Kelly Lewis and the Chocolate Factory

Visionary director Tim Burton is currently filming a remake of the classic movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, with Johnny Depp in the role made famous by Gene Wilder in 1971. However, should Depp be unable to complete the role, Burton could find a perfect replacement in restaurateur Kelly Lewis. While he may not possess Depp’s or Wilder’s star power (or Oompa-Loompas for that matter), Lewis has 24 years of experience and a singular talent for creating real confections good enough to rival Wonka’s fictional Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delights.

Kelly Lewis operates his chocolate factory from a renovated 1910-era hotel he owns on North Main Street in Marion, NC. Carolina Chocolatiers’ restaurant is decorated like an open-air cafe indoors, with umbrellas in the spring and summer and patio furniture in the spring and summer. People from throughout the area drawn to Kelly's restaurant, which is open 8:00 am to 3:00 pm for brunch with a special buffet on Sundays. The restaurant's signature dish is a chicken salad, made from a secret recipe known only to Kelly and his mother, who used to work in the very hotel where his restaurant now stands. However, the real secret is hidden within the serving and buffet tables throughout the dining room. Inside is the special equipment which Kelly uses to create the restaurant's real claim to fame — the chocolates which give Carolina Chocolatiers its name.

Kelly first began making chocolates in 1980 at the age of 15. "My cousin called me and said ‘Come up to the house and let's make candy,’ " Kelly recalled. "We made all kinds of stuff I'd hardly ever seen before and it became a routine thing."

Around October of 1980, Kelly and his cousin began making boxes of chocolates to give as Christmas gifts for her husband's clients. "We had boxes made up with our names on them, and they were fabulous, " Kelly said. "After the first of the year, people started calling to order more and we decided to turn it into a business."

Kelly's cousin bought an old service station of of Highway 221 in Marion, which they redecorated as a candy shop which they named Carolina Chocolatiers. Kelly and his cousin made and sold their chocolate creations right in the shop. Two years later they added a restaurant at their customers' request. About this time, Kelly's cousin decided to leave the business and Kelly took over, running Carolina Chocolatiers out of the former service station until 2000.

In 2000, Kelly purchased the hotel in which Carolina Chocolatiers currently resides. In fact, you can still see the original display case in the restaurant’s current location. He loves the restaurant and owns another, Joseph's Italian Bistro, in nearby Lake Lure. However, candy making remains the most profitable part of his business.

As you would expect, holidays are when Carolina Chocolatiers has the most demand — Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day and especially Valentine's Day. "Christmas is wide open with candy making and Christmas parties," Kelly said. "And we have people standing in line around the block on Valentine's Day."

Carolina Chocolatiers features about 30 different kinds of candy, sold in half-pound, one pound and two pound boxes. The most popular item — and Kelly's personal favorite — is chocolate turtles.

“I still love candy even after all these years,” Kelly confesses. “And I’m a diabetic.”

Carolina Chocolatiers has sent chocolates as far away as Brazil, the Dominican Republic and England. But even after 24 years, he still gets a few requests that surprise him. One customer requested a 25-pound solid chocolate Easter Bunny about 3 feet high and he once produced 5000 chocolate trout for an outfitter. “We did it, but I got to where I didn’t think I could ever look at another fish again," Kelly admitted.

When it’s time to make candy, Kelly and his employees meet after the restaurant is closed, pull the covers off the hidden candy-making equipment and start making magic. “We make it like a little party,” Kelly shared. “It's like that I Love Lucy show where she packs one and eats one — that's the way it is.”

Kelly feels blessed that he has always been able to do what he loves. "I've met a lot of lovely people in my years,” Kelly reflected. “I'm just a country boy who worked hard and saved my money. I have a great family and I love what I'm doing."

For more information, contact Kelly Lewis at (828) 652-4496, Carolina Chocolatiers is located at 8 N Main St in Marion, NC.

by Burt Dellinger