Nicole Coady was already a renowned pastry chef when she travelled to Madagascar, but she’d never before left the United States. The trip was an anniversary gift from the dessert restaurant Finale in Boston, Massachusetts, where Coady had been executive pastry chef for 14 years. Little did her co-workers know that this amazing gift would wind up inspiring Coady to leave Finale and start her own business as a chocolatier.
Coady explored the rich world of Madagascan chocolate along with seven top chocolatiers. She was inspired by the cacao plantations, the natural landscape, and the achievements of the chocolate-makers, but it wasn’t until later that year, during a phone conversation with a new friend in the chocolate world, that she suddenly had the idea that pushed her to make the leap from pastry to chocolate and embark on a whole new, stateside journey to become a chocolatier.
So what was that moment of inspiration? She realized she wanted to build better versions of the drugstore candy bars of her childhood. Her new goal included the painful task of sampling all kinds of chocolate favorites, from high end confections to the cheapest mass-market bar, in order to nail down the ultimate gourmet candy bar experience. Coady’s relentless research paid off in elegant bars that truly tout an artist’s touch—she doesn’t even use molds! Even the most demanding chocoholics can get their fix from Fixx’s invigorating flavor experiences.