Chuck’s chocolate factory
Charles (Chuck) Siegel has been making chocolates since the 1980s, when he showed up at a party with some homemade confections. They were so popular that all his friends told him he just had to go into business. So he did, opening a store in San Francisco and making it his special duty to produce down-home treats with gourmet flair (think s’mores made of organic graham crackers, bittersweet chocolate and homemade marshmallows).
With the birth of his first child 12 years ago, Siegel sold that business and worked in the high-tech world. But chocolate kept calling. He realized he missed making the sweets, and launched Charles Chocolates in San Francisco two and half years ago. They soon outgrew the space and moved to Emeryville, where, this past Valentine’s Day, he opened his first retail store. Now Chuck has his own chocolate factory in the East Bay.
Charles Chocolates’ offerings include boxed chocolates, chocolate nuts, chocolate bars and even beautifully decorated edible chocolate boxes with more chocolates inside. Beg your friends and family to give you a subscription to the Chocolate All Year Club: You’ll get a box of the best delivered to your door every month. Or the Holiday Gift Club, which delivers a treat at Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter and Mother’s Day (or a birthday, if you’d like). Sample a few of Charles Chocolates and you’ll see why Chuck Siegel would make Willy Wonka proud.
“There’s a visceral pleasure in feeding people,” Siegel says. “Our customers eat what we make and love it. Can you imagine a better way to spend your life, bringing people pleasure like that?”
Charles Chocolates, 6529 Hollis St., Emeryville, (510) 652-4412; www.charleschocolates.com.
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Voulez-vous? Oui!
How often does a U.C. Berkeley grad chuck everything for underwear? That’s exactly what Quynh Nguyen did last summer when she launched Ce Soir Fine Lingerie on College Avenue. A lingerie connoisseur herself, Nguyen figured that, at the very least, she would get the benefit of an employee discount.
“A couple months ago a woman came in because she’d made a New Year’s resolution to treat herself to more lingerie,” says Nguyen, explaining how she’s passing along her passion for lingerie. “She said she just wanted to browse, but ended up finding a black-and-cream-striped bustier by the Italian designer Christie’s that she really loved. She wore it out of the store, under her work clothes.”
Ce Soir’s ambience brings to mind an elegant European boutique, with plush rugs, velvet drapes and antique furniture in the Louis XV style. Some of the designers Nguyen carries are Cosabella, Roberto Cavalli, Hanky Panky, Elle MacPherson, Princesse Tam.Tam, Aubade and Betsey Johnson; she stocks lingerie washes, stockings, bath products and candles. She also offers a bridal and gift registry, complimentary fittings and private lingerie parties.
“I can always go to law school later,” Nguyen says.
Ce Soir Fine Lingerie, 2980 College Ave., Berkeley, (510) 883-1082; www.cesoirfinelingerie.com.
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Ravishing rugs
Iraj Vafaeenia knows his rugs, and he should: He’s a third-generation rug seller and restorer. His business, Solano Oriental Rug Gallery, has been a Berkeley institution for more than 20 years. The store stocks antique and new wool rugs from Iran, Pakistan, India and China.
In November, Vafaeenia’s longtime lease was up, so he bought a building at the top of Solano, across the street from Andronico’s, some four times the size of the original location.
“We didn’t want to leave Solano,” he says. “We’ve got too many great clients here.”
In addition to offering a massive selection of rugs for sale, the Gallery offers hand-cleaning for rugs and tapestries with oil-based soaps that preserve the lanolin in the wool. Rugs are drip-dried rather than treated with machines or chemicals. Vafaeenia’s staff can also restore torn rugs to their original glory. Due to positive word-of-mouth reviews—and a 20-year stint on the Better Business Bureau honor roll—the Gallery staff cleans rugs from all over the country.
“Depending on how finely woven a rug is, and what it’s made of, it can take six months to six years to make one,” Vafaeenia says. “Our rugs are good friends. If you take care of them, they’ll go through a generation with you.”
Solano Oriental Rug Gallery, 1849 Solano Ave., Berkeley, (510) 528-7847 or (800) 4000-RUG; www.solanoruggallery.com.
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Natural nurturing
On the ground floor of the new Albany “high-rise” (anything more than three stories is considered “high” here) is Innate Chiropractic, a facility that more resembles a spa and yoga studio than clinic. And that’s exactly what the founders, husband-and-wife team Stefan Cohen and Debbie Gilman, had in mind. The two met at Stanford University in the international studies program and went on to build careers in the healing arts. They offer a thorough package of classes and treatments including applied kinesiology, Iyengar yoga, Pilates, acupuncture and nutritional counseling. Innate also offers detoxifying footbaths they say will cleanse unwanted chemicals from the body, help balance acupuncture meridians and normalize pH.
In addition to his chiropractic practice Cohen does VortexHealing®—energy work that helps ground, nurture, energize and release deep blockage. The studio was designed as “clean, modern-practice healing space for people to look at all aspects of wellness,” Cohen says. “Our goal is to find the missing pieces to getting people better, faster and more efficiently.” Cohen and Gilbert also envision it as a community resource and gathering place, and to that end, offer workshops, movies, meditation classes and world music events.
Innate Chiropractic, 916A San Pablo Ave., Albany, (510) 528-5216; www.n8chiropractic.com.
