While we can’t necessarily prove it, there’s a good chance Beyoncé has eaten chocolates crafted by local chocolatier Timothy Maguire. And she might again at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards this Sunday. For several years now, Timothy Maguire Chocolates has provided the confections that occupy the dressing rooms of VIP attendees and sweeten the swag bags handed out to guests.
Music’s Biggest Night isn’t the only national stage where his chocolates have had the spotlight. Since entering the business, he’s also made treats for the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and the Met Gala — Timothy Maguire Chocolates is even the official chocolatier of the Country Music Awards.
The savory beginnings
Before practicing pastry, Maguire first ventured into the culinary world. He began working in restaurants as a dishwasher in his small hometown on Long Island as young as 10 years old and followed his passion to Johnson & Wales University. Maguire found his love for pastry in the early 1990s at the acclaimed San Francisco restaurant Chez Panisse.
But that love would be put on hold for a while. Maguire also worked seasonally as the executive sous chef at a Nantucket restaurant. Near the end of one season, a customer was so delighted by his meal that he hired Maguire as a private chef — the meal was a grilled swordfish with ginger beurre blanc if you’re curious. Oh, and the customer was a billionaire. It was from this moment that Maguire was launched into what he calls “the Billionaire’s Club,” creating decadent spreads (including ice sculptures, chocolate sculptures, and charcuterie platters) for some of the biggest names in the world.
After a long stint in luxury private cheffing and “traveling the world 12 times over,” he went to Paris to study chocolate and pastry at Le Cordon Bleu, with dreams of opening a chocolate business in France after graduating from the program. Before he could open the business, he was roped back into the private chef world.
It wasn’t until about six years ago when Maguire’s dreams of operating a chocolate business were realized, right here in Asheville. His grandma, who he says raised him, moved to Black Mountain, and Maguire and his wife followed.
From apartment kitchen to 10,000-sqft facility
Timothy Maguire Chocolates first began in the kitchen of his Fairview apartment in the fall of 2019, quickly securing clients like The Biltmore for chocolate sculptures and bonbons. Soon came Maguire’s first opportunity to provide chocolates at the Grammy Awards.
His apartment kitchen quickly proved to be far too small to craft towering sculptures and thousands of chocolates. The operation has since moved to a 10,000-sqft production facility in Lake Junaluska, about 30 minutes from downtown Asheville.
You can purchase the chocolates online, or locally, you can find the chocolates at the Biltmore, hotels, and in the airport. And it might not be long before you can shop in person. Maguire says that a contractor is currently building out a storefront at its production facility — but there are also plans for a downtown Asheville location with hopes to build the largest indoor chocolate waterfall in the US.
We’ll keep you updated on the happenings of the luxury chocolate makers — for now, tune in to the Grammys to see if you spot a celeb snacking on a piece of Asheville.
