By Alex Wilson | Photos by Viktor Budnik
Chocolatiers Lisa Casoni and Heather Stobo owned Ojai’s Porch Gallery for about 10 years, selling contemporary art from a historic Victorian building behind Ojai’s Arcade.
During their time as Ojai gallerists, they became enamored with the work and life of artist Beatrice Wood, who lived in the Upper Ojai Valley until she passed away at the age of 105 during 1998. Now the co-founders of Beato Chocolates are creating unique artisanal confections inspired by Wood’s creativity.
Wood, who signed her lustrous glazed pottery and humorous drawings with her nickname “Beato,” was also known as the “Mama of Dada” for her work alongside other notable artists including Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray and Francis Picabia.
“She helped start an art movement called the Dada movement, which was a very eccentric, very forward-thinking movement that didn’t exist before,” Casoni told Ventana Monthly.
“Most people associate Marcel Duchamp with the movement, but she was there right at the beginning, and she ended up being a lifelong friend of his. There’s a lot of history to all of this that’s so intriguing to us. And also, it’s fun. It’s a fun movement. And that’s sort of our ethos, too. We want to have fun with this. We want to contribute to the culture of the arts in Ojai.”
The healing power of chocolate
After about five years operating Porch Gallery in a three-story building on Matilija Street known as “Montgomery House,” Casoni and Stobo had an opportunity to purchase the historic structure with which they had fallen in love. Built in 1874, it is among the oldest houses in Ojai.
They were just completing the transaction when the Thomas Fire bore down on Ojai in December 2017, and the couple evacuated to a hotel in Solvang.
“The ink wasn’t even dry on our agreement to buy the building when we evacuated,” Casoni said. “And every day when we were in this very distressed state, the place where we stayed would serve chocolate in the afternoon. And we would look around and we would see all these other evacuees from Ojai, and it was incredibly stressful, but the chocolate was very comforting to me.”
Downtown Ojai was thankfully spared by the flames, but many artists in surrounding areas lost homes and treasured masterpieces. Casoni and Stobo decided to hold an event at Porch Gallery to benefit impacted artists, and for Casoni, the idea of incorporating chocolate kept running through her mind. The more she thought about chocolate, the more the connection to Beatrice Wood bubbled up.
“Beatrice Wood loved chocolate. So, there was a whole history behind all this. People knew to bring her chocolate. And there was this fun thing that we had read often. She was often asked the secret to her long life. She lived to be 105, so, you’d want to know, ‘Wow, what’s your secret?’ And she would say, ‘Art, books, chocolate and young men,’” Casoni said.
The business partners, who have been married for many years but are now separated, were inspired by Wood to start making chocolate.
“It was incredibly powerful for us because it kept us busy in a very stressful time,” Casoni said. “It made people happy once they saw the chocolate and we would have people come in and look at it, and see it being made. And we were like little Willy Wonkas in our art gallery.”
Art meets chocolate
Casoni and Stobo reached an agreement with the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts to license the artist’s drawings for the artwork on Beato Chocolates packaging. Since Wood was famous for ceramics as well as drawings, some of the first chocolates were even based on her three-dimensional sculptural designs, in shapes such as moons and horses.
“They were beautiful. And so, these were edible pieces of art. And so slowly, little by little, we started building out the business and eventually we moved it into a commercial setup,” Casoni said. As their chocolate business took off, they decided to leave gallery life behind, sell the historic downtown building, and focus their energy on chocolate.
Beato Chocolates collaborates with local farmers in unique ways such as a candy bar named “Happy Valley” with orange oil and Ojai Pixie tangerine and another called “In The Garden” which includes the distinctive, outdoorsy flavor of black sage oil.
Another candy bar is called “Titanic,” including sea salt and dried rose petals, which might ring a bell for people familiar with Wood’s connection to the hit 1997 movie “Titanic.” Director James Cameron famously read Wood’s autobiography, “I Shock Myself,” which partly inspired the romantic and uncompromising nature of the movie’s protagonist, Rose. He even called Wood for advice on writing the character. (To be clear: Wood was never on board the Titanic.)
Beato Chocolates products are available online and for sale at several retail locations around Ojai including Westridge Market.
Mixing artistic and culinary legacies
Stobo, who holds a master’s degree in photography from Cal Arts, told Ventana Monthly that she loves how Wood’s artistic inspiration combines with the culinary innovation driving Beato Chocolates.
“I actually really enjoy focusing on the art aspect of it and kind of the way it’s on our packaging and, you know, the way we connect it to Beatrice and her artwork and her life,” Stobo said. “We have a chocolatier who really focuses on making quality chocolate, and we have Lisa, who oversees everything to make sure everything’s kind of working together. And so, I think we’ve found this really great way to combine art and chocolate.”
As they considered drawings for the packaging, many of Wood’s images stood out as distinct possibilities.
“She actually drew every day, so we had just a whole bank to choose from,” Stobo said. “The more we learn about Beatrice, she’s really an amazing woman. She was very independent. She was very smart. She was very cultured. She was very avant-garde. You know, she was a risk taker. And she was everything we kind of want to emulate in our own personal lives.”
Beato Chocolates
www.beatochocolates.com
