street snacks, beers, and soju slushies. Vietnamese restaurant stall Vietvana and Nani’s Rotisserie Chicken, from Chai Pani and Botiwalla chef Meherwan Irani, opened earlier this spring. Persian restaurant stall Bibi, from the owners of Inman Park Middle Eastern restaurant Delbar, opens soon in the former Marrakesh food stall.
Pizzeria Pizza Jeans closed on the second floor of the food hall in September, ahead of its move to the first floor later this year, taking over the former Farm to Ladle space.
Open Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
