BAYSIDE - Nestled into a corner lot adjacent to a Victoria’s Secret in Bayside Terrace, Lazar’s Chocolates is one of the borough’s best-kept secrets, with almost 100 varieties of candies to choose from. Everything is handmade in Great Neck, just over the border in Nassau County, where Richard Lazar founded his first shop nearly 35 years ago in 1975. Richard, together with his two sons, Marc and Jeff, makes candy daily for both the Great Neck and Bayside stores, as well as a third in Wheatley Plaza in Greenvale, N.Y.
Although the candy is made locally, the recipes have traveled quite a distance, all the way from Russia, in fact. Richard’s grandfather David emigrated during World War II; he opened and ran a number of candy shops in Manhattan and Brooklyn for three decades. In the early 1950s, David helped Richard’s aunt open her own store, Evelyn’s, which is still in operation in Manhattan today. (Richard’s father went into a complementary business—dentistry. “I don’t know whether there were any referrals or not,” he laughs.) Growing up, Richard wasn’t exposed to the family business, except for the occasional box of chocolates sent to him at camp by his grandfather, who passed away when Richard was a teenager. In his 20s, Richard started a career in real estate marketing on Long Island, where he grew up. On a day off, he visited his aunt’s store, and everything changed. “When I went into the store, it was like I had an epiphany,’ he said. “I felt like I belonged.” He quit his job the next day, and joined his aunt to begin learning the business. “Chocolate was in my blood.”
His sons, Marc, 32, and Jeff, 29, now both married, have taken a more direct route, having helped their father, now 57, at Lazar’s since they were kids. Together, the three men share an easy camaraderie. And despite working amid thousands of calories, the Lazars are a pretty skinny bunch. “If you keep eating chocolate, you won’t gain weight,” explains Marc, dubiously. “It’s like a bell curve.”
“We’ve all been around it for so long, we can control ourselves,” Richard concurs.
Not so for the rest of us. The rich aroma of chocolate hits you instantly when you walk into the narrow, 750-square-foot Bayside store. Seasonal treats are placed in the front for easy pickup, while novelty items, boxed chocolates and bagged candies line the right side of the store. The main draw is the display case on the left, which showcases a dizzying array of candies. Looking for something chunky? Then the halvah steaks, chocolate-covered crushed sesame and sugar confections named for their bulky size, are a delicious possibility. Or maybe you’re in the mood for something chewy, like a marshmallow and caramel swirl? And, of course, there are the top sellers, like their signature nut patties, available with pecans, walnuts, almonds and cashews, each mixed with caramel and chocolate. To make your decision even harder, most candies come in both milk and dark chocolate. Lazar’s sells its confections by weight. Customers can mix and match if they want, and a pound of candy will run about $26 to $30—“more than Hershey’s, but less than Godiva,” Richard said.
“These candies follow pretty much the same formulas used by my grandfather,” said Richard, who prefers traditional over trendy, and favors cooked candies, like nut patties, buttercrunch and almond bark, since they better showcase a candy maker’s abilities, he says. While making caramel, for example, he knows when it’s ready just by looking at it—no thermometer needed. “I can tell by the color and size of the bubbles and its thickness.” Making caramel is a two-hour process, beginning with bringing the ingredients—mainly sugar, cream and natural flavorings—to a slow boil in a copper kettle. Then Richard vigorously mixes for about 15 minutes, until he determines that the thickness is right. The caramel then goes into a stainless steel funnel, through which Richard pumps it out drop by drop onto a tray—covered with nuts, if he’s making candies such as turtles. The globs of caramel rest and harden until the next day, when they are covered in chocolate. All candies with a center go through a similar process, he said, but caramels are the most popular, and he makes them several times a week. “Our customers love caramels.” So does Jeff.
Valentine’s Day is one of Lazar’s biggest holidays, as you can imagine, second only to the December holidays. “Everything heart-shaped sells,” he said, and his shops offer such items as chocolate roses and heart-shaped chocolates. February 15 is Richard’s birthday, but it’s still not a time for rest. “I celebrate June through August,” he jokes, the chocolate slow season.
