Byrne & Carlson Chocolatier opens new shop in Kittery

On Valentine’s Day, chocolate is the language of love. Since 1999, Byrne & Carlson Chocolatier and Confectioner has been serving up a loving spoonful from its shop at 121 State St. in Portsmouth. On Thursday, Feb. 14, love will flow like a chocolate river when the owners of Byrne & Carlson open a second retail space in Kittery, Maine.

When the Portsmouth shop first opened, its kitchen was located in nearby Market Square. Owners Ellen Byrne and Christopher Carlson soon decided that the store had outgrown that facility and opened a new offsite production kitchen on Route 1 in Kittery, on a stretch known by locals as Gourmet Alley.

But, the kitchen did not have a retail store where customers could shop for candy. Hardly a day went by without someone pulling up to the kitchen and asking to buy some chocolate. Now, instead of being shuffled across the river to the Portsmouth store, customers will be invited into the new shop.

Using chocolate imported from France, Belgium and Venezuela, Byrne and Carlson implement traditions from around the world to style their confections. Fruits, fine liqueurs and fresh cream from local dairies are used to make French-style truffles. Marzipan is shaped and painted in the Swiss style. Caramel and roasted nuts in chocolate are used to make American Pecan Pralines. The chocolatiers pride themselves on their traditional and artistic production.

“We took over the empty space next door to expand our production space, and the front section is open for retail,” Byrne said of the new Kittery store. That expanded rental space includes 1,350 square feet, the front third of which will be used for retail. The property owner previously used the empty space for storage.

Moving into the new space called for significant preparations. Most of Byrne & Carlson’s products are extremely sensitive to temperature.

“Originally, we had a little storefront in our production site, but it became very difficult with the door opening and closing,” Byrne said. The new shop will be separated from the production room and special window shades will soon block UV rays.

The new shop, located at 60 State Road, is a boiled-down version of the Portsmouth store, which will remain open at its State Street location. “The store in Portsmouth is more of a chocolate shop, which has a lot of nice things you can purchase that we don’t make (in Kittery),” Byrne said. The Kittery store, she added, will be “very informal and simple.”

Beginning this Valentine’s Day, when the new shop opens, chocolate and other homemade candies will be taken fresh from the oven, carried through a pair of French doors and placed on shelves, ready for sale. Chocolate for cooking and baking will also be available. All of Byrne & Carlson’s mail order business will be handled from the Kittery store. In the future, the owners plan to add a hot chocolate bar.

The chocolate shop now joins the food fraternity found on Gourmet Alley. The shop will be nestled among Terra Cotta Pasta, Golden Harvest Produce Market, Beach Pea Baking Co. and Carl’s Meat Market. How will the chocolate shop fit in?

“I’m confident it will fit in just fine, because, as I said, we’ve been here for four years. It’s a natural fit,” Byrne said.

With Valentine’s Day approaching and the new shop about to open, the owners have their hands full. But, then again, they’re making chocolate, which is a pretty sweet job.