Hand-painted bonbons and rich butter cookies line the dessert cases at Petite Soeur, a new chocolate shop in the Georgetown neighborhood.

Ashleigh Pearson, an accomplished pastry chef and chocolatier, hosted a soft opening for the first physical Petite Soeur storefront Oct. 26. Pearson’s shop offers nine signature flavored hand-painted bonbons, butter sable cookies and wrapped confections at its 1332 Wisconsin Ave. location. 

The soft opening served as a way for the staff at Petite Soeur to adjust to business on a smaller scale. Pearson called the opening a success.

“People came just because they saw that we were inside working,” Pearson said. “They felt welcome to come inside, and people had great reception to the bonbons.”

Pearson, whose childhood dream was to be a veterinarian, originally studied biology as an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Her career took a turn when she got a job at Marcel’s, working under Michelin-star chef Robert Wiedmaier. She started as a pastry chef and spent the next decade climbing the ladder to eventually open her own chocolate shop. 

Pearson is optimistic that even though she switched to a focus on chocolate within the last four years, she can thrive as a classical chocolatier.   

“I guess I feel that makes me newer to it, but I’m still excited about it,” Pearson said. “I feel like I’m bringing a fresh perspective, and I have put in the time to really learn the foundations and the classics and how to produce a really technically sound chocolate and bonbon.”

Petite Soeur’s goal is to serve high-quality chocolates and French desserts in a separate atmosphere from the fine dining experience, Pearson said.

“Guests were enjoying these high-end chocolates but only at the end of a Michelin-star, fine-dining meal,” Pearson said. “I had the idea that I think it would be great to take this product out of this environment and put it in a more casual retail environment so that everyone could experience it.”

Just like her hand-decorated chocolates, the story of Petite Soeur — little sister, in French — is infused with Pearson’s personal touch. The name was inspired by the fact that her three brothers lovingly refer to her as “little sister,” even now that she is grown up. 

Pearson has family ties to Washington, D.C., which makes officially opening a chocolate shop in the area particularly exciting. 

“This is where my family planted themselves, and we were born here,” Pearson said. “It felt like a full-circle moment.”   

Pearson decided to open the first Petite Soeur storefront in Georgetown because the residents of the Georgetown neighborhood are supportive of new businesses, ideas and foods. Petite Soeur will hold its grand opening with giveaways, social media announcements, balloons and additional products, including chocolate bars, in mid-November, but customers can still visit the store in the meantime, according to Pearson.

One thing that needs to happen before the grand opening is choosing decor for the space, but ideally it will remain neutral so as not to distract from the hand-painted bonbons, according to Pearson.

“I love a very simple, clean palette, because the idea is truly to be that you are supposed to come in and your eye is supposed to be immediately drawn to the bonbons, which should be the only colored thing in the space,” Pearson said. 

As Petite Soeur opens, capacity restrictions will be in place both in terms of COVID-19 precautions and so each customer receives a one-on-one experience with the staff, according to Pearson. 

“Our shop is very small already, so right now we are keeping it to four customers in the shop at one time,” Pearson said. “That gives us the space we need and the guests the space they need.” 

Currently, Pearson is the only chocolatier at Petite Soeur, producing 900 to 1,200 bonbons per day, but she is hopeful that as the business grows, she will be able to hire and train the next generation of chocolatiers.

“My goal is to bring on some more people in the kitchen,” Pearson said. “That’s the whole point of the business is to have other young people learn how to do it so that the tradition lives on with chocolate making in general.”