Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier

Our Story

Real chocolate is strong, earthy, fruity, floral ... a whole world that unfolds on your palate. It’s the deepest, densest tropical jungle mixed with the refinement of Paris and the sheer wonder of childhood. Chocolate, in all its mysteries and com- plexities, is my passion. And it’s my joy to share it with you.

Gail Ambrosius grew up as one Ray and Lucille Ambrosius’ 10 children on a dairy farm in Seymour, Wisconsin, which is located near Green Bay. Ambrosius was always helping her mother in the kitchen, which fostered a lifelong love of cooking.

When she was 17, she went on a French Club school trip to Paris. One afternoon, she was accidentally separated from her group for a day. Along with shopping and an impromptu haircut, she visited the patisseries. It was an eye-opening experience. She bought her first dark chocolate and had a revelation—it was the best thing she had ever tasted and nothing like the chocolate at home. She dreamed of owning her own chocolate shop, like the ones in Paris.

After high school, convinced by friends and family that chocolate making was an impractical career choice, Ambrosius moved to Madison and worked a variety of jobs from retail sales to waitress. She got married, had a son in 1988, divorced, and attended the University of Wisconsin to study cartography. She worked as a mapmaker for the State of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for a decade.

A change of governors and a state budget crunch meant that many state workers were expecting to be laid off. Ambrosius was no exception. While she waited for the news, she began reviving her old dream of a chocolate shop by taking classes and writing a business plan.

When the layoff happened, this 44-year-old single mom was ready to realize her dream. She took an online course through Ecole Chocolat, a professional school for chocolate making based in Vancouver. She returned to France for hands-on instruction from the renowned Valrhona and Cluizel chocolatiers. While there, she visited neighborhood shops, unabashedly sampling world-class chocolates and soaking in all the information as she could gather. She came home with nearly 50 pounds of chocolates.

Ambrosius opened her first shop on Madison’s East Side shortly before Thanksgiving in 2004 with help from friends and family. Today, she has 10 employees and they produce thousands of chocolates by hand every day during the peak seasons. In 2007, Ambrosius was honored by Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence, an organization started by Nell Merlino (the woman behind Take Your Daughter to Work Day). The group’s Make Mine a Million initiative aims to have one million women business owners with $1 million in gross revenues by 2010. Ambrosius often speaks to groups about her experiences, encouraging women to live their dreams. Ambrosius’ passion for chocolate is matched by her love of the environment. She is committed to conservation and using sustainable resources in her shop. She is also concerned about the environmental and economic impact of chocolate, becoming involved as few chocolatiers have. In recent years, she has visited cacao farms in Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica, living and working with the farmers. She is very involved with the farmers of the Upala Organic Cacao Growers Cooperative, a group of farmers in Costa Rica near Lake Nicaragua. In July 2009, the Cooperative made her an honorary member.