Chocolat Celeste was founded in 2001 in Saint Paul, Minnesota by Mary Leonard. Mary was guided by passion and inspired by Television’s original “Culinary Icon,” Julia Child, Mary Leonard began a 30-year legacy to heed the words of her childhood hero to “Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.” And, she found it in Chocolate! In 2002, she opened her small but ever-expanding chocolate shop and factory in St. Paul, Minnesota. After visiting the Master Chocolatiers of France, and having received private training in chocolate-technology by Terry Richardson, patent holder for Godiva chocolates, Mary combined a natural talent for cooking with her world-class training in chocolate to launch her enterprise known as Chocolat Celeste. She’s also mastered that talent of marketing coupled with a degree in food science and business from the University of Minnesota. Thus resulting in surpassing sales goals several years in a row! Her uniquely crafted artisan chocolates have found a warm reception among the most discriminating connoisseurs. She was named one of the “10 Best Emerging American Artisanal Chocolatiers” in 2004, and her award-winning brands have been hailed by critics and reviewers from leading culinary and food experts nationwide including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Food Network, and Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels and MSNBC’s ‘Your Business’.