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Chocolatier Christophe Armero and his wife, Jennie Baird, handcraft small-batch Mudgetown Chocolate in Millerton.
By Aly Morrissey
“Our goal is to delight the community with something special,” said Christophe Armero, chocolatier and founder of Mudgetown Chocolate. He describes his product as a “delicious, locally made chocolate that can’t be purchased anywhere else.”
The business began as a retirement passion project for Armero, who spent 38 years in the sugar industry. After moving full-time to Sharon in 2020 from Riverside, Conn., he and his wife, Jennie Baird, began experimenting with chocolate in their barn in 2022. “I realized quickly that it’s very easy to make mediocre chocolate,” Armero joked.
After becoming more interested in the process, he grew determined to master the craft. In 2024, he landed an internship at Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco, where he learned the tricks of the trade.
“It was a bit intimidating because I was this older guy and all the other chocolatiers were young and very professional,” he laughed. “But they taught me a lot.”
Today, Armero can speak fluently about each step of the chocolate-making process, from sourcing the bean and fermentation to roasting, cracking and “melanging,” most of which is done right here on South Center Street in Millerton.
Tri-Corner Feed’s incubator kitchen
Tri-Corner Feed has a bustling storefront where community members can find locally sourced produce, nutrient-dense groceries and even a chai latte – all with sliding scale prices. And there is just as much action happening behind-the-scenes in their fully licensed commercial kitchen.
It’s here that entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses like Mudgetown Chocolate can roll up their sleeves and create products in an affordable space without the burden of high startup costs.
Armero uses a small, 1-kilogram roaster in Tri-Corner’s kitchen, followed by a cracking and winnowing setup that uses a shop vac to suck out the shells and leave the nibs behind. Then, nibs spend 48 hours or more in a granite stone melanger, where they break down and release natural cacao butter. During this part of the process, the bitterness softens and new flavors develop.
Locally made, globally sourced
Armero and Baird purchase cacao beans directly from small farms and fermentaries in countries like El Salvador, Colombia and Uganda. The couple even traveled to Ecuador to visit one of their producers, prioritizing direct relationships whenever possible, which sets them apart from other commercial producers.
Armero said he hopes to bring more local partners into his chocolate business for future creations. “We’ve made some fantastic chocolate infused with whiskey,” he said, adding that he also has a vision of creating a chocolate bar with crunchy bread crumbs. His goal is to partner with local distilleries and bakeries to make this a reality.
Cacao beans sourced from farms in Uganda, used in Mudgetown Chocolate’s small-batch creations.By Aly Morrissey
Commercial chocolate vs. craft chocolate
Armero said the key differences between commercial chocolate and craft chocolate are “scale and objective.” Big-brand names rely on facilities designed to transform commodity beans into large quantities of uniform chocolate designed to meet the brand’s distinct taste.
Unlike these chocolate giants, Mudgetown Chocolate and other craft makers work in small batches, coaxing the best flavors out of beans. You might get a slightly different flavor with each batch. With only two ingredients in their dark chocolate – cacao and sugar – the results are highly dependent on the bean itself.
Armero said, “We’re always trying to get the best out of the beans.”
Mudgetown Chocolate, handmade in small batches using cacao sourced from farms around the world.By Aly Morrissey
A sensory experience
Armero and Baird describe their upcoming chocolate tasting as a full sensory experience, explaining that tastes can last from 30 seconds to a minute and evolve in that time.
“You get the top notes first, which are usually floral, lighter notes,” said Baird as she bit a chunk of chocolate. “Then you get the mid-notes which tend to be chocolatey and nutty, and then you get the end notes.”
The couple instruct tasters to crunch first, then let the chocolate melt on your tongue. They recommend breathing in through your mouth and out through your nose for the full effect. And, whatever you taste, Armero and Baird say it’s correct. “Everyone’s different,” Armero said. But everyone is right because it’s entirely subjective.”
The chocolate tastings are free and open to the public. They will take place at Tri-Corner Feed at 56 South Center Street in Millerton.
Weatogue Stables has an opening: for a part time or full time team member. Experienced and reliable please! Must be available weekends. Housing a possibility for the right candidate. Contact Bobbi at 860-307-8531.
Services Offered
Deluxe Professional Housecleaning: Experience the peace of a flawlessly maintained home. For premium, detail-oriented cleaning, call Dilma Kaufman at 860-491-4622. Excellent references. Discreet, meticulous, trustworthy, and reliable. 20 years of experience cleaning high-end homes.
Hector Pacay Service: House Remodeling, Landscaping, Lawn mowing, Garden mulch, Painting, Gutters, Pruning, Stump Grinding, Chipping, Tree work, Brush removal, Fence, Patio, Carpenter/decks, Masonry. Spring and Fall Cleanup. Commercial & Residential. Fully insured. 845-636-3212.
