Small chocolatier stands out near campus

Mondel Chocolates has sat on the corner of 114th Street since 1943, and despite hard economic times, it’s not leaving anytime soon.

Sandwiched between an Aerosoles store and an outpost of Book Culture, Mondel’s is one of the few mom-and-pop stores left in the neighborhood, as locally owned establishments continue to be pushed out of business by bankruptcy or big retail developers. But manager Paula Blatt said the chocolatier is holding its own, thanks to loyal customers.

“We’re still more or less okay,” she said. “There are people that come in if not every day, every second day for, say, half a pound of fruit slices. There’s someone who comes in for a few pieces of extra bitter chocolate.”

One of those customers, as the store proudly advertises, was Katharine Hepburn. Blatt said Hepburn’s love of Mondel’s Chocolate was well known, pointing to a stack of fliers on the counter that feature a paragraph from “Kate Remembered,” A. Scott Berg’s biography of the star, in which Hepburn calls Mondel’s dark chocolate “the best in the world.”

“Because of that, people come in,” Blatt said. “They like that she stepped in here and they ask for the Katharine Hepburn mix.”

Blatt added that celebrities who visited Hepburn would regularly buy Mondel’s, naming Lauren Bacall and Barbara Walters as among those who bought Hepburn’s favorite almond bark and turtles for her. Other celebrities have stepped into Mondel’s as well, including Macaulay Culkin of “Home Alone” fame and James Levine, music director of the Metropolitan Opera.

“We do well because people know about us,” Blatt said. “I hear from a student and they say, ‘My professor sent me here.’ A lot of times, people come in and they say they just want to thank us. This is always nice to hear.”

Blatt said the secret to the store’s longevity is a combination of personal attention and of stocking favorite items like butter crunch, pecan turtles, and dark chocolate bark.

“There’s a big turnover, so our chocolates are always fresh,” she said, noting that she sometimes makes chocolates in the back of the store. She added that Mondel’s also makes sure to have chocolates that people with diabetes can eat.

The store has been more quiet than usual in the past couple of days because it’s waiting for Easter basket supplies after the Valentine’s Day rush a week ago, Blatt said.

“We had a line and we were able to have the door open all day long,” she said of Valentine’s Day. “It can be very, very hectic here during the holidays. Just peek in and see.”

Business gets a little harder during the summer, when there are fewer holidays and people aren’t in the mood for chocolate due to the hot temperatures, Blatt said.

“There are times during the year when it is very quiet here,” she said, noting that Mondel’s big days are holidays like Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, and the University’s graduation day. “You have to be careful, I guess.”

While Blatt said the store will probably be affected by the economy in the long run, she said loyal customers will help keep the historical chocolate shop on its feet.

“We do have a lot of loyal customers who come in year after year. They come in for all the big holidays,” she said. “That’s the beauty of it—we are treated almost like a landmark.”

chelsea.lo@columbiaspectator.com

An earlier version of this article misidentified James Levine as conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra. He is actually conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and musical director of the Metropolitan Opera.