Hey There! 

I’m Matthew Smith, the owner of Domine Fine Chocolate. Domine (Dough-me-neigh) is a latin word meaning lord or master. In a very real way, I started this company as a chance for me to continue to master and grow in my understanding of the chocolate making process, and to be able to share what I make and the experiences I have with the world. If you asked me a year ago, I honestly never would have taken this sort of idea seriously, and there are still days when I wonder how I ever got into chocolate making, but I still don’t think I would trade it for the world.

I’ve always loved learning, especially when it means learning new skills and talents. I have a certain curiosity for the world around me that I fortunately never grew out of. I’ve explored a lot of different hobbies in my relatively short life: from raising rabbits, blacksmithing, pottery, and knitting, to baking sourdough bread, beekeeping, woodcarving, and gardening. After coming home from serving a mission for my church,I found a small chocolate maker on Instagram by accident and I immediately fell in love with the idea of it all. He used kitchen sized equipment and made beautiful (and I can only assume delicious) chocolate bars straight from cocoa beans. 

Through the summer of 2021 I kept this idea in the back of my mind, but never really thought much of it. Chocolate making really isn’t the most practical thing for 20 year olds to be getting into their freshman year of school, right? Call it providence or circumstance, but when I ended up dropping a few classes my mother recommended I check out this one online chocolate making course from Ecole Chocolat, and I almost immediately went for it. I’m still not sure why, but it felt like the right thing at the time, and I haven’t regretted it since!

Domine Fine Chocolate started from some really unique twists and turns in my life’s path, and those little adventures and learning experiences are something I want to share with you. I think a lot of us only know a little bit about chocolate and all the people, processes, and steps that go into our candy bars or Lindor truffles. I’ve been astounded by all the nuances that go into this really unique food as I took this bean-to-bar chocolate making course and have started making chocolate on my own, and these are things I think everyone could find value in knowing about. 

If you’ve ever been vaguely curious about how cocoa beans go from tree to candy, or you even just like eating chocolate, follow Domine Fine Chocolate on Instagram, Facebook, or sign up for my newsletter below to stay up to date on all the latest happenings- and the chocolate bars that I will be selling very soon!