Is it something in the chocolate?

The power of the cocoa bean has long been used to woo romantic partners, and two couples found lifelong love through the charm of chocolate in downtown Port Washington.

April and David Resch of Oostburg and Emily and Martin Roberts of Sussex have a special place in their heart for the Chocolate Chisel.

The customer who obstructed output

Belgium native April Skonieczny worked as the assistant to the assistant chocolatier at the Chocolate Chisel in 2012. During one of her first shifts, Lucas Young, the son of the co-owner Elizabeth MacCrimmon who April got to know in college, told her, “Someday someone’s going to come in here and they’re not going to want chocolate and ice cream. They’re going to want to come here to be with you and change your world.”

“Oh, you’re silly,” April said. “Things like that happen in the movies.”

But then David Resch of Grafton started coming to the store. He was a semi-regular customer the staff got to know and like. His status became a regular customer once he saw April.

“He kind of started shining around a bit when he noticed me,” she said.

“She was wearing this Metallica T-shirt and I was like, ‘You’re cool,’” David said.

April helped make chocolate in back and served customers up front. When David came in, she spent time talking with him.

“I’d order the large root beer float because they’d give you the bottle so I could sit there and chat,” he said.

Eventually, April had to go back to work and stop talking to the customers so much. At least that one.

Their friendship progressed, and David invited April to the Saukville Gun Club. He enjoyed sport shooting with his friends, so it wasn’t a pressure-packed one-on-one date.

After having pizza, April experienced a gun club for the first time. She put on ear protection, which squished her glasses a little, and quickly got a migraine. She left.

“That was kind of like a bummer,” she said.

“That was a dud,” David said.

But the gun club misfire didn’t shoot down the relationship.

Their next date entailed dinner in Milwaukee and watching Japanese Kodo taiko drummers at the Pabst Theater. Subsequent dates consisted of area dining, concerts, shows and beer tastings.

David asked April to be his girlfriend on April 23, her birthday. He said she has an “electric smile” and she admires his work ethic, kindness and responsibility.

That summer of 2013, he introduced another new experience — camping. They fell in love under the stars.

“I never fell in love before,” April said. “That was exciting. I never expected this would happen.”

She inadvertently put her feelings to the test in fall. April went to a family wedding in Japan. After a couple of weeks away from David, she figured if she returned and was still in love he was the one.

David used the time to get to know April’s parents. They bonded at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival in Jefferson. He later invited them over and asked for her hand in marriage.

“It was one of the hardest things in my life to muster up to do,” he said. I’ve always been a man to do things proper and the old way.”

Her parents gave him permission.

When April got home, she realized she still loved David and the two soon moved in together in Port Washington.

April became pregnant in fall, and David proposed on Christmas.

“I wrote it on an actual rock and wrapped the rock,” he said. “I said this is a very serious solid proposal. She still has the rock to this day.”

The two, both 2005 high school graduates born seven months apart, got married on a frigid sunny day, Jan. 21, 2014, at the Ozaukee County Justice Center and spent a romantic winter night at a bed and breakfast inn in Sheboygan County.

The couple moved to a house in Oostburg in 2016. Their daughter Daphne is 9 and their son Damon is 7.

April hearkens back to the prediction Lucas made when she started at the Chocolate Chisel.

“That happened. Someone came into my world when I was working there,” she said. “He (Lucas) isn’t a magician or fortune teller, but on one of my shifts he told that to me and it came true.”

They’re celebrating their 10th anniversary by remodeling their bathroom and shower.

“She always wanted a soak tub,” David said.

A box of truffles and a ring to go

An ugly Christmas sweater party Emily Vento “didn’t really want to go to” in 2015 was the unexpected start of a beautiful relationship.

Emily Vento met Martin Roberts at the party, then again at a New Year’s party.

“There was just something about him. I just kept getting drawn in — his sense of humor,” she said.

“She was pretty, obviously. That helped,” Martin laughed. “She was just willing to go on adventures with me.”

Their first date in January 2016 entailed strolling through Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve in the Town of Grafton, eating in Port at the Java Dock and having a treat at the Chocolate Chisel.

Port was halfway between Emily’s home in West Allis and Martin’s home in Plymouth. The two are two years apart in age. Martin was born in 1990 and Emily in 1992.

They became boyfriend and girlfriend on Feb. 21 of that year during a date that would have a bigger meaning later.

As time wore on, they knew they were made for each other. They moved in together in Shorewood in 2017. Martin did the housework while Emily went to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for nursing and worked part time.

They recreated their first date in late February each year, and in 2020 Martin wanted to make it special. He would propose at the Chocolate Chisel.

Martin enlisted the help of Emily’s sister Allison, who spent the day behind the store’s counter waiting with her camera.

Emily thought the question would come at scenic Lion’s Den and had given up.

The couple enjoyed their usual hot chocolate at the Chisel, and Martin asked for a special box of truffles. They usually take one to go. Emily took the box and attempted to leave. Martin asked her to open it.

In the middle of delicious chocolates was a ring. He got down on one knee.

“I don’t remember what I said. It was all a blur. Somewhere in there I asked her to marry me,” he said.

Emily doesn’t like surprises but “that was a good one,” she said. “It was really sweet and cute.”

The two fortunately planned a long engagement, because the pandemic stopped weddings for a year. They got married on a cool day in Lilac Acres in Waukesha on Oct. 15, 2021. They favors were Chocolate Chisel truffles.

Now, the roles reversed with Emily is doing housework while Martin studies engineering at UW-Milwaukee.

The two are planning a return trip to Port this month for their dating and engagement anniversary.