SWEET EDUCATION

Faroh’s finest chocolates returning for sale at Ariel Broadway Hotel

Confections of a local legend will be available for local candy lovers starting March 6.

Faroh’s Candies will open inside the Ariel on Broadway Hotel and Event Center, 301 Broadway.

The store will have chocolates made from recipes of the familyowned store that became a Lorain-area favorite over the years.

The project has been in the works for several years and will be operated by staff and students from Spectrum Consulting Services, which now oversees a number of educational and vocational programs in downtown Lorain.

Since opening in 2004, Spectrum Consulting Services started with a school with specialized programs to help students with autism or other learning challenges.

Founders Cheryl Weber and Christy Reed have grown the program to include the Spectrum Cafe, and Spectrum Catering, which offer vocational training programs for young adults.

To create the store, Spectrum joined with chocolatier Tom Faroh, whose family treats became a staple for customers in Lorain and across the region.

Tom Faroh has retired and sold the Broadway storefront that became his company’s kitchen and candy shop in Lorain.

But he partnered with Spectrum for the educators to expand at the Spectrum Catering facility at 713 W. Fifth St.

The company has purchased new equipment to melt, blend and cool chocolate that comes out in a

number of shapes and sizes, all of them edible.

The process of mixing ingredients and creating multi-colored, multi-layered pieces can involve a number of steps, Reed said.

“They are a little labor intensive,” she said.

But that practice holds true with other ingredients, particularly peanuts and fruit for candy making, she said.

On March 5, students Jonathan Brown, 17, of Lorain, and Gabe Draper, 16, of Elyria, were dipping pretzels in chocolate colored red, then covered with white sprinkles, for Buckeye Boxes.

Those include the chocolate and peanut butter candy buckeyes and a chocolate bar in the shape of Ohio, with a gold star on it to mark Lorain.

The production line includes a number of molds to create seasonal treats.

Easter candy production has started, with bunnies, chicks and chocolate-covered

cookies on the menu.

Tom Faroh made more than 80 varieties of candy.

The Spectrum store in the hotel will feature a pared down menu with Faroh’s finest favorites, such as French chocolate, mallow and Swiss mallow pecan logs, Reed said.

The store will open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.

RICHARD PAYERCHIN — THE MORNING JOURNAL Spectrum students Gabe Draper, 16, of Elyria, left, and Jonathon Brown, 17, of Lorain, make handdipped red chocolate covered pretzels March 5 at the Spectrum Catering kitchen at 713 W. Fifth St. in Lorain. The chocolates will go into gift boxes that will be for sale starting March 6at the new Faroh’s Candies that will open inside the Ariel on Broadway Hotel and Event Center, 301Broadway Ave., Lorain.