or Laura White, chocolate is life. When she plans trips, apart from the usual string of clothing stores, and perhaps the occasional gallery, the destinations that occupy her days are chocolate shops. It could be worse for her husband. Thus meeting Chris Macdonald and Doug Penfold was fate for White; and the ability to orchestrate her own chocolate shop on someone else's dime (with the owner's input of course), well that's pure luck.

White has been fondly admired in the Toronto pastry and artisan chocolate scene since becoming Susur Lee's pastry chef from 2000 to 2004. There, she was encouraged to utilize chocolate as much as she could, but with the exceedingly hot kitchen, her concoctions just didn't work. Next, she moved onto J.S. Bonbons, working in a dynamic chocolate kitchen with owner Jenn Stone. Though White loved working where she was basically allowed to create anything she could think of, the shop was closed down, and the chocolatier found herself wondering what to do next.

White had lunch with a friend whose boyfriend worked in the Cava kitchen, and heard about the new shop Macdonald was planning on opening. She had initially chosen to work at J.S. because there was a nice blend of talking about ides, and for their artistic, hands on approach. Wanting to continue that, Xococava provided a smooth transition.