33 years ago, Union Square hosted its first Greenmarket, a radical idea of selling fresh produce and meats from local farmers to urban-dwellers. Take a glance at the Greenmarket website these days, and a laundry list of the farmer’s market locations populate the entire screen. (Check out http://www.grownyc.org/ourmarkets for more info).

Luckily for me, and any chocolate seeker for that matter, there is a small Greenmarket on Sundays along a stretch of 5th Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The market itself boasts of basic crops and goods; except for one vendor. A young and red-cheeked man stood tall and excited about what he was selling: chocolate. Raaka chocolate, (http://www.raakachocolate.com) a mere 8 weeks old at the time of this writing, crafts handmade “virgin” chocolate bars with un-roasted cacao beans.

Deeper and darker tones of chocolate are released when cacao beans are roasted, un-roasted beans however are a different take on chocolate altogether. Notes of citrus and fruitier textures are left unscathed in this process for your sensitive chocolate palate to absorb and enjoy.

Virgin Chocolate is the moniker bestowed upon from Raaka, who make four very different chocolate bars: Hazelnut, Vanilla Rooibos, Blueberry Lavender, and Dark with Sea Salt. Try the Vanilla Rooibos for a chocolatey take on red tea and a hint of vanilla sweetness.

New York City chocolate never ceases to amaze us. Just when you think there is no more room for a small chocolate outfit in NYC, another is given birth to and is just as different as the next.

Raaka Chocolate can also be found at the Brooklyn Food Shed and the Columbus Circle Christmas Market- coming in December only.