This is Marie, writing the entry about Dinstuhl’s because I saw the place first. We were in Memphis a little while ago to visit my sister, and since we ate well all weekend, Grant asked me to contribute a chapter to help get us caught up.
According to the rumors, Dinstuhl’s was Elvis Presley’s candy store of choice. They carry some merchandise like chocolate records and chocolate bars with Elvis’ image, but it is not obtrusive, and