When life hands you chocolate, wafer, and a special store to combine the two…it’s time to make your very own KitKat.

Miyashita Park in Tokyo’s Shibuya district welcomed a brand new store to its line-up on August 4 of this year: its very own KitKat Chocolatory. The Chocolatory, true to its portmanteau name, is a venture that works hard to mix up new chocolate experiences from Nestlé’s personal laboratory, and in this new store, you yourself get to play the role of the head scientist.

Due to high demand and a desire to maintain social distancing, our resident foodie Mr. Sato had to reserve a slot in advance. So while the store itself opened at 11:00 a.m. and Mr. Sato made it to the store at 1:00 p.m., it was 3:30 p.m. before he was allowed to step fully inside KitKat’s chocolate factory and enjoy the marvels to their fullest.

▼ He also had to pay 2,160 yen (US$20.46) for the privilege. At least he could swap his ticket for a drink once inside.

The second Mr. Sato saw the spread of confectioneries before him at the custom KitKat station, his heart shuddered. Perhaps from delight, perhaps from all that tantalizing potential, perhaps in preparation for the gratuitous quantities of sugar he was about to channel into his bloodstream. Immediately, ideas began to bubble and pop inside his head.

▼ The world’s your oyster! A chocolate-covered oyster, with wafer inside!

The chocolate-making process was quite bureaucratic. Mr. Sato would mark down whether milk, dark or ruby chocolate would form the basis for his sweet treat, then select from a list of 17 toppings to scatter over the chocolate-coated wafers. Finally, he would choose his wrapping option from the six available options, and then he could hand his completed form to a staff member to begin the actual KitKat creation.

Guided by the KitKat staff’s trusty hands, Mr. Sato was taught the most difficult step in the entire ordeal: cutting the crumbly, fragile wafers down to strips.

Next comes the opportunity to cut all your toppings down to size. In keeping with the spirit of customization, you can choose to leave all your toppings whole if you like! However, this means your KitKat may become very ungainly and difficult to wrap. Choices, choices…

Now the star of the show arrives in the form of a nice, big bowl of melted chocolate.

Make sure you pour it carefully into the mold…but watch out! If you spend too long pouring it, the chocolate might harden before you have it where you want it.

Now gently nestle — or is that Nestlé? — the wafer strips into the chocolate. This will force some chocolate to ooze over the side of the mold as it gets displaced, so trim the excess away with a spatula.

Smooth out a nice base of chocolate to serve as your foundation…

And it’s time to get those creative juices flowing! Artfully arrange your toppings in a manner that really expresses your inner self. This is your KitKat bar, and it ought to tell your story. There’ll never be another KitKat bar like it!

▼ What stories does this tell you about Mr. Sato?

Then the chocolate bar must be cooled for 30 minutes, so it’s time to take your exchange ticket from the staff member and go while away the minutes somewhere else. Thankfully, Shibuya’s Miyashita Park is brand new and a marvelous place to sit around and sightsee.

When Mr. Sato returned to check on his chocolate, he was delighted with the results.

▼ Presenting A Glimpse of Summer Memory, by Mr. Sato.

Mr. Sato’s plan was to tell an evocative, breezy summer tale like a walk on the beach. However, his chocolate set so hard that it ended up more like a single daisy struggling to survive on a gravel path. Ah well. That’s probably a more fitting metaphor for Summer 2020, anyway.

Definitely check out the Shibuya KitKat Chocolatory if you have the chance, and try making your own version. Maybe if the custom KitKat venture proves successful enough, they’ll consider adding the golden caramel-banana flavored chocolate to the list of potential bases!

Shop Information
KitKat Chocolatory (Miyashita Park Shibuya branch)/キットカット ショコラトリー（ミヤシタパーク渋谷店）
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Jingumae 6-20-10, Miyashita Park South 2nd floor
東京都渋谷区神宮前6丁目20番10号 MIYASHITA PARK　South2階
Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Website

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