NEW YORK (CBS New York) – Chocolatier Kamila Myzel sees her Midtown boutique as something special.

“I think it’s unique,” she said. ” It’s comfortable. It’s small but has a lot of charm and good chocolate.”

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Over several decades, it has earned a reputation for its wide selection, which includes marshmallow bars and peanut butter cups.

“My favorite is chocolate pecans, hazelnuts, almonds,” Kamila said.

The glass jars contain over 100 types of licorice. The black varieties, made from real licorice root, can be sweet, hard, or chewy and range from unsalted to quadruple salted.

“I had a Dutch boyfriend who got me hooked on licorice,” she said.

Kamila bakes espresso cookies and almond croissants with skills inherited from her grandmothers in Poland.

“I think it’s in my blood,” she said.

She first moved to the United States in the 1980s, having been granted political asylum while Poland was under martial law. At the time, she spoke Polish and German, but not yet English.

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When she took over the chocolate factory, her parents worked alongside her. These days, she gets help from a sister-in-law and a niece.

Kamila’s favorite part of the job is chatting at the counter.

“I couldn’t live without the people,” she said. “They are involved in my life, and I am involved in their life story many times over.”

Keeping the doors open has not been easy.

“Basically, because of COVID, people gave me so much strength that I was like, ‘Now I’m going to fight for this store,'” she said.

She attributes the store’s longevity to passion and pride.

“I put my heart into it and I think people see it,” she said. “It’s very personal. It’s something I love, and I think I share that with my customers, which is why they keep coming back.

Myzel’s chocolate
140 W 55th St #1
New York, NY 10019
(212) 245-4233
http://www.myzels.com/

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