New festival aims to increase appreciation of coffee and chocolate

Coffee and chocolate are everyday staples easily taken for granted.

But a new Indianapolis festival is designed to raise awareness about what it takes for coffee to arrive in your cup and for chocolate to arrive on a store’s shelf, while also celebrating the communal power of coffee shops.

Mokao, scheduled for April 11-13 at the Stutz, 1060 N. Capitol Ave., is the brainchild of J’Adore Pastry co-founders Youssef Boudarine and Ariel Hendrickson.

The Mokao name (pronounced “Moh-kow”) is influenced by mocha, a chocolate-meets-coffee beverage. But it’s primarily a nod to Mocha, a coastal city in the Middle Eastern country of Yemen known for centuries of coffee trade.

Boudarine said the first edition of Mokao is dedicated to Africa, where 70% of the world’s cacao beans (which make chocolate) and 12% of the world’s coffee beans are grown.

He grew up in Morocco, the African country separated from Europe by the Strait of Gibraltar.

Boudarine said Indianapolis-based shops such as Blue Mind Coffee, Calvin Fletcher’s Coffee Co. and Tinker Coffee Co. will participate in Mokao, offering a contrast to shops operated by major corporations.

“My goal is to tell people how important it is to appreciate coffee and how coffee shops are community builders,” said Boudarine, who creates colorful croissants and inventive layer cakes for J’Adore clients. “When you have meetings, don’t go to Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts. Go to your local coffee shop, because that’s how we survive and how the city grows.”

After working in European bakeries, Boudarine moved to Indianapolis in 2016. He counts high-profile chefs such as Oakleys Bistro founder Steve Oakley and One Trick Pony founder Neal Brown as early supporters.

But in general, Boudarine said he doesn’t believe “Hoosier hospitality” was extended to him as an immigrant.

“I have talents, and I came here to show something,” he said. “I had to create my own path.”

Boudarine, who didn’t speak English when he arrived in Indianapolis, was befriended by his future J’Adore Pastry partner, Hendrickson, when she worked as part of the original staff at Tinker Street, the esteemed restaurant that opened on East 16th Street in 2015.

Roles at Cake Bake Shop, Gallery Pastry Shop, Anthony’s Chophouse and Bluebeard eventually materialized for Boudarine. Bluebeard, 653 Virginia Ave., serves as a commissary kitchen for J’Adore, which launched in 2022.

Last October, Boudarine and Hendrickson organized the first Epicurean Indy international food festival. The one-day celebration of international chefs attracted thousands of attendees at the Stutz.

Macy Lethco serves as program manager at Pattern, an economic development organization that supports creative industries in the state. Pattern also coordinates events at the Stutz, home to both Epicurean Indy and Mokao.

Lethco said she’s not surprised Boudarine is connecting with an audience that’s receptive to food and beverage events.

“Indy is an interesting environment where I think you can start a lot of things,” she said. “There is some appetite for people to start organizations or new businesses. Support can gather around that person because it feels like something new. Youssef has been a champion of the food industry. … Indy is very lucky to have him.”

A long haul

Before Mokao attendees explore the offerings of coffee and chocolate vendors on April 12-13, an opening-night dinner is planned April 11 at the Stutz Car Museum.

An all-star lineup of Indianapolis chefs will prepare a five-course meal, with each dish featuring a component of either a coffee or chocolate. Tickets for the dinner are sold out.

Similarities between coffee and chocolate include the roasting and grinding of beans in a process that leads to beverages and desserts.

With the new festival, Boudarine and Hendrickson are highlighting the time and labor associated with producing coffee and chocolate.

Coffee plants and cacao trees grow for about four years before reaching maturity. Coffee cherries and cacao pods, where the respective beans reside, are harvested by hand.

Tinker Coffee Co., which opened as a roastery in 2014 and now operates five locations in Indianapolis, sources unroasted beans from Ethiopia. Libby Baert, general manager of cafe operations for Tinker, said the coffee bean’s journey is worthy of respect.

“People are out in these farms hand-picking coffee cherries,” Baert said. The berries are “going through a multitude of different processes, from being washed or being sun-dried to create this nuance and flavor profile, which is then tested repeatedly by the farms in these far-off countries. The beans are sent to us for samples, and we roast them 19 different ways until we find the one that we enjoy the most.”

Admission to Mokao on April 12-13 is free. Panel discussions are expected to focus on environmental sustainability in the coffee industry as well as fair compensation for farmers.

“When folks realize just how much care and attention goes into getting a cup of coffee—something that feels very simple and very habitual—it really shifts your thinking on how lucky you are to have something like that,” Baert said.

Brewing a community

Blue Mind Coffee launched as a wholesale coffee roaster in 2016. Founded by husband-and-wife team Andy Hassler and Sarah Hassler, Blue Mind then opened a brick-and-mortar shop near the intersection of East 38th Street and College Avenue in 2023.

Sarah Hassler said she agrees with Boudarine’s belief that coffee shops build communities.

“Coffee is one of those things that people want daily,” Hassler said. “So it’s easy to get to know people in a shop and to have regulars.”

The Blue Mind shop occupies part of the Rose Building, 646 E. 38th St., which served as corporate headquarters for the Indiana Pacers in the 1960s.

Hassler said the Blue Mind shop generates more income than the company’s wholesale operation, and the shop’s original 1,500-square-foot space grew by 500 square feet last year.

The physical location also provides a setting for assisting people in need.

“In our restrooms, we have shelving units for donations of toothpaste, hair products, shaving stuff, diapers, feminine products and those kinds of things,” she said. “We don’t buy the stuff. We ask that the community bring stuff in to put into those two bathrooms.”

Hassler said the shelves of toiletries are consistently emptied and refilled.

“It’s a private thing,” she said. “People don’t know who’s taking it. It’s respecting people’s dignity. I feel like we really do care about every person who comes into Blue Mind, and we think coffee is a thing that brings people together.”

More Mokao

Boudarine said he intends 2025 to be the first in a series of Mokao events.

“This is the first edition to make people excited for next year and the third year and the fourth year,” he said.

Each festival will spotlight a different geographic area, Boudarine said. Following Africa this year, Mokao will be dedicated to Central America and South America in 2026 and Asia in 2027.

And beyond edible artwork Boudarine makes as a pastry chef, he’s created expressly visual art that will be displayed as part of this year’s Mokao festival. Chocolate, cocoa butter and coffee grounds are used in the pieces.

“I’m doing chocolate sculpture and using chocolate like an art canvas at the car museum,” he said.

For 2026, Boudarine plans to invite more pastry chefs to Mokao to contribute visual art.

Blue Mind co-founder Sarah Hassler praised Boudarine’s collaborative approach when linking businesses and artisans.

“He doesn’t make it just about himself,” Hassler said. “Sometimes people just want to focus on their own thing to make a name for themselves. But he’s really willing to bring other people in with him. I’ve appreciated his wanting to see [Blue Mind] grow and do well. He mentions our name to other people, and we do the same for him.”

One of Boudarine’s goals for Mokao is to borrow an idea from France’s annual Salon du Chocolat de Paris. That chocolate-focused show incorporates a fashion show featuring runway models wearing dresses made of chocolate.

“That was my whole idea in the beginning,” Boudarine said. “But that requires a lot of money.”•