New Chocolate Shop Offers Handcrafted Treats

DAYTON - The new shop Alexander's Chocolates had a soft opening Tuesday, July 3, featuring a small assortment of chocolates, truffles and cookies to give Dayton residents a taste of what is to come.

The official grand opening and ribbon cutting for Alexan- der's Chocolates on Dayton's Main Street will be Friday, July 20. This date is fitting because July 20 is also Alexander the Great's birthday.

The business, named after Alexander the Great, is run by Alex Radcliffe, Steve Macha- jewski and Dianne O'Dell. Radcliffe and Machajewski had previously run a chocolate busi- ness in Seattle, but they decided to relocate to the Dayton area to get closer to Eastern Washing- ton wineries, Radcliffe's cousin O'Dell said.

The store is located next to the Manila Bay restaurant.

"At first I wasn't sure a town like this would be a good loca- tion for us," O'Dell said. "But now I love Dayton. I'm glad we're here."

While they do not have all the products they intend to sell in stock yet, after their grand opening they will showcase more than 100 varieties of chocolates. The chocolate sold in their shop is important and made in-store by hand.

Radcliffe and his partner Machajewski trained at the Callebaut Chocolate Academy in Chicago.

"We're trying to be educa- tors," Radcliffe said. "We're teaching people about chocolate and how to eat chocolate."

Radcliffe said he expects to have European drinking chocolate ready to sell this week and they have many sur- prises and expansions to come in July. He also said they plan to have little "nibbles" out for people to sample soon while they browse.

Big macaroon cookies are $3.50 each or three for $10. A chocolate sampler costs any- where from $10 to $30.

The business hours will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tues- day through Saturday, 12 to 5 p.m. on Sunday and closed on Monday.

For more information, 425- 343-7263 or visit their face- book page.