Chocolate Alchemy

Kristen Hard had her first chocolate epiphany while in Martinique, when she discovered cacao trees growing in the forest. In 2008, she opened Cacao Atlanta, the first bean-to-bar chocolate maker in the Southeast. Its mission is to make chocolate bars and confections from scratch using beans sourced directly from farmers. Cacao products are sold in three original shops in Atlanta and in select Williams-Sonoma and other specialty food stores nationwide. Hard has been featured in Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, Town and Country, Details, Country Living, and Travel + Leisure.

Bill Addison is the James Beard Award-winning restaurant editor and national critic for Eater. He travels constantly, writing reviews and features that document every facet of America s ever-evolving dining culture. Prior to joining Eater in spring 2014, he spent five years as Atlanta magazine s food editor and restaurant critic. He began his food-writing career at Creative Loafing, Atlanta s leading alt-weekly newspaper, in 2002; he has also been a food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle and lead restaurant critic at the Dallas Morning News.