From Watlington to Las Vegas… and Back Again: The Story of Tutu Chocolates
Tucked away on the outskirts of Oxfordshire resides the quaint market town of Watlington. And sitting proudly on the town high street lives Tutu Chocolates, home of bespoke truffles, local wine-infused ganache, and origin chocolate bars. To catch you up on how Tutu came to be, we’ll need to spin you a tale that involves the likes of Jeremy Irons, Las Vegas, and of course, Heston Blumenthal.
This is the story of Tutu Chocolates.
by Michael Rodber
20 September 2024
Not so long ago, on the late-summer afternoon of a Wednesday, we caught up with our customer Milissa, Head Chocolatier and Owner of Tutu Chocolates. A perfect time to meet, considering the early Wednesday closing time of Watlington businesses – a hangover from decades ago perhaps, but a tradition indicative of the close-knit, historic town nonetheless. “Watlington is my home town”, says Milissa. “There’s no place that would be more perfect for having a shop. Watlington has such a fantastic community, and from having my own business, I’ve had the privilege of finding even more support and love in the community than ever before”.
Milissa’s chocolate journey has roots firmly planted in Tutu Chocolates; beginning her working life as a Saturday Girl there at 16, then as a Chocolatier’s Apprentice, before becoming Watlington’s own prodigal daughter – travelling the world to learn her craft through courses and working experiences.
“From the first moment that I tasted high-end couverture chocolate, I just felt so involved. When I became the Chocolatier’s Apprentice and I started making all the chocolates, and I learned all about the science and all the art, and I just became obsessed”, Milissa recalls fondly. “I was at Tutu Chocolates for five years before I decided that I wanted to further my knowledge. So I worked across London with the likes of Paul A. Young, Melt Chocolates, Brik Chocolates, and I also did work experience at The Fat Duck with Heston Blumenthal, and Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons A Belmond Hotel with Raymond Blanc. I attended courses across the UK. And, when I was 21, I flew over to Las Vegas, and I did a course with Melissa Coppel and some other incredible chocolatiers and chefs”.
Milissa’s return to Watlington as a Chocolatier came in January 2023, aged 23, when then-owner of Tutu Chocolates (then Tutu Delicious, a word-play of ‘too-too delicious chocolates’) Zoe Haynes decided it was time to retire and sell the business. “She contacted me and let me know that Tutu was up for sale. I just had to jump at the opportunity – so in January 2023, I became the owner of Tutu Chocolates. I knew I had left my heart there”, says Milissa. “The support has been fantastic and I’m really grateful to everyone who has supported me along the way, and of course Zoe, for making the business what it is – I had such a big role just to step up to”.
With the new ownership confirmed, all that was left to do was a grand re-opening of Tutu Chocolates, before work began. And what better way to do this than to bring along a special guest, actor Jeremy Irons for the ribbon cutting (he and his wife Sinead Cusack are both huge fans of Tutu’s salted caramel, according to Milissa).
Now, at the helm of the chocolate shop that gave Milissa her start years prior, it was time to make the business her own, and so Tutu Delicious became Tutu Chocolates. “I rebranded after a couple of months of owning the business – I wanted to put my style, which is more sort of modern with a little unique twist, onto the brand, and I wanted this to translate to my own artistic flair on all the chocolates. But it was inline with the vision of what Zoe had created and the customer’s perception of the brand”, says Milissa.
As well as business owner, Milissa is also Head Chocolatier, meaning from concept to counter, Milissa’s unique spin on chocolate work shines through.
Milissa notes, “At Tutu, I make a wide variety of different chocolates – fresh truffles using caramels, paté de fruits, ganaches – playing around with traditional ideas, but with a modern twist on the chocolates. I have fun with different flavour combinations and see what the customer response is”.
One of Milissa’s most recent additions to her shelves are fully Tutu-branded, single-origin bars. “When I rebranded, it was really important to me to make an icon that was recognisable, that would stand out. So, I created these TUTU bespoke moulds and packaging for our single-origin bars. I’ve been very excited to bring these out and let my customers explore more of the single-origin nuances to chocolate, all of the possibilities that you can have with chocolate”, says Milissa. “Chocolate has more flavour notes than wine. It’s so complex and rich and one of the things that I love about chocolate, especially with single-origin chocolates, is that it’s like a passport. You can travel and taste in your living room.”
Milissa has a deep appreciation, love, and understanding of chocolate and its workability, and because of this, it’s crucial to her to source high-quality, sustainable and ethical chocolate products. “We care a lot about where we get our chocolate from. Who our suppliers are – that’s a really big thing to us”, says Milissa. “It’s the ingredients that sing, so we don’t want to be putting artificial flavours or additives into our chocolates, instead we use both local produce as well as ethical and sustainable products – all of the chocolate that we get, our ingredients, even our packaging, we want it to be sustainable. We want our chocolates to be traceable to the farms, so that we know that farmers are being looked after, and we know that they have good agricultural practices and that the quality is never compromised”.
Milissa has now been running Tutu Chocolates for almost 2 years and making chocolates for almost a decade. We are very excited to be a part of Milissa’s Journey at Tutu Chocolates. You can find out more and order some of Milissa’s delicious creations on the Tutu Chocolates website. You can also follow her journey on Instagram & Facebook @tutuchocolatesbymil.
Milissa’s favourite chocolates to use are Cacao Barry Java Milk Chocolate & Valrhona Macae 62% Dark Chocolate, click the links to discover these chocolates for your self!
Michael is a Marketing Executive with a penchant for punk rock, cheese, and indoor bouldering.
His favourite chocolate is Valrhona Tanariva.