Controversial Chocolatier Making Its Return To NYC On The UWS

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A business with a history of boutique chocolate controversy is making its way to the Upper West Side.

The hipster chocolate company Mast Brothers is heading back to New York City, this time on the Upper West Side, after fleeing the Big Apple in 2019 amid public doubt over the business' claim that it made its chocolate "bean-to-bar" (completely from scratch).

The Mast Brothers will open a shop at 353 Columbus Avenue, at West 76th Street. The space is the long-vacant former home of Babette. The WestSideRag was the first publication to report on the opening.

The Controversy

In 2015, a blogger for DallasFood.org who called himself Scott posted a detailed four-part series claiming that Mast Brothers did not make its chocolate from scratch as it said, and instead had been using bulk commercial chocolate, melting it, remolding it, and repackaging it in a fancy-looking wrapper.

Mast Brothers initially strongly denied the allegations, but shortly after did admit to the New York Times that the company used industrial chocolate.

The reveal inspired major backlash within the boutique chocolate-loving community.

The company's sales dropped in the years after, eventually leading to the closure of its London and Los Angeles store in favor of solely focusing on the Brooklyn location.

The Brooklyn location eventually also closed in 2019, and the company moved its chocolate factory to Mount Kisco, New York.

The Gothamist wrote at the time, "Pour one out for chocolate's least favorite hipsters."

There is no exact opening date for the new location on the Upper West Side.