I just came back from Phillip’s. Fascinating, the place is utterly charming in its utterly charmless way. It’s in an ugly, charmless strip of 50’s storefronts on a side street. The interior is largely open workspace except for a couple of display cases and a small area for customers at the front. There are various objects and some photos that look like they were transferred from the Coney Island store, as mentioned in the article.

I’ve passed by this store many times and I never would have thought to visit if not for the stories in the papers about it.

I spoke with John Dorman, the co-owner for a bit. He told me that they don’t work with chocolate at all during the summer (although there were some chocolate-dipped grapes and a few other chocolate items in the display case) and that they start again in September. He said that they use Nestle’s chocolate for most of what they make, but also some French chocolate for some items. I bought some cashew clusters that were still warm, and I also saw candied apples, marshmallow-coconut patties, and something on a stick (bananas?) covered in coconut and some jellied(?) fruit and fig bars that he said were also homemade, among other items.