If you love chocolate, or know someone who does, this is the column for you. 

I recently sat down to chat with Jaclyn Sanders, owner and chef at Guild Chocolates in Petrolia. Jaclyn was born and raised in Brights Grove, Ont., just outside Sarnia. After secondary school, she spent a decade living in New York City, initially on a golf scholarship while studying art history and English. 

She always wanted to be a pastry chef, driven by what she describes as her “crippling sweet tooth.” However, her dislike of early mornings led her to train as a chocolatier once she became a pastry chef. 

After completing her degree, she studied at the French Culinary Institute in New York City, eventually apprenticing under Jacques Torres, a world-renowned chocolatier. 

Following her apprenticeship, Jaclyn began to seriously entertain the dream of owning her own shop. 

Doing so in New York was not realistic, but during one of her trips home she noticed the lack of chocolate shops in the Sarnia–Lambton area. She wondered whether that was because no one wanted chocolate or because no one was doing it. 

She decided to take a risk and found a shop on Petrolia Line, steps from Victoria Playhouse. 

In 2013 she purchased the space; in 2014, her shop opened its doors. 

She described the location as a true dream by New York standards. The shop occupies the ground floor, with her family living upstairs. 

Jaclyn creates every single chocolate on her shelves. The attention to detail and........

© Sarnia Observer