Sarah Shapiro of Wild Child Chocolate in Davis Square. ~ Photos courtesy of Elli Bock

By Jeffrey Shwom

Sometimes, we all just need a piece of chocolate or something with chocolate in it to make us feel. To comfort us. To be a part of our memories. Well, Sarah Shapiro, owner, founder and “chocolate maker extraordinaire” of Wild Child Chocolate in Davis Square is sharing her four distinct chocolates and social tasting events to help us experience all of the things.

Her four chocolate bars have the same three ingredients: cacao beans, sugar and cocoa butter. “That is it. All four bars taste really really different.” The countries of origin include Belize – with cherry, raisin, and passion fruit notes – Thailand, Ivory Coast, and Peru. All are between 65% and 73% cacao.

As she packaged small squares of chocolate with her branded stickers Shapiro explained, “They allow for conversations like, ‘so which is your favorite? What does it taste like?’” It helps create some sense of how “the land and subspecies and each bean makes the difference in the flavor, and fermentation in the farm and my roasting and when I add sugar. It is genetics or the environment.”

In early March, Sarah opened Wild Child Chocolate as a “long-term pop-up factory” at 260 Elm St., in the Davis Square courtyard between Starbucks and Chipotle. A long time ago, the space was Sugidama’s first Davis Square location. Wild Child Chocolate has a more flexible lease while the building owner Asana plans a redevelopment project called 7th Spoke. Wild Child Chocolate has no connection to Wild Child in Union Square.

The chocolate is the culmination of her life’s journeys, through a Chicago confiserie, time at a caramel business in Bristol, UK, and everything in between. We asked how chocolate connects people. “What is the human experience of consuming chocolate? It spans across need. Sometimes, you need a Snickers bar. Often, it is an opportunity to share. As a little kid, we are learning to share. Learning what it means to be a part of the community. Chocolate is a consummate luxury treat. There is so much joy that is involved in that process. People have good memories of the consumption of chocolate. Beyond the emotional “I just need to feel better, I need chocolate, chocolate is a connecting item. It does the work. I am just here to give it a plate to do the work. I am the plate.”

Shapiro is planning multiple events and workshops, like Truffle Together: In-Person Truffle Making for Groups. “Activities are an opportunity to connect. I have a truffle-making class that can be customized to your needs, your group of friends. There is a virtual version.” Victoria Kichuk, owner of Cocoa Beantown, a chocolate tour and event company, hosted Singles Mingle Chocolate Tasting on March 20 within Shapiro’s space. “Victoria is a mega connector. For her, it is natural for her to talk consumption, flavor and people.”

Shapiro has spots for her 4Questions Single-Origin Chocolate Tasting Event too, where guests sample her certified Kosher for Passover chocolate. As a note, all Wild Child Chocolates are vegan and, in her words, are “prepared in a kosher house,” but only the 4Questions chocolate line is certified kosher.

At the end of the day, “It is all chocolate. People leave happy. There is nothing bad about it. Fascinating, so often in adulthood, our preferences are cloaked in the choices we make. When you sit in a room of people, when you say I prefer this origin, that origin, it is very clear how our taste senses indicate preferences for food.”

Long term, Shapiro told us openly, “I don’t know if we will be here for six months or three years. We are open to having that flexibility in our contract. My other half, business partner and personal partner, Ben Bromberg Gaber, is definitely a mover and shaker, a squeaky wheel type. We needed a venue. We said, ‘Let’s talk to everyone.’ I am the maker and he is the shaker.” They reached out to the city’s Economic Development team, who suggested the space. “It was a fortuitous moment” for all. And for all of us, too.

Visit www.wildchildchocolate.com. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.