LOVE AND CHOCOLATE
A chef couple’s sweet story
Some say love is the universal language. But I think you could make a good case for chocolate.
Certainly the beloved Valentine staple has worked its magic for Rafael D’Alcazar and Ariadna Uribe, the chef and sous chef at The Holy Roller, the new international fusion restaurant located on the south side at 8222 Gateway Blvd.
The two newlyweds are planning a quiet night of eating chocolate truffles for their Valentine celebration. This will not happen on Valentine’s Day, because they’re both working on the 14th, making dreams come true for you and your sweetheart. (The Holy Roller has a $65 Valentine’s Day special, featuring a four-course meal ending, yes, with chocolate. Details and tickets available through eventbrite.com.)
On the up side, after the restaurant rush, D’Alcazar will craft Uribe’s Valentine’s chocolate gift himself, as he does all the chocolates at The Holy Roller, making the treat extra special whenever it is delivered.
Chocolates made with love are just the finishing touch for D’Alcazar and Uribe, who have a
romantic story. The two met at The Melting Pot (another gooey metaphor when you think about it) in January, 2013. She came to Edmonton with the temporary foreign worker program, as D’Alcazar had in 2008. By the time Uribe arrived in Edmonton, D’Alcazar had been here long enough to become head chef at The Melting Pot — in fact, he hired Uribe to work in the kitchen.
The two had travelled vastly different paths before they crossed in
Edmonton. Uribe graduated with a five-year university degree in culinary arts, and also spent two years in Toronto brushing up her English skills, well before she met D’Alcazar, a private pilot and former resident of Mexico City. He came to Canada via the United States, where he studied at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design while working as a cook to pay the bills.
Here in Canada, D’Alcazar has studied chocolate-making at Vancouver’s Ecole Chocolat, but he hopes to return to school soon, this time to study industrial design at the University of Alberta.
The pair have endured some hardship, having to spend a year apart when she went back to Mexico to apply for the proper papers to stay in Canada and get married. But the experience merely strengthened their bond.
“It was the biggest test for love. But I said to her, ‘We must always have faith that we will be together,’” says D’Alcazar.
The two were married in December in two ceremonies — one with 300 guests in Uribe’s home town of Hidalgo (about 90 minutes from Mexico City) and one on the beach with their closest family and friends. Now, they are happily creating a life together in Edmonton, one focused on good food (he does the cooking at home), wine and chocolate.