Garcia Nevett Brings Award-Winning Chocolate to South Miami

Garcia Nevett, a family-owned Venezuelan chocolate bar, is now open in South Miami. Find a slate of handmade gourmet confections, from matcha bonbons to s'mores bites and chocolate cake.

In 2012, sisters Susana and Isabel Garcia Nevett, who worked as chocolatiers in Venezuela, launched Garcia Nevett (formerly Cacao Art) inside their home shortly after they immigrated to Miami.

"When we first moved here, we were making all of our chocolates at home for about a year and a half," Isabel says. "Then we moved into a commercial kitchen, but we always knew that we wanted to have our own shop."

The sisters found the South Miami space in the past year and opened to the public September 15.

"Opening the store made us want to rethink our name and our brand," Isabel says. "My sister and I are so proud of our chocolates that we wanted to put our name on them."
The light and airy space, which features an open kitchen and a clear case of confections, is meant to feel intimate, Isabel says. "We want you to come in and feel like you're in our home," she says.

Unlike other chocolate shops, which brand themselves as bean-to-bar, the sisters use chocolate made from Venezuelan cacao as a base for dozens of treats, including cookies, cakes, bonbons, and fudge jars. They also make marshmallows and homemade caramel using honey from Key West, as well as serve coffee and hot chocolate.

"For us, Venezuelan cacao is one of our main ingredients," Isabel says. "We use it to make all types of things. Bonbons are our speciality, but with the store, we can offer more."

This past month, the sisters won three silver medals in the Americas competition of the International Chocolate Awards, which recognizes excellence in fine chocolate products around the world. The winning items, which can be found in their store, include a Florida Keys sea salt ganache, an orange honey caramel bonbon, and the Patanemo ganache, a bonbon made with single-origin cacao from a small town in Venezuela.

"It just so happens that Venezuelan cacao is some of the best in the world," Isabel laughs. "But we like to incorporate flavors that we've come to know in Miami with the cacao."

Besides continuing to experiment with flavors and products, the sisters plan to host chocolate-making classes in the near future.

Garcia Nevett. 7312 Red Rd., South Miami; 305 749-0506; garcianevett.com.