Chef Albert's Chocolate Journey
Edelweiss Chocolates: Decades of Desserts
Danny Zahirpour | Edelweiss Chocolates
NHM Online Presents ChocoLAte: From Beans to Bliss, a video series celebrating the diversity of Los Angeles and its people through the lens of chocolate.
Danny Zahirpour and his family are the owners and operators of Edelweiss Chocolates, a Beverly Hills landmark that has been hand-making gourmet chocolates since 1942. Danny sat down with the Natural History Museum to tell us what running Edelweiss Chocolates means to him and to the chocolate-loving community of Los Angeles.
Watch the video below to learn more about Danny and Edelweiss’ place in Hollywood history.
The Story of Edelweiss
Since 1942, Edelweiss Chocolates in Beverly Hills has been the confectioner of choice for both an esteemed roster of illustrious clientele as well as the blue-collar chocolate lover. What became Edelweiss started out as Grace Young’s Candy Round-Up, founded by the eponymous Grace Young during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Counted among the clients drawn to Edelweiss’ exquisite chocolates were celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Katherine Hepburn, Lauren Bacall, and Lucille Ball. In fact, the famous “Job Switching Episode” of I Love Lucy was directly inspired by Ball’s frequent visits to Edelweiss. The ensuing decades brought about a name change and five different owners of the business, but what remains constant is Edelweiss’ dedication to using top-quality ingredients to hand-make their chocolates in their Beverly Hills factory.
Danny Zahirpour, Creative Director of Edelweiss Chocolates, carries on a proud family tradition of running the decades-old business. He, along with his husband and his sister, is the second generation within his own family to be a part of the business.
Edelweiss has festive chocolates perfect for any occasion.
Edelweiss chocolates are made by hand and from scratch at their chocolate factory adjacent to the storefront.
A Place for Gathering
Danny finds innovative ways to inspire people to make Edelweiss not just a candy shop, but a community meeting place. A multi-generational and family-owned local chocolate shop is a rarity anywhere in this modern era of one-stop shop convenience stores and supermarkets, but the communal aspect of Edelweiss is what sets it apart. Edelweiss has been fertile ground for Valentine's Day traditions, proposals, and selling to families with several generations of loyal customers.
It hearkens back to the days when shops used to be meeting places where people would come together and you'd run into your friends or your family and you'd catch up for a second. And that's something that happens here on a daily basis.
Danny Zahirpour
Edelweiss chocolates has been operating at this location in Beverly Hills since 1942. Their door is open to any and all chocolate lovers.
Lucille Ball was a longtime customer at Edelweiss. According to Danny, Ball witnessed a new-to-the job chocolate dipper struggling to keep pace with the amount of chocolates that needed to be dipped. The television star immediately recognized the comedic potential of the situation and even trained in chocolate-dipping at Edelweiss in order to enhance the authenticity of her performance in the famous "Job Switching Episode" of I Love Lucy.
As a testament to the culture of community and joy surrounding Edelweiss Chocolates, both the head chocolate chef and head dipper have both been employed by the company for over 40 years.
Creative Directing
Although Edelweiss has been crafting chocolates for over 80 years, creative director Danny Zahirpour does not rest upon the laurels of tradition. Danny wanted to create his own interpretation of an Edelweiss classic, the chocolate-covered marshmallow. "I always had a dream to bring some of my own cultural heritage and identity into the business," Danny explained, "My family's from Iran, and rosewater is such an important part of Iranian cuisine and Iranian culture." After six months of testing, the gourmet dark chocolate rose marshmallow was introduced. It is now one of the more popular chocolates on the menu. Danny reflected on the feeling he hopes to conjure when someone bites into one of his chocolate creations.
As soon as you bite into it, it releases that [rose] essence a little bit. So you're going to get that that smell, that scent of rose right away. And then after that subsides, you're going to start to taste the rose and then it starts to melt in with the dark chocolate. And it really becomes like a beautiful symphony of flavors.
Danny Zahirpour
EXPLORE MORE FROM EDELWEISS CHOCOLATES
Visit their in-store locations or order online! Click here to find out more.
SPILL THE CACAO BEANS ON YOUR CHOCOLATE FAVORITES
Do you have a special connection with chocolate? Do you know another L.A. chocolate maker who lovingly connects with their community? We want to hear from you! Join the conversation on social media and tag us @NHMLA with #chocoLAte.
Following the success of Kneaded: L.A. Bread Stories and L.A. at Play: Dolls & Figurines, we're celebrating the history, heritage, and communities of Los Angeles through the lens of different cultural traditions. This year, ChocoLAte: From Beans to Bliss seeks to inspire, captivate, and tap into the deep-rooted love for chocolate that flows through the veins of this vibrant city.
