Suburban edible diamonds to shine at the Grammys

A Schaumburg luxury chocolatier's edible diamond collection will match perfectly with the elite Hollywood tastes at the annual Grammy Awards Sunday.

Chocolatines a Sweet Endeavours Company has been selected to provide its edible diamonds and other upscale chocolates at the star-studded celebration. The line will be part of the gift bags given to 170 presenters and performers at the star-studded celebration.

The gourmet chocolate company is providing its unique diamond collection featuring dark chocolate covering single-malt Scotch, Grand Marnier or Champagne ganache.

The shiny candy "diamond" is made of crystallized sugar from Germany called isomalt, said business owner and chef Rieko Wada. The diamond is not as sweet as traditional candy and retains much less moisture than regular sugar, she said.

All the stars in Los Angeles will receive a box of four of the diamonds, which retails for $25, and a nine-piece box from the contemporary collection, an assortment of gourmet chocolates with different flavors that sells for $26.

Wada sent all the chocolates to California about 10 days ago.

"It was a lot of work," the owner said, adding that she is thrilled with the exposure. "It's great. I never expected this."

The Palatine woman said that officials planning the awards show contacted her at the end of December about her diamond chocolates. She was told they discovered the collection while reading blogs and looking for ideas for the gift bags given out every year.

"It was like a Christmas present when we found out," said Wada, who was born in Japan.

She started the business in her home several years ago after graduating from Kendall College with a culinary degree specializing in pastries and chocolates. When the business started growing, she rented space from a small restaurant before moving to her current Schaumburg location at 1101 Tower Road more than three years ago.

She recently opened a small retail shop next to the kitchen. Her daughter, Hidemi assists in the chocolate production.

The force behind Chocolatines is the fusion of Asian flavors with French pastry methods.

The chef says her target customer is the 30- to 50-year-old woman who really, really has a passion for quality chocolate.