Emilee Prado
When she’s not at the hospital, Dr. Sue Williams is running her chocolate shop in downtown Grapevine. Working both as a board-certified internal medicine physician and a chocolatier is hard work, but Dr. Sue has been doing it successfully for the last nine years. Her chocolate — dark and only made with natural ingredients — comes in a variety of types and flavors, and she is the mastermind behind it all. She may not have been at the shop when you visited, but now you can get to know Dr. Sue.
I’VE BEEN DOING THIS… for almost 10 years. It started as just a little hobby. My daughter had gone to college, and I wanted something to do — sort of an empty nester project. I always loved to cook and entertain, so I went to Chicago and took classes to become a chocolatier. I loved it.
AS I WOULD MAKE IT MORE IN PRACTICE… I would give it away at the hospital where I worked, and they called me Dr. Sue, so they called it Dr. Sue’s Chocolate. Eventually, it just sort of fell into place and was turning into a little business, so I decided I wouldn’t pay myself... I’d donate to charities and be committed to [paying my employees] a living wage and really put the money back into the community.
WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY… four years ago to move right here on Main Street, and that has just been an absolute blessing. There’s so much foot traffic, and we’ve met so many wonderful people from literally all over the world. It really is my happy place, and I love it that a lot of people get happy when they come in too.
I LOVE WHAT I DO… and it’s very meaningful. I spend a lot of time delivering bad news and having important conversations. They’re very meaningful, but they can also be very emotionally heavy and exhausting. So [it’s nice having an] opportunity to go to a place where everybody’s happy. I mean, in a chocolate shop, everyone is there because they want to be there.
THE HARDEST PART OF MAKING CHOCOLATE… is the actual technique. It’s one thing to learn the theory on paper, but the actual technique of working with it over and over and over again until you do it — that is the hardest part.
I WANTED TO PROVE THAT YOU COULD… find something you feel good about eating. Obviously, you can do that very much with savory things, but I started with the intent that I will produce products that were dark chocolate, that were all natural, that wouldn’t have any added sugars, sweeteners, preservatives, that they would all be non-GMO and have no high-fructose corn syrup.
I CREATE MOST OF THE RECIPES… pretty quickly. Sometimes they’ll just come to me, and I keep lists of ideas. I could be in a restaurant and taste something and think that it would be fun to try that with chocolate. I could be drinking a cup of coffee and think that might be good with chocolate. Inspiration can come from every facet of life.
ONCE IN A WHILE WE GET LUCKY… and we get [a recipe right] on the first try. But that’s very rare. Over the years, I would say, most of the time it’s gonna take us at least five or 10 tries, and there are some things that I know I’ve gone through at least 20 variations before I ever got it right.
I DON’T EVER REALLY GET TIRED OF IT… because it’s a beautiful, beautiful medium. If you just watch melted chocolate flow, it’s mesmerizing. It’s so beautiful. And it has this silkiness, this richness to it that is mesmerizing. I love the creations. I love seeing the reactions on people’s faces when they get it, when they come in and buy something or taste it. I don’t think I ever get tired of it. I just try really hard to not eat too much of it.
I REALLY APPRECIATE… this whole community, not just Grapevine. The people have just embraced us. And I’m so grateful for their support because it allows us to just do even more and give back— sometimes in small ways, sometimes in bigger ways — to the community. It’s like a real sharing of love.