Candy store moves to Waldo, expands its offerings

By Joyce Smith

The Kansas City Star Blake Mathews spent 12 years as hospital nurse, but he could never make his patients as happy as he now makes his customers. "I didn't want to do it anymore. At the end of the day in the medical field, everyone was unhappy because they were sick,"said Mathews, the owner of The Sweet Guy. "Now people have a piece of chocolate and leave smiling."

While still a nurse, Mathews went to culinary school. He then left nursing to open a wholesale candy business in mid-2001. Two years later, he opened a retail shop in Parkville.

But foot traffic in downtown Parkville seemed to drop off after Zona Rosa and other new shopping centers opened in the Northland, he said.

"Downtown Parkville is off the map. If you are not planning on going there, I don't think you just drop by," he said. "We're now in the middle of the city, 75th and Wornall being a major intersection."

The new, larger shop in Waldo opened Friday at 7439 Broadway, just east of Wornall Road. A grand opening is scheduled for early April.

Mathews and his 15 employees make artisan chocolates by hand — rich Swiss chocolate truffles, painted molded chocolates and giant turtle candies, along with made-from-scratch gelato, espresso and latte.

To make the candy store more of a restaurant, Mathews now offers morning pastries, lunch and dinner items such as roasted turkey on ciabatta bread with cranberry apple salsa, meatloaf sandwiches with smashed potatoes and roasted tomato/garlic aioli and build-your-own pasta and salads.

Mathews said he hopes to get a liquor license so he can serve wine-and-dessert pairings.

He soon will debut the "Lulu's Fat Lip" line of chocolates. His 5-year-old daughter, Lulu, was chasing her two older brothers up a set of stairs when she fell and hurt her lip. Mathews decided to cheer her up by promising to name the chocolates after her.

Meanwhile, One More Cup opened last week in the former Waldo Coffee Cup space at 7408 Wornall, just across from The Sweet Guy.

Waldo residents Jeremy and Stacy Neff, the owners of One More Cup, said they wanted to create a space that would be as cozy as a living room. Jeremy Neff is a musician and a professional piano tuner, so the shop has a piano from the 1900s with framed family photos on top. Stacy Neff, an artist, has some of her framed photos of flowers from her garden on the walls.

The shop offers such drinks as latte, Italian soda, apple cider and hot chocolate, along with a small pastry bar.

Jeremy Neff said Waldo has been known mostly for its bars, antique stores and lamp shops. With his shop and The Sweet Guy now open and a second Coffee Girls scheduled to open this spring at 7440 Washington St., maybe now it will be known for its coffee shops.

"People are very loyal to the neighborhood,"he said. "One of the first questions I get is, "Where do you live?' We are in walking distance, off of Gregory."