A small boutique nestled downstairs at 52 Main St. in downtown Middlebury is the home of the town’s sole chocolate shop, Adagio Chocolates.
Upon stepping into the shop, customers’ attention is drawn to the detailed world map on its wall with flag pins indicating the origins of its cacao beans, with white pins marking the locations of the chocolate manufacturers.
The shop sells more than 250 varieties of chocolate products, sourced from cacao beans across 30 countries and crafted by 32 different manufacturers worldwide, according to founder and owner Allan Sirotkin. Adagio emphasizes transparency and quality when selecting their chocolates. Each variety is carefully chosen based on its traceability, ensuring that the origin of every cacao bean is well-documented.
Sirotkin also said that Adagio values the stories and missions of the chocolate makers, prioritizing those who operate as B Corporations, meaning they meet high standards of social and environmental performance, or who generally demonstrate a commitment to sustainable and ethical practices beyond commercial interests.
“In opening up that process of making it transparent where the chocolate is coming from, you make it possible for everybody to be treated fairly along the way, and for there to be good environmental practices. And you can call people out on what's happening,” Sirotkin said.
Adagio’s grand opening, “Music, Magic, & Chocolates” — taking place after the businesses’ soft-launch in May — is planned for Sept. 20 and will double as a flood relief fundraiser in collaboration with The Vermont Community Foundation. The celebration will feature music, a sleight-of-hand magic show and chocolate tastings.
Sirotkin’s managing partner Hanna Loeffler emphasized that the event is not just a celebration of Adagio, but also the broader Middlebury community.
“It's a huge thank you for supporting us, for accepting us, for including us, for welcoming us into this business community in downtown Middlebury,” Loeffler added.
The name ‘Adagio’ is derived from Italian, meaning "slowly" or "at a slow tempo" in music. Sirotkin said that this concept reflects the store's philosophy: to encourage customers to slow down, savor each chocolate and appreciate its origins and stories, much like enjoying the movements of a musical composition. Chocolates from the same manufacturer can taste different depending on the origin of the cacao beans, inviting customers to focus and savor the subtle variations.
Sirotkin is a seasoned chocolate curator with a career in the food business spanning more than 50 years whose passion for chocolate began in childhood, fueled by a sweet tooth inherited from his father. As a boy, he would scavenge alleys for bottles to return for deposits, using the money to satisfy his chocolate cravings.
“I used to nibble chocolate chips that my mom stored in a bag for making cakes,” Sirotkin said. “And little did I know that my Dad did the same thing so my Mom would yell at him for stealing the chocolate chips, and he couldn't say he wasn't, but he didn't understand why there were so many gone, because I was doing it.”
Before founding Adagio, Sirotkin established food co-ops in Michigan, ran a restaurant in Upstate New York and founded Green River Chocolates in Hinesburg, Vt.
Although a stage four colon cancer diagnosis in 2007 forced him into retirement, his passion for chocolate persisted. Even while retired, Sirotkin continued to acquire chocolates from various distributors. His wife, Jackie Earle-Cruickshanks, described having a closet full of chocolates stashed in their home.
When he relocated to Middlebury during the pandemic, Sirotkin envisioned weaving chocolate into the fabric of the local community. He first contacted nearby businesses with proposals to showcase chocolates in a section of the store. When those efforts did not materialize, Sirotkin's vision of opening his own chocolate shop took shape.
However, Sirotkin attributes the realization of his vision to Loeffler. Their paths first crossed while they were both involved in the Middlebury Film Festival . Loeffler recalls being taken by surprise when Sirotkin called in December 2023 with the idea of opening a chocolate shop, as she had expected the call to be related to the film festival.
“She just brings a great attitude towards the whole project of, ‘We can just do it,’ ‘Oh, we can do this. Okay, let's just go and set this up,’” Sirotkin explained.
For Loeffler, launching a chocolate shop in Middlebury was a no-brainer, given the town's lack of stores specializing in high-quality chocolates.
“There was a little bit of a thought on his part of, ‘Oh, you know, we'll open this at some point, you know, when I come back, etcetera.’ And then this space became available. And I said, ‘This space is too good to pass up. We need this space,’” Loeffler said.
After acquiring the space, renovation for the store took off and the business soft-launched in May of this year.
All ticket sales for the grand opening next Friday will be donated to flood relief efforts in Vermont, where catastrophic summer rainfall has severely impacted local farmers. This cause holds special significance for Adagio as cacao harvesting is incredibly labor-intensive. Each cacao flower blooms for just one day before wilting and less than 10% of these flowers are actually pollinated. As a result, many farmers resort to hand pollination to ensure a successful harvest.
“There's a farmer behind that bar of chocolate, a farmer who has skills, a farmer who's dependent on things outside of his control for him to be able to have a car, to be able to feed his family,” Loeffler said.
For Sirotkin, there is a unique and profound connection between magic and chocolate: They both stretch the boundaries of the human senses.
“You can travel the world here, and you're just in Middlebury, and chocolate sort of takes you also on a journey through different places,” Sirtokin said. “They both make you feel better in this way that you can't explain. Fooled by this wonder of chocolate; it just tickles you in a way, and magic too when suddenly this card appears.”
Sirotkin and Loeffler are looking forward to working with one another on the creative process of running a business, and continuing to learn about chocolate.
“It's been absolutely incredible to be given an opportunity to create something and to be able to work with someone like Allan, who's so passionate about what he does, but also someone who is humble and down to earth enough to recognize that it doesn't always have to be his way,” Loeffler said.
