My obsession with Dean & Deluca
Every time I visit the Napa Valley I have to stop when driving through St. Helena to pop into Dean & Deluca. Strolling through the store admiring the mounds of assorted cheeses, pastries, and chocolates I can never get enough. In my opinion they’ve always been the hippest and coolest purveyors of fine food, wine, and kitchenware for foodies.
When I started B. toffee I aspired to adorn the shelves of Dean and Deluca. When designing our sleek and sophisticated packaging I dreamt of our canisters stacked in a pyramid in their confection displays. I remember about 6 years ago walking in with my sister who lives in Calistoga and seeing their newly renovated candy confection section. I started talking with the manager about how I’d always aspired to be in D&D and I’d love to share our B. toffee with them for consideration. She said she’d love to give it a try. The toffee gift I brought my sister was suddenly in the hands of the manager being shared with her team. It was a surreal moment standing in one of my favorite stores having the group tasting our toffee and going crazy over it! I had to go through the proper channels and send product samples to their New York offices for final approval. They loved it too and we were soon being carried in all their USA locations from Madison Ave. and Soho in NYC to Washington DC, Kansas City (where their corporate offices are located) to St. Helena in the wine country of the Napa Valley.
This weekend I flew up for our family’s annual visit to celebrate my Mom’s birthday with my sisters and of course had to stop at my go to places – Oakville Grocery and Dean and Deluca.
I’m devastated! The doors to this D&D location are forever closed. I sat outside by their iconic building with the beautiful white rose bushes and mourned for a bit by myself reflecting on my once dream and aspiration being shattered. The Napa Valley will never be the same. They’ve lost a truly iconic culinary gourmet market place that I’ll cherish in my heart (and stomach) forever.
The good news for our toffee fans in the Napa Valley you can find B. toffee at the darling Oakville Grocery in Oakville just down St. Helena Highway. Sit outside on their fabulous patio, order a delicious pizza from their outdoor pizza oven, grab a glass of wine from their large assortment of offerings and enjoy a B. toffee treat for dessert.
xo, B.