Justin Fry, chocolatier and owner of JF Chocolat. Photo courtesy

Chocolatier Justin Fry recalls Newt Gingrich savoring bonbons and truffles from a White House-shaped chocolate box he constructed. There was also the time he worked under the watchful eyes of security to arrange a plate of treats for a Saudi Arabian princess. From Joe Biden to Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon to Gladys Knight, Fry entertained a long list of celebrities at the famed Willard Hotel in D.C. Now, Queen City residents get to experience his elegant, classic pastries too.

While his business, JF Chocolat, may use the traditional French pronunciation, Fry wants customers to know he is all about fun — and flavor first.

A chocolate violin made by Fry for a charity auction at Community Matters Café. Kristen Wile/UP

“There’s a reason I currently offer only eight varieties,” he says about his chocolates. “My style is simple, done well.”

His artistic creations are far from simple, though, and while they certainly mesmerize, Fry’s ultimate goal is traditional chocolates made memorable. Fry recalls a tasting where the gentleman he was conversing with lost complete focus on the topic while sampling a truffle. The man explained he had never been caught so off guard by a food’s essence and intensity, especially a dessert’s, until then. “I want to surprise my customers,” Fry adds with a smile.

During his years of training, he learned it is the pastry chef who has the power to form that final, lasting impression of a meal. For Fry, that means pleasing the eye as well as the palate. In one competition, he spent three months working on a single cake recipe everyday of the week to refine it. The judges, who usually sample two or three bites, cleaned their plates. One judge later revealed he had snuck back to the kitchen for a second slice.

There was also the competition where he spent four months perfecting his showpiece for a Magic and Illusions theme. “I created a magician coming out of a top hat, but for proportion and scale, designed him in layers with negative space in between,” he describes. “The supports and spacers in between formed a bunny rabbit. The sculpture was made complete with a magic chest, chains, crystal ball, spell books, gloves, magic wand, and top hat made entirely of sugar.”

Fry has taken home multiple wins from various competitions — most notably finishing first and being named Pastry Chef of the Year at the prestigious 2016 U.S. Pastry Competition in New York, where judges include top industry talent, several MOFs (Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, one of the highest chef honors), and even former White House pastry chefs.

His artistic background enables him to create that winning wow factor and whimsy, but his attention to the finest ingredients and tempering process is what ultimately delivers the unique JF Chocolat experience.

“Chefs with one year of knowledge versus twelve are still called chocolatiers,” he says. “However, extensive practice with that medium and creativity set them apart.”

Fry has cultivated his expertise under the instruction of master chocolatiers and in the role of executive pastry chef; however, his technique really began during an immersive fine arts high school education where he could often be found building theater sets. Fry was a music major in college until the culinary profession captivated him. He studied baking and pastry arts at Johnson & Wales in Denver before dedicating his career to chocolate.

“Chocolate is like music; you have the same number of notes at your disposal, but how you arrange them is totally up to your imagination,” he says. “This leaves the door open to endless possibilities. Learn how to work with chocolate, the science that happens, and you can create anything you want. It’s a pretty amazing thing, and what I love most about it.”

It is this love, paired with a layoff and self-quarantining to care for a child with vulnerabilities, that led Fry and his wife to take a leap into starting their own business. They founded JF Chocolat on Thanksgiving 2019 and officially launched products into the marketplace just in time for the 2020 holiday season.

Now a local fixture, JF Chocolat has partnered with an ever-growing list of vendors and distributors including Freshlist; Undercurrent Coffee; Margaux’s Wine, Pizza, & Market; The Loyalist Market; Tip Top Daily Market; and The Dunhill Hotel. JF Chocolat will also move into a full-time stall this winter at the Matthews Community Farmers’ Market. Fry’s chocolates can also be purchased online for delivery or pickup at Savory Spice Shop in South End. Fry does custom orders as well as in-home demos. A brick-and-mortar location is on the horizon as the business grows, but not yet in the works.

“Right now we are taking it day by day, just introducing ourselves to the community and getting to know our customers,” Fry says.

Still, he can’t help but beam when talking about how he’d like to find a way to express Charlotte’s many cultural influences through chocolate or his curiosity around vegan recipes and farm-to-table sustainability. JF Chocolat’s “simple, done well” is simply the beginning.