OCD (read: Obsessive Chocolate Disorder) is no joke, but after years of suffering in its smooth, satisfying grip, Amelia - a member of the Manhattan Sideways team - was glad to know that she was not alone. When we walked inside this tiny shop that was once home to Bond Street Chocolate, Amelia was pleasantly surprised by the sight of a wall painted bright yellow at the back of the room, contrasting with the minimal, clean white lines of the rest of the shop. Outside, people walked quickly by with small, absentminded smiles on their faces: a sure sign of Spring in the East Village.
The owner greeted us and introduced himself as Sebastian Brecht. He is one of those larger-than-life kind of people, looking a bit like a mad scientist and William Shakespeare combined. “I have a lot of theories about chocolate,” he told us, “but I’m not going to talk about them, because I’m paranoid.”
After discovering a copy of Mastering the Art of French Pastry at age twenty-one, Sebastian built a reputation for himself in the world of confection as a pastry chef, working with the likes of Dean and Deluca for many years. Turning to chocolate, according to Brecht, was part of the natural progression. “I’m kind of messy,” he said, “and a lot of people switch from pastry to chocolate as a way of controlling things.”
Sebastian grew up in a world saturated by the arts. His grandfather was Bertolt Brecht, renowned twentieth century playwright, and his father was poet Stefan Brecht. Their love of art and theater has been passed down to Sebastian. Aside from making a name for himself as a chocolatier, he also writes graphic novels and children’s books and hopes to incorporate some of the characters from this work into his chocolates in the near future. He showed us how the glass divider behind the shop’s counter transforms into a screen, where he plans to project art films.
For now, however, Sebastian is keeping a low profile as he continues to improve his shop. He explained to us that, like anything worth doing, running the store is a continual process. “If you wait to open something until you’re ready, you’ll never do it,” he said.