The Villas Cleaning Team: Owner-Operated. Reliable, detailed cleaning by a trusted husband-and-wife team. Homes & Offices. Airbnb. Small Post-Construction. Commercial. Windows. Laundry. Consistent cleaners every time. Competitive rates. Flexible scheduling. Call/Text: 903-918-2390. Dave Villa for a free estimate.
Auctions, Estate Sales
Estate/Tag Sale: 168 Johnson Road, Falls Village CT. Friday Saturday Sunday, December 5th-7th. Total house contents, furniture, antique and vintage collectables, costume jewelry, shed stuff, basement stuff, stairs chairlift, some art. Fri, Sat 9-4 and Sunday 9-noon. A Tommy sale, come and get it!!
Real Estate
PUBLISHER’S NOTICE: Equal Housing Opportunity. All real estate advertised in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1966 revised March 12, 1989 which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color religion, sex, handicap or familial status or national origin or intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination. All residential property advertised in the State of Connecticut General Statutes 46a-64c which prohibit the making, printing or publishing or causing to be made, printed or published any notice, statement or advertisement with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, marital status, age, lawful source of income, familial status, physical or mental disability or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination.
Tag Sales
Sharon, CT
TAG SALE: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, 135 Sharon Mountain Road, Sharon, CT 06069. Clearing things out before the holidays! Stop by for a great mix of items, including: Kitchenware, Small pieces of art, A few pieces of furniture, Clothing, Books, And more assorted household items. Easy to find, everything priced to sell. Hope to see you there!
‘Les Flashs d’Anne’: friendship, fire and photographs
‘Les Flashs d’Anne’: friendship, fire and photographs
On Dec. 11, at 6:30 p.m., at the White Hart Inn in Salisbury, Day and Weitzman will share their memories in a conversation moderated by noted designer Matthew Patrick Smyth. The event is organized by Oblong Books and the Scoville Library.
Fresh home from her exhibition and book signing in Paris, Day sat in her Salisbury aerie high above the distant hills, her daughter’s black cat on her lap. She told the story of “Les Flashs d’Anne,” and the kismet that spurred its evolution.
In 2024, afterlearning that Day had worked with Guibert in New York and Paris, Weitzman — the author of numerous books about Guibert —saw her salvaged images, sought her out and announced, “We must do a book together.”
Weitzman writes in the book’s prologue, “This book is the dreamlike, uncanny result of that serendipitous encounter with a remarkable woman.”
Cover of “Les Flashs d’Anne”Jennifer Almquist
During the 1980s, Day was a working photographer living on Fifth Avenue. A friend, the editor of Le Monde, asked whether Guibert, on his maiden voyage to New York, could stay with her. “I remember it was a cold night when Hervé showed up at my door,” she said.“His flight had just gotten in from Paris and he had this big box of Guerlain perfume. It was wrapped in beautiful pink paper. Within four minutes, we were friends.”
Thus began a whirlwind collaboration that took them from Manhattan, where they interviewed André Kertész, to Paris where they dined with Henri Cartier-Bresson and Duane Michals, and on to interviews with Isabelle Huppert, Gina Lollobrigida, designer Madeleine Castaing, Orson Welles and other luminaries of that time.
Day never saw Guibert after 1983. “Hervé got AIDS in the late ’80s and was quite militant. He now has a following of young people,” Day saidwistfully. During his final days, Guibert wrote five books based on his existential journey.
Orson Welles, top, and Hervé Guibert and André Kertész by Anne DayJennifer Almquist
Day recalled the devastating house fire in which her family tragically lost their friend Maria Paz Reyes and their dog. Day survived by jumping from the second story. A lifetime of images, negatives and slides were lost or damaged. “To lose pictures is like losing friends. Everything was piled into metal file cabinets in my studio. All my negatives and slides were packed in tight. The fire started at the farthest point from there as possible. It was the only thing that wasn’t destroyed— every other single thing was gone. Nothing left. It was raining, so my friend Christopher covered everything with a tarp. The fabulous part of this story is how much help I had from my town, which gave me the empty firehouse to lay out everything to dry. Friends came from near and far to help. Some days I had ten volunteers, and it went on for a month, which gave me something to move forward with. It was so tragic and awful.”
Self-portrait, New York City, 1981by Anne DayJennifer Almquist
A veteran photojournalist, portrait, wedding, and architectural photographer, Day created images for five books featuring the architecture of the Library of Congress, the U.S. Capitol, and the New York Public Library. She covered events in Cuba, Haiti and South Africa, where she took an iconic image of Nelson Mandela emerging from his prison cell. Her commissioned images of four Presidential Inaugurations are featured in the Smithsonian. Her work has appeared in Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fortune, Paris Match and Vogue. She was the editor of Compass at the Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News.
Currently, she enjoys shooting digital photographs of nature. “I am interested in migration, large groups of birds and insects. I’ve been to New Mexico to photograph monarchs, Nebraska to photograph Sandhill cranes, and Ireland to photograph a murmuration of starlings.”
Day summed up her life: “Things just happened to me.”
Tickets to the event at The White Hart Inn on Dec. 11 are available at oblongbooks.com
