Meet Simone

Born in Chengdu and raised between Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, Simone Tong grew up between cultures, languages and traditions. Food became a way of understanding place and identity long before it became a profession.

After moving to New York, she trained in kitchens including wd~50 and 15 East before opening restaurants of her own. Before chocolate there were Little Tong Noodle Shop, Silver Apricot, Zoé Tong and Sí Baby-Q. For years, the restaurant was the medium.

Chocolate became a new way of working — not because it was simpler than cooking, but because it offered a different canvas. A single bite could hold texture, aroma, place and surprise, while demanding the same attention to sequence and balance that shaped her cooking.

Simone approaches chocolate through the lens of a chef. Some ideas begin with cacao and origin. Others begin with a familiar flavor, an object, a city, a family ritual or an ingredient worth looking at again.

The goal is not novelty for its own sake. It is to make something delicious, specific and alive: chocolate that can surprise without becoming unfamiliar.

Today her work moves between Truffle FUDGE, origin-led bars, filled chocolates and projects such as The Mahjong Collection. Different forms allow different questions — from what a cacao origin can express to how a familiar object can become edible.

Everything is made in small batches in Austin, Texas.