Downtown Sanford’s next new business: The Chocolate Cellar

Red wine truffles. Key lime pie truffles. Hot and spicy. Irish cream. Salted caramel. So many truffles.

They’ll be on the menu for Downtown Sanford’s soon-to-be newest business, The Chocolate Cellar, expected to open toward the end of May. Laura Phelps, of Sanford, and her daughter Carol have begun getting the new shop ready at the corner of Carthage and Steele streets, below ground level next to Nunnery’s Shoe Shop (hence the name, “Chocolate Cellar”).

“My daughter and I have been making chocolates for years,” said Phelps. “We decided to go ahead and take the next step. We love the location — that building, the old Masonic temple, the old Collins Press — it’s so great for what we want to do. It has the right ambiance we’ve been looking for.”

Phelps said the location is actually bigger than what they need, so in addition to selling chocolates, the Cellar will also feature works — pottery, paintings, photography — from local artists. She said she’ll be reaching out to Arts Council soon to invite artists to share their work.

“What I’m aiming for is a French bistro kind of atmosphere,” she said. “We’re excited to get this started.”

The Chocolate Cellar’s website is still a work in progress — we will follow up when the site is live and the business is closer to opening.