Our Own Willy Wonka
A Chocolate Factory
in Raleigh?
Christa Riley, StaffWriter
image via www.thesplintergroup.net
Imagine walking in downtown Raleigh
with your friends, peeking into shops
to see what they have for sale when you
suddenly notice that the shop owerns
are making their own chocolate. Sam
Ratto, who co-owns Videri with his wife
Starr Sink, says that there was “magic”
the first time he started working with
the delectable dessert. Videri had its
grand opening on January 13th, 2012,
and Raleigh citizens were elated. This
elegant shop with gold lettering over the
front door is located in front of The Pit,
on W. Davie Street. This new business is
sure to be good news to Raleigh and will
likely bring in a lot of revenue.
Videri allows anyone to come in and
tour the chocolate factory with an em
ployee that will explain the process
of “bean to bar.” All of the beans that
Videri uses are fair trade, which means
that better trading conditions are used.
The beans come from places such as
Venezuela and Peru because chocolate
beans can grow only 20 miles North or
South of the Equator. A lot of hard work
goes into preparing the chocolate. The
employees at Videri sort and inspect
each individual bean by hand. The beans
then go to the roaster and through a few
other machines until they are put in the
refrigerator to harden for two to three
months. Next the chocolate is tempered,
then hand wrapped by the employees.
The only things added in with the beans
to make the chocolate are pure, organic
cane sugar, cocoa butter, and milk pow
der.
Meredith students are psyched to know
that they will be able to visit a chocolate
factory so close to home. Junior Donna
Williamson is eager to see what this
store has to offer. After hearing about it
she said, “It sounds great. I love any
thing involving chocolate!” Freshman
Felicia King has already visited Videri
and gives high praise to the taste of the
chocolate. It is a nice addition to the
Raleigh area and is conveniently located
only five miles away from Meredith.
Ratto and Sink made it clear that they
would love for Meredith students to
come see the shop and try some of their
chocolate. Before buying it customers
can sample the different flavors, which
include: milk, peppermint, sea salt,
peppercorn and dark chocolate. Videri
is open Wednesday-Sunday from 11 AM
to 7 PM and other times if you make an
appointment. The owners are enthusi
astic to about sharing information about
Videri with inquiring customers.
What’s Up In Raleigh: 2/1-14
Collected by Ashleigh Phillips
1 - 5: Green Day’s American Idiot @ Memorial Auditorium
2 -14: Man of La Mancha Burning Coal Theater
10 -11: NC Symphony Presents Firebird @ Meymandi Concert Hall
3: WKNC’s Double Barrel Benefit featuring Organos @ Pourhouse
UNC Clef Hangers ^ Meymandi Concert Hall
4: The Vagina Monologues @ Lincoln Theater
Chairmen of the Board @ Lincoln Theater
WKNC’s Double Barrel Benefit featuring KingUbwni Manx @ Pourhouse
10: The Old Ceremony @ Pourhouse
11: Valentine’s Rave of Hearts @ Berkeley Cafe
American Aquarium @ Pourhouse
14: Les Miserables @ Memorial Auditorium
Rembrandt
Brings Visitors
to Raleigh
On the last weekend of
the Rembrandt in America
exhibit at the North Carolina
Museum of Art, the park
ing lot was overflowing with
cars bearing license plates
from states such as Illinois,
Massachusetts, and Florida.
With a total of forty-one
countries, all fifty states,
and all one hundred North
Carolina counties repre
sented, the Rembrandt in
America exhibit was quite
a hit, reaching a total of
more than 150,000 visitors
on its extended last day in
town. Although its numbers
did not beat the numbers
from the Monet exhibit five
years ago, the Rembrandt in
America exhibit now holds
the record for the highest
number of people visiting in
a single day—7,121 people on
January 21.
This exhibit featured the
largest collection of authen
tic Rembrandt paintings
ever shown in the United
States with more than thirty
signed paintings. Most of
the legendary Dutch art
ist’s pieces are on loan from
either private collectors
or American art museums,
including the National Gal
lery of Art in Washington,
D.C. and the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York.
The exhibit will be moving
to the Cleveland Museum
of Art and the Minneapolis
Institute of Arts later in the
year.
“This exhibit
featured the
largest collec
tion of authen
tic Rembrandt
paintings ever
shown in the
United States
with more than
thirty signed
paintings.
The North Carolina Muse
um of Art divided the exhibit
into separate sections to
feature the contrast between
Rembrandt’s younger days
Julia Dent,
StaffWriter
and later years as well as his
mythological and religious
paintings. One section, called
Rembrandt or Not Rem
brandt, showed paintings
done both by Rembrandt and
his followers. This section
challenged and questioned
the authenticity of these par
ticular works, claiming that
Rembrandt may not have
painted these works himself.
Rembrandt’s style drew
visitor’s attention because
of its uniqueness. Although
Rembrandt changed his
painting technique over the
years from a very detailed
style to a more impressionis
tic style, all of his paintings
have the same dark, somber
feeling that was popular
during his time period. The ’
exhibit featured the only two
full body portraits that Rem
brandt ever painted.
So why was this exhibit so
popular that it attracted visi
tors from all over the world?
“I think it was the name
recognition that comes with
Rembrandt,” said Natalie
Braswell, the museum’s pub
lic relations specialist, “He
was the Old Dutch master
and set a golden standard for
everyone to follow.”
The museum got very good
feedback from its visitors.
“The exhibit was nice and
very educational,” said An
gie Holloway, who travelled
from Fayetteville for the
last day. “It was a once in a
lifetime event. I’ll definitely
be back for future exhibits.”
Although there were a few
complaints about the crowds,
the noise level was never a
problem. “Everyone was so
quiet and reverent, even with
six hundred people with chil
dren in the room,” Braswell
stated. “I think people really
got involved with the art.”
With the surprising success
from the Rembrandt exhibit,
the museum has high hopes
for the future. The next ex
hibit to come will be that of
contemporary African art
ist El Anatsvi, who not only
paints but also sculpts and
makes tapestries with eclec
tic materials such as bottle
caps. “It will be a total 180
from the Rembrandt exhib
it,” Braswell said excitedly.
This will be an experience art
lovers will not want to miss.