Ohh Chocolat customers treated to performance by PGSO Friday evening

Prince George, BC – It is hard to beat chocolate and music – and putting them together has been a winning combination for one local business owner in the downtown core… 

In fact, the pairing has gone over so well at Ohh Chocolat Cafe on George Street that chocolatier and owner, Caroline Longhurst, has expanded her offerings.

Last spring, the cafe began hosting musicians from the Prince George Symphony Orchestra for a casual concert series once per month on Friday evenings.

This fall, the PGSO is back for its monthly performance.  Photo above shows Concertmaster Jose Delgado-Guevara on violin (left) and Don Bond on flute (right) warming up for Friday night’s repertoire of chamber music.  But Longhurst tasked a newly-formed company with building upon that success.

Miguel Mori (l) and Raine Gould (r) are co-owners of Oak & Thistle, a local creative consulting firm that, they say, grew out of a need in the community to bring venues and local artists together.

Both men work in the arts community – Mori at the PGSO and Gould at the Prince George Arts Council.

This summer, Longhurst tasked the pair with finding Ohh Chocolat entertainment for every Friday night.  "Oak & Thistle has truly risen to the challenge," she says, with a string of events that began in September and runs through until December, and doesn’t just feature music.  There is an upcoming evening of psychic readings, along with music, next Friday night and a romantic ‘date night’ evening featuring chocolate fondue during the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping in December.

"Part of our mantra, especially with (these nights at Ohh Chocolat), is to be as local as possible," says Gould.  "To support local artists and to get them exposure." 

Gould says the popularity of the evenings has seen a spike in their demand, "People started to approach us wanting to do different venues and venues started to approach us, as well, so it went from an odd job to suddenly this vision – it wasn’t just us creating (events), it was the community demanding it of us."

He’s hopeful that demand will position the company well to meet the cultural aspect of the upcoming Canada Winter Games.  "With the 2015 Games, we want to make sure that when the time comes, local artists are represented properly," he says.  "There will be a lot of outside people coming in and they’re going to do one big show, and then what?"  Gould says Oak & Thistle’s goal is to ensure a thriving artist-venue relationship continues to grow in this city long past the games.

For Longhurst, she feels the Friday night’s are filling an entertainment gap for those in their 30s, 40s, and beyond, who don’t necessarily have a space to go in the evenings.  "We’re packing the house here, it’s been really exciting," she says.  "It’s not too fancy, it’s not too crazy – they don’t have to wear suits and ties – they can just relax."

"And it brings people downtown, too, which is great."