BUSINESS IN THE VILLAGE Just Chocolate Palace is just

							BUSINESS IN THE VILLAGE


Just Chocolate Palace is just delicious
By Robin U. Gropp                    RIGHT: Peter
   If you had been invited to        Weehasinghe
                                     works fast
the opening banquet of the           creating a
Washington Convention Cen-           chocolate disk
ter Grand Opening Gala in            to adorn the top
March 2003, you would have           of one of his
enjoyed a fine dessert: mango        edible
and passion fruit mousse with        sculptures.
sugar cage. The cage, a dome
that looks to be loosely woven
from icicles, traps an edible        BELOW: The
butterfly as well as the mousse,     displays in Just
which shades from orange to          Chocolate
pink.        Somadasa         P.     Palace
                                     showcase a
Weehasinghe created the
                                     small sampling
ephemeral dessert, and now           of delicacies
residents of Montgomery Vil-         Weehasinghe
lage can sample his delicacies       creates daily
                                     from scratch.




every time they stop in at Just      another location. In order to       Palais du Chocolat in Takoma
Chocolate Palace, one of the         begin, Weehasinghe found he         Park       for     persuading
newest shops in the Montgom-         had to have already begun, it       Weehasinghe to move to the
ery Village Shopping Center,         seemed.                             Washington, D.C. area to cook
19206 Montgomery Village                In Montgomery Village cen-       for him. A fellow Sri Lankan,
Avenue.                              ter, he found an available          he       had     known         of
   While everyone calls him          space, which was formerly           Weehasinghe’s culinary talents
Peter, the “P” in his middle ini-    Moto Photo. The Village center      while       in   Sri     Lanka.
tial does not stand for Peter.       is owned by Washington Real         Weehasinghe continued to re-
But, chocolate is his focus.         Estate Investment Trust             fine his skills at Palais du
There is nothing that cannot be      (WRIT), so Weehasinghe spoke        Chocolat and later at the Grand
made of chocolate, he says.          to one of their executives about    Hyatt and Occidental hotels
And there is nothing in Just         the space. “I’m an immigrant,       downtown, the Ritz-Carlton in
Chocolate Palace that is not         too,” the executive said. “Tell     Tysons Corner, and Bread and
handmade by Weehasinghe.             me about your business, and         Chocolate in Arlington. He
   The shop features a mouth-        show me your confections.”          sought every opportunity to
watering array of cakes and          Before long, Weehasinghe had        acquire world-class culinary
pastries, countless delectable       a contract.                         skills, whether by taking a class
chocolate candies, and a whole          Weehasinghe’s professional       from a visiting Parisian chef or
case full of breakfast goodies,      relationship with food began in     by observing the techniques of
just to ensure residents can start   his home country of Sri Lanka       famous chefs with whom he
the day really off on the right      when he took a job making           had opportunities to work.
foot. There is also coffee, of       pastries in a hotel. His em-            It was under the auspices of
course.                              ployer paid half his tuition at a   Bread and Chocolate that he
   Weehasinghe conceived the         local hotel training school and     won the highly competitive
idea for Just Chocolate Palace       Weehasinghe’s career was            contract for the Convention
four years ago, while creating       launched. At 26, he visited New     Center opening. Desserts for
beautiful pastries for the           York and stayed for a time          thousands are all in a day’s
Grand Hyatt Hotel. In 2004, he       working as a driver for the         work for Weehasinghe—well,
secured a loan from Chevy            United Nations on a G-1 Visa.       maybe a number of days. He
Chase Bank and set out to find          A few years later, he came       coordinated a team of pastry
the perfect site for his business.   to New York again, bringing         chefs, who made an installation
It was not difficult to find         Davika, his wife. Now they are      of futuristic machinery, entirely
shopping centers with the            five, with Evanka, 13; Aaron, 9;    of chocolate, at the Air and
right kind of available space,       and Emily, 4, who started           Space Museum. Special event
but each time he inquired, the       school this month. Davika will      catering is available at Just
owners asked to see                  help in Just Chocolate Palace as    Chocolate Palace.
Weehasinghe’s current busi-          time allows, and Evanka will            The shop opened on Sept.
ness. The shopping center            also, although her studies will     17 and will be open from 7 a.m.
owners wanted to rent space          come first.                         to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sat-
to business owners who had              Village residents owe thanks     urday, and Sundays from 8
already experienced success in       to the owner of the former          a.m. to 6 p.m.     Home Page