Mayana Chocolate is run by husband and wife team Daniel and Tamara Herskovic, who are as in love with chocolate as they are with each other. Daniel takes world class chocolate, adds his culinary finesse and creates the edible treasure of a Mayana chocolate. They formed a partnership both in life and the culinary world after initially meeting while working a dining event in Chicago. Daniel remembers being instantly won over by Tamara’s smile as she passed him in the hallway that evening. Daniel had been busy building a chef career at top restaurants in three of America's premier food cities: New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. He then launched his own private catering business and later, with Tamara, began to create elaborately orchestrated dinners for some of Chicago’s most well known residents. After several years in the business, he decided that his catering customers would enjoy a post-dessert memento to take home. He loved the challenge that chocolate presented: difficult to temper and mercurial in texture, chocolate is a living ingredient at the whims of agriculture and processing techniques. Techniques Daniel set out to master. Tragically his first truffles grew to the size of golf balls, as layer after layer of ingredients poured onto them. First he needed some help from the Masters. He sought out and studied with the great chocolate luminaries of the United States and France: Andrew Shotts, Norman Love, Franck Kestener, Christophe Morel, Jerome Landrieu, and Lionel Clement. After countless hours of training, Daniel’s truffles became precisely sized and richly focused with inventive flavor and texture. Tamara helped Daniel adorn his creations with beautiful designs and they entered the Chicago Luxury Chocolate Salon in 2008. They went home with 7 awards that day, including “Best in Salon” and “Most Gifted Chocolatier". Mayana had arrived.