WORKING -- Jennifer Inoue

-- Story by Jennifer Kho; photo by Don Leach

SHE IS

Living every child’s fantasy

FOR THE LOVE OF CHOCOLATE

As she gazed over the rows of soft centers, caramels and chocolate

molds, Jennifer Inoue was unable to come up with a single reason not to

work at a chocolate store.

“If I didn’t work in this chocolate store, I would work in another

chocolate store,” said Inoue, 17, who has worked for Helen Grace

Chocolates in Newport Beach for a year. “I love chocolate and used to

spend all my money here. That’s why I chose to work here and I like

chocolate even more now. I have chocolate every day.”

She likes all kinds of chocolate -- milk and dark, with every filling

-- but her preferences have shifted, she said.

Her favorite used to be chocolate butter, a creamy chocolate.

Since she began working at Helen Grace, she said, she has tried the

chocolates she didn’t think she would like as much. Now her favorite is

“truffle delux,” a combination of milk chocolate, white chocolate and

caramel.

THE REGULARS

Inoue’s duties include making and selling chocolate.

Making them is the hardest part of the job -- aside from resisting the

temptation to eat all the merchandise, Inoue said.

“It’s not as easy as you’d think,” she said. “You need to have

self-restraint. And you have to be careful not to burn yourself. But

working here is just so much fun. We get to hang out, talk and make

chocolate. Sometimes we get creative.”

Interesting conversations with customers, especially “the regulars,”

are additional perks Inoue said she didn’t expect.

A sweet icebreaker

The common interest she shares with customers -- chocolate -- is a

good icebreaker and many customers are eager to tell her interesting

facts about it, she said.

“You ask then how they’re doing and they always seem to have something

interesting to say,” Inoue said. “People tell me they like milk chocolate

but their mothers like dark. Someone who just left told me she heard

chocolate is actually good for you and bought a pound. Someone else told

me it’s good for relieving mood swings. They make all kinds of excuses

for buying chocolate.”