CALVERT (May 19, 2010)—Ken Wilkinson, a classically trained chef who learned his craft some of the finest kitchens in Europe, says he wants to put the small Central Texas town of Calvert on the map as the chocolate capital of the world.

Wilkinson started his career as an apprentice at a hotel restaurant in England and later at a Michelin-rated kitchen in Switzerland.

But eventually, he decided to apply his talent to chocolate, and his creations were in demand at lavish events hosted by members of Britain’s royal family.

But, he says, he got to Texas as soon as he could, moving in the 1980s to Houston where he hosted a cable TV show dedicated to classical French cuisine.

And now he commutes daily to Calvert where he operates COCOAMODA, a chocolate factory in a 19th century building that once housed a dry good store and a French bistro and chocolate boutique directly across the street.

"Paris in Texas, why not?” he asks.

But Wilkinson says his ultimate goal is to poke the French in the eye, much as California’s wine industry has, by making the sleepy Robertson County town the chocolate capital of the world with his truffles, candied fruits and gelees.

"Calvert is great, because it's untouched Victorian style,” he says.

“If you can have something historic rather than new, it says a lot about lineage of a place…and so I felt like tying that in with high end chocolates,” he said.

"I really want to put Texas on the worldwide map as being the place for chocolate,” he says.

“Why not?"