This Easter Alessandro Luppolo embarked on a space odyssey to create egg-shaped rockets and oversized bonbon moons.
Are you going to have an artificial intelligence Easter? Yes, if you get your chocolate eggs from Alessandro Luppolo, the New York-trained, Attica-alumni chocolatier with his own bean-to-bar production kitchen in an old millinery studio.
In February, Luppolo opened his small Elsternwick kitchen as a shop, too, with a couple of tables where you can sit for rich, smooth, dairy-free hot chocolate, lavish choc-chip cookies and bonbons both classic (hello, hazelnut) and wild (ooh, beetroot and pumpkin praline).
The Italian-born chef wanted to do something special for Easter, and dreamed up an outer space theme: an egg-shaped rocket, astronaut bunny, and oversized bonbon moon. The next step was working with AI engines ChatGPT and Grok on the visuals. He sent the concepts to a designer in Hong Kong, 3D-printed the finished model in his Melbourne workspace, then crafted compostable plastic moulds for setting the chocolate. The result: an AI-generated Easter.
The finished treat is the last step in a chocolate odyssey that is rarely considered when filling a basket with Easter eggs. In fact, the main aim of Luppolo’s enterprise is to draw attention to the complex chocolate supply chain.
The story starts in countries such as Ivory Coast and Indonesia, where cacao pods grow from tree trunks. After harvesting, cacao beans are extracted, fermented and dried, then shipped around the world. Luppolo’s recent parcels have come from Papua New Guinea and Ecuador. He roasts, winnows (shells), conches (grinds) and tempers (melts and cools) this variable natural product to get it to the point at which most patissiers and chocolatiers begin.
“I was a pastry chef for years and no one talked about where chocolate came from, or how it’s made,” Luppolo told me. The more customers know about a product, the more they’ll appreciate and pay for it, or at least that’s the hope.
He sells single-origin chocolate bars which showcase a region: they’re the serious part of the business. The bonbons and Easter ranges are fun, creative areas where Luppolo injects some of his old pastry chef flair. The earthy, spiced beetroot and pumpkin concoction is inspired by Aussie fondness for beetroot in a burger: if beetroot can go there, why not here?
Another with pineapple and rosemary cleverly combines tropical and temperate. An apricot truffle with olive oil emulsion is based on a fruit dessert Luppolo invented at the Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong.
Walking into the store is a special experience, like stumbling into an artisan’s workshop: it’s more of a mini-factory than cafe. There are only a handful of places in Melbourne that turn cocoa beans into finished chocolate, connecting local consumers with farflung farmers and their stories. You don’t even need to fly a space egg to find them.
Three more bean-to-bar chocolatiers to try
Ratio Cocoa Roasters
Engaging with the chocolate-making process is easy here, as the cafe has its own glass-walled factory where all the action (and magic) happens. You can also book in for a tour or amp up your expertise with a truffle-making class. Cafe visitors can indulge in brownie flights. Hey, they’re educational!
186 Sydney Road, Brunswick, ratiococoa.com.au
Atypic Chocolate
Sourcing from the Pacific Islands, this bean-to-bar made-in-Melbourne chocolate brand does single-origin blocks as well as seductive variations like caramelised white chocolate and the suddenly ubiquitous (and delicious) Dubai chocolate.
Stall 88A, South Melbourne Market, South Melbourne, atypic-chocolate.com.au
Hunted & Gathered
I love the packaging, the variety, the ethical sourcing and – above all – the outstanding chocolate. Favourite bars include the milk chocolate and brown butter, and the peanut butter, but the fennel seed is a go-to when I want to feel highbrow.
68 Gwynne Street, Cremorne, huntedandgathered.com.au
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