A passion for Italy inspires chocolatier’s small-batch bonbons

John Cruger is the man behind a selection of sweet treats that can be found only on Tiburon Boulevard.

At Paradise Coffee, the mobile coffee cart at Point Tiburon Plaza, customers can buy items from Cruger’s small-batch chocolate line, which he calls Gio Dolce. There are bonbons with flavors like Aperol, espresso martini and cinnamon, as well as what Cruger calls his masterpiece: a “cafe mocha” chocolate shaped like a tiny Starbucks cup with three layers — dark chocolate, caramel chocolate and white chocolate cheesecake — all held together with a swirl of espresso syrup.

“The bonbons are real shiny, kind of like pearls,” he says while walking his dog along Shoreline Park Aug. 7. “And they’re all Italian inspired and they’re all inspired by the Amalfi Coast.”

Cruger, 61, makes the bonbons himself in Tiburon, buying chocolate from Switzerland and cocoa butter from the United Kingdom, then using ingredients sourced from Northern California for the fillings and flavorings. The result is a small-batch operation shaped by the climate as much as the recipe.

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