SALT LAKE CITY ā Demand for Dubai chocolate ā made famous on TikTok and inspiring dupes around the world ā has Utah’s chocolatiers putting their own spin on the viral sweet treat.
The luxurious bars are filled with pistachio cream and bits of toasted, crunchy kataifi pastry.
“Obviously, it’s everywhere, but ooh, Utah likes their sweets,” said Christine Rizzo-Thompson, founder of Chocobai in North Ogden.
She’s a self-taught chocolate maker who’s working to satisfy Utah’s collective sweet tooth, selling bars about as fast as she can turn them out from her home kitchen.
Brick-and-mortar businesses are getting in on the action, too. Pink Sweets CafĆ© in Riverton offers not just Dubai bars but also a tall cup of strawberries drizzled and dusted with fine Belgian chocolate and the treat’s signature trimmings.
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They’re flavors, Daisy Smith, 10, and Sara Smith, 15, tried for the first time during a family outing to the shop on a recent afternoon.
“I’ve never tasted chocolate like that. It was so unique,” said Sara Smith, who added she’s seen reviewers talk up Dubai chocolate on YouTube.
“Super yummy,” Daisy Smith said. She compared the taste of the pistachio cream to Nutella, but richer and tastier.
The cafĆ©’s owners, Nazik and Raheem Alhamdani, said their Dubai chocolate marries ingredients from the East and West. Originally from Iraq, the couple said it’s gratifying to introduce people to flavors of pistachio and sweet pastry that are common in the Middle East.
“With our twist on it, it brings you close to our home,” Raheem Alhamdani said. A shop in Dubai, FIX Dessert Chocolatier, is credited with inventing the bar, sending it to influencers and starting a global phenomenon. The craze has also found its way to Chez Nibs in Salt Lake City.
“I’ve had ladies calling me for months: ‘Oh, do you have a Dubai bar? Do you have a Dubai bar?’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s on the list,’ you know?” said chocolatier and owner Romina Rasmussen.
She’s answering those calls now with her “Du-bites,” bonbons covered in dark chocolate.
Rasmussen said they’re pricey ā at $6 apiece ā compared to her other bonbons at $3.50.
One factor driving the elevated cost: pistachio paste. Rasmussen uses a Sicilian version costing $43 per cup. She also adds in pistachio liqueur.
The cost hasn’t deterred customers. They keep coming in for a small taste of luxury.
“I thought it was going to be a phase, but it’s been around for quite some time,” Rasmussen said. In March, Axios Salt Lake City dubbed Dubai chocolate the state’s hottest new cottage industry, writing that “Utah’s famous taste for sugar supports a lot of small, by-the-order dessert shops, overwhelmingly founded by women who operate out of home kitchens.”
Rizzo-Thompson, of Chocobai in North Ogden, is among them.
“People have said, ‘Well, you know, it’s just a fad. It’s just a phase,'” Rizzo-Thompson said. “And I say, well, that’s OK. I’m going to ride the wave ā the Dubai wave ā until it fizzles out.”