Annette's Flowers offers a variety of items, in addition to flowers for Valentines Day.DEAN CURTIS FOR LIVING WELL CHOCOLATES


Goodbye, Hello Cocoa. Hello, Markham & Fitz


Chocolate Makers. If you’ve ever tasted Hel-


lo Cocoa in Fayetteville, then you know it’s a special treat. It has traditionally been a bean-to-bar confection which refers to chocolate that is made from cacao beans and fashioned into chocolate bars or other confections. They source beans from Haiti, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Guatemala, Nicaragua. But the company is re-


branding as Markham & Fitz, and relocating to Benton- ville, 801 SE 8th Street, in the 8th Street Market. Sure, you can order their


chocolate online or you can a trip to their new dessert bar location which showcases all things chocolate — including cocktails. That sounds like a romantic Valentine option to us.


Contacts


Restore by King Dermatology, 870-425-5464 or online: http://king- dermatology.com/ Simply Beautiful Medical Spa, 870-435-5000 or online: http://sim- plybeautifulspa.com/ Markham & Fitz in Bentonville (formerly in Fayetteville), 479-235- 6236 online: https://markhamandfitz.com/ Annette’s Flowers, (870) 424-7673, online http://www.annettes- flowers.com/ Bouquet Palace, (870) 425-2193, online: http://bouquetpalace.com/


The business is owned by


chocolatier Preston Stewart and Lauren Blancho. When they couldn’t get a trade- mark for Hello Cocoa, they looked at rebranding. “We have been improving


our chocolates and wanting to repackage our products, and at the same time it gave us an opportunity to rebrand ourselves. This is our grown- up version,” Blancho said. So why Markham & Fitz? Markham is named after


28 Living Well i January/February 2018


Stewart’s oldest son. Fitz is Blancho’s dog. The business owners met through a mutu- al friend, who was the origi- nal founder of the company. He sold the company to them and now they are crafting it into their own vision. “We always wanted to


open a space where we could be more creative with choco- late, do drinks, whiskey pair- ings, coffee and expresso, sell confections to the cus- tomer directly. We will have


some superfood items. We have been looking for a space to move to and the people at 8th Street Market were looking for people who wanted to create a food expe- rience. We have lots of neigh- bors, including the culinary school, we hope to work with,” Blancho said. Normally for Valentine’s


Day, they sell a lot of truffles and champagne bonbons, but hope to create some addition- al Valentine-specific prod- ucts. To order online or learn more: https://markhamand- fitz.com/ As a side note, if you de-


cide to spend the night in Bentonville, consider staying at 21c Museum Hotel, a bou- tique hotel that also serves as a contemporary art mu- seum and cultural center. It is home to the highly ac- claimed restaurant, Hive, led by James Beard Foundation Award Semifinalist Matthew McClure.


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