Aura never planned to fall in love with chocolate. Chocolate may not have been her first choice, but it became the obvious one for her pastry adventures.
When she enrolled at Johnson & Wales University, her heart and mind were set on cake decorating — the craft of turning simple ingredients into something celebratory. Chocolate wasn’t part of the plan. But when it came time to land a paid internship, her options were limited. The one opportunity that actually paid? Working with chocolate at Herbert’s Candy Mansion in Massachusetts, a business making creative confectionery concoctions since 1917.
Chocolate, she quickly learned, is no easy material, no matter how tasty it is. It’s temperamental. It has opinions. It demands patience, precision, and a deep understanding of timing, temperature, and texture. At first, she wasn’t exactly sure about the gig. But then something shifted. What started as a reluctant internship became love at second sight. She was meant to stay for one month; she stayed for three. The “meet cute” happened. And by the time she left, chocolate had quietly influenced her vision as a baker.
After graduating, Aura searched for work in cake decorating. There was only one opening — and they were hiring a chocolatier. Chocolate, once again, had other plans for her. That “happy accident” sealed what would become a lifelong passion, preparing her for a dream life she hadn’t originally imagined.
Her early chocolate work focused on decorating. Making chocolate bars came later, after years of hands-on experience and experimentation. Chocolate isn’t something you figure out very quickly; it requires repetition, failure, and learning the hard way more than once. Aura learned each step of the process methodically, building confidence along the way — and earning chocolate’s trust.
As her skills grew, so did her curiosity as an entrepreneur. She wanted to experiment with flavors, textures, and unexpected combinations — but the bakeries she worked for were firmly committed to their tried-and-true recipes. So Aura tucked those ideas away, letting them quietly take root while she waited for the right moment.
Along the way, she wore many hats. She worked as a graphic designer — a skill that would later prove invaluable when working on marketing for her own business — and she earned a business degree to complement her two-year degree in baking and pastry arts. After graduation, she spent four years working primarily in pastry arts, absorbing everything she could and filing it away for later use.
At the heart of Aura’s Chocolate Bar is Venezuelan cacao — a deliberate and deeply personal choice. Venezuelan chocolate, she explains, is earthy and sophisticated, with a natural richness that reflects its origins. Using it is her way of staying connected to her home country while building a life in New England. She sources single-origin cacao through a distributor in Texas who works directly with single-source producers in Venezuela, crafting dark, milk, and white chocolates that honor both tradition and craftsmanship.
Aura’s business began as an incubator member at Hope & Main, where she built a wholesale-focused operation. Over time, it evolved into a primarily retail business, a shift that allowed her to connect directly with customers and share her story one candy creation at a time.
The realities of running a food business haven’t been easy. Over the past eight years, ingredient costs have climbed sharply due to global conflict, politics, and — yes — those new tariffs that make small business owners wince. Still, Aura adapts, problem-solves, and presses forward, one chocolate batch at a time.
Having lived in Rhode Island for more than 20 years, she infuses her chocolate with flavors that reflect who she is now — a blend of Venezuelan roots and New England sensibility. That dual identity wafts through in her creations, starting with her very first product — white chocolate with local lavender and honey. I had a taste of this combination and it was heavenly.
She also embraces customization. Aura takes special orders like sugar-free dark chocolate, creates intricate designs for weddings and graduations, and once even crafted a custom Totoro design for a Japanese anime fan. Chocolate-making, in her mind, is both a vocation and playful.
Finding a permanent home for Aura’s Chocolate Bar was one of her biggest challenges. In a moment that feels almost cinematic, her father spotted a “For Rent” sign while getting a haircut. That chance discovery led to Aura securing a storefront on East Street in Cranston in 2020. With low-interest pandemic-era loans supporting small businesses, she was finally able to open the specialty chocolate shop she’d dreamed of. In 2021, Aura’s Chocolate Bar came to life.
Family plays a huge part in Aura’s success. Her parents are her cornerstone: Her mother manages sales, her father oversees operations, and together they allow Aura to focus on what she loves most — making beautiful chocolate goodies.
Her impact extends beyond her own shop. Aura is a recipient of the Sam Adams Pitch Contest and continues to receive support from the company in the form of orders and marketing. She pays it forward by mentoring other entrepreneurs who have become recipients themselves. Gotta love that “each one, teach one’ of paying it forward.
Her advice to aspiring business owners is simple but hard-earned: Live your passions, learn every detail of how a business actually runs, take baby steps, and don’t rush. Chocolate taught her patience. A successful business reinforced it.
In addition to retail, Aura hosts small-group chocolate-making classes, offering hands-on experiences for about $100 per person — a chance for others to discover just how much science, skill, and joy live inside a single piece of chocolate when made with a group of your friends. You can even bring in your libations of choice and make a real party out of it.
What’s next? Expanded desserts. Maybe a second location. And continued growth — thoughtfully, strategically, and very much on her own terms.
Sometimes, the path you didn’t choose ends up choosing you. You gotta love that.Aura’s Chocolate Bar is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m., with chocolate bars also available at Sawyer’s Marketplace on Providence’s West Side and The Village Market in Pawtuxet Village. Learn more at AurasChocolateBar.com. Follow Dennise on IG @TheAdventurebroad.