Passing the Torch—and the Truffles—at Bozeman’s La Châtelaine
The glass door into La Châtelaine has always felt a bit like a portal. On one side sits a familiar stretch of downtown Bozeman; on the other, an intimate slice of French provincial life. There are warm aromas of cocoa, quiet notes of French music, vintage baking tools hanging from the walls, and, of course, glass cases showing off hand-painted chocolates that double as tiny works of art.
For 20 years, the chocolate shop has served as a decadent bridge between Montana and France. Now, it welcomes its next stewards: the founders’ son, Ethan Spratt, and his wife, Shani, as they carry the family business into its second generation.
“Growing up and seeing how much passion my parents put into this place—it really meant a lot,” says Spratt. “They built this shop from scratch. It wasn’t a copy paste of something else. And while I didn’t start the shop, I’m so happy to keep it running. What they built was something beautiful.”
Spratt’s mother, Shannon Grochowski, and his stepfather, Jean-Pierre “Wlady” Grochowski, opened La Châtelaine in 2006. Shannon, a Montana State University graduate, was inspired by the art of the pastry chef and spent years training alongside chefs in Paris and San Francisco. Wlady is a Parisian native whose culinary roots were planted early on by his grandmother. He arrived in the U.S. in 1993 and started selling French cakes via word of mouth. Once the couple met, fell in love, and got married, they decided to open La Châtelaine in Bozeman, a chocolaterie defined by authentic French technique, seasonal ingredients, and zero compromises on quality.
For Spratt, the chocolaterie wasn’t just his mother’s workplace; it was the main backdrop of his childhood. After school, his afternoons were usually spent there. At first, his job was mainly to stay out of the way. But as he grew, so did his responsibilities: washing dishes, working retail, helping set up booths at nearby farmers markets, and eventually managing the shop’s “petite” location at the Baxter Hotel.
Spratt has fond memories of those early days and the hustle that defined them. “I remember loading up the car for regional chocolate conventions. My brother and I would be stuffed in the back of the Volvo, packed in with suitcases full of chocolate, going to Seattle and San Francisco with the AC blasting,” he says with a laugh. “It was so much fun. We’d sometimes see 10,000 people in a single day.”
Although he grew up in and around the shop’s kitchen, Spratt’s education led him down a different artistic path: film and cinematography. He spent years doing commercial video work and food photography, capturing the rich textures of his parents’ creations for magazines and cookbooks. He went on to live in Paris for several years, where he improved his French and soaked up the culinary culture.
When the opportunity arose to return to Bozeman and take over the family business, Spratt took it. “How could I say no?” he asks with a smile. Returning to Montana with little more than a single suitcase, Spratt spent months working side-byside with his parents before taking full ownership this year. “Holy cow, there’s a lot of steps,” Spratt admits of the chocolate- making process. “I always kind of knew about them, but I wasn’t ever in charge of production. And you don’t really see the whole picture until you’re in here doing it.”
Taking over a legacy shop like La Châtelaine also helped him build a deep reverence for what makes it a Bozeman institution. Over the years, his parents developed more than 200 distinct recipes: a rotating catalog of classical French ganaches, spirit-infused chocolates, and signature caramels. Unlike mass-produced chocolate, every piece is handmade using authentic French methods: fresh, short-shelf-life ingredients, zero preservatives, and meticulously polished, hand-painted molds.
“There’s been some outside pressure to cut costs,” Spratt says, like changing the process or reducing the quality of chocolate. “That’s non-negotiable for us. We buy the best chocolate you can buy. There isn’t a better chocolate available, and that’s just not something we’re going to compromise on.”
The store’s bestsellers aren’t going anywhere either, like the coveted hand-cut toffee that routinely sells out or the spicy dark Azteca truffle. But Spratt does have plans to bring fresh ideas to the counter. Drawing on Shani’s Persian heritage, they are introducing new flavor profiles that celebrate the deep ties between French and Persian cultures. Coming soon is one of their first new joint creations: a dark chocolate infused with premium saffron and rosewater.
Through his background in visual media, Spratt also hopes to breathe new life into how the shop connects with the community. He wants to focus on authentic storytelling, like shooting stop-motion videos of the chocolate-making process, adding more visual stories on social media, and designing an elaborate holiday window display reminiscent of Parisian storefronts during Christmas. He is also expanding the shop’s footprint by opening an outdoor garden space where guests can sip tea and, as he puts it, slow down.
As for Spratt’s parents, they, too, are slowing down. The couple moved to Normandy, where they are restoring a 200-year-old farmhouse complete with chickens and an apple orchard. They still keep close ties with the shop and continue to host culinary and chocolate workshops for visitors.
Spratt is full of gratitude for what Wlady and Shannon built, and also what they passed on to him and his wife. “It’s such a pleasure to make chocolate because it’s something that brings happiness,” he says. “When people come into the shop, their mood is lifted. We want to help them find that fun, that true joie de vivre. We want to continue to take care of people when they walk through the door.”
