Michael’s Chocolates was started by chocolatier Michael Benner and his husband Curtis Wallis in San Francisco in 2017. Chef Michael is a graduate of the California Culinary Academy and Ecole Chocolat. He has studied with master chocolatiers in Canada and the U.S. and loves making truffles, bonbons, bars and confections. Curtis focuses on sales and marketing and offers a helping hand in the kitchen when possible. Michael’s Chocolates opened a brick and mortar location in Oakland, CA in the Fall of 2021.
In 2017, Michael decided to take a chance and enter his first food contest ever and submitted the Lemon Burst bonbon to the Good Food Award competition. We were notified in late 2017 that the bonbon had been recognized as a finalist and that winners would be announced in January 2018. On January 19, 2018 it was announced that Michael’s Chocolates was a winner for the 2018 Good Food Awards and Michael was present at the Herbst Theater to receive the award! A full list of winners was published in the San Francisco Chronicle and is available.
