Chocolate Display Case — The Cacao Estate at NOVUS

FOH-Adjacent — Coldcore Display Case

Vol. II §7 removed the chocolate display from the back-bar working wall and relocated it as a “floor display near bar entry, not on the bar itself.” Your placement — a 5-foot Coldcore case sitting in front of the chocolate prep room window in the FOH dining floor, separate from both the bar and the prep room — is the right execution of that decision.

It puts the finished product directly in front of the prep room window (visual story: see the chocolatier work, see the chocolate, buy the chocolate), at the highest-foot-traffic point in the room, without consuming any bar real estate.

Budget Note This lives in neither the front-bar nor the chocolate-prep room equipment list. It’s its own line. Vol. II §12’s opening budget didn’t have a discrete line for this case — it was rolled into general FOH equipment — so the cost is incremental to the existing $91K–138K equipment envelope, or absorbs into the FOH furniture & fixtures budget.

Coldcore 5′ refrigerated chocolate display case

Slot 20

60″ L × 26″ D × 50″ H · FOH floor, in front of chocolate prep room window · Refrigerated 50–55°F · glass-front (3-side viewable) · LED-lit interior

Recommended — Coldcore CC60-CHOC, 5′ chocolate-specific refrigerated display

Model	Coldcore CC60-CHOC (5-foot model, glass-front, top-loading service door at rear) · alternatives: True TCGG-60-S (general bakery, 60″), Federal Industries CGR3148 (60″ curved-glass)
Price (est.)	Coldcore CC60-CHOC: $7,500–10,500 · True TCGG-60-S: $5,800–7,800 · Federal CGR3148: $9,500–13,000
Dimensions	60″ L × 26″ D × 50″ H. Three-tier interior with 3 glass shelves (~12 sq ft total display surface, holds 200–300 finished pieces). Refrigerated 50–55°F with humidity control suited to chocolate (40–50% RH — most refrigerated cases run at 70%+, which blooms chocolate). Front and side glass with LED interior lighting. Rear-access top-loading service door (chocolatier loads from the back without disturbing front display). 110V/15A standard outlet, ~600W. Self-contained refrigeration (no remote condenser).
Why this one	Coldcore’s chocolate-specific case is the only one of these three that runs at chocolate-correct humidity (40–50% RH). True and Federal are bakery cases — they hold temperature but bloom chocolate within a week of display. The premium for the Coldcore (~$2,000 over the True) is what protects every piece of inventory you put in the case from showing white sugar bloom on day 5. For a chocolate-first business model, the Coldcore is the only correct answer. The placement in front of the prep room window also makes this the brand moment in the FOH — guests walking in see chocolate first, prep room second, bar third.

GC Coordination The Coldcore CC60-CHOC needs a dedicated 110V outlet at the case location and a clear 4″ of rear ventilation clearance. Coordinate with the GC during electrical rough-in. The case sits on the FOH floor (no millwork integration) so it can be rolled into position after build-out is complete and its location can shift in year 1 if foot-traffic patterns suggest a different spot.

Capacity Inventory capacity at 200–300 pieces matches roughly 2 days of production at your 100–150 pieces/night target — aligns with Vol. II §8’s “daily production: one mold per active variety per day plus reserve in display case.”

The Brand Moment

From a customer-experience standpoint, this case is the single most important piece of FOH furniture in the room. The sequence works like this:

Walk in — immediately see the illuminated chocolate display
Glance up — see the chocolatier working through the prep room window above/behind the case
Sit at the bar — order wine and a chocolate pairing flight
Walk out — pass the case again, buy a box of bonbons to take home

That sequence is the entire retail-takeaway revenue stream that turns a wine bar into a wine-and-chocolate bar with daytime retail upside. The case is what activates it.

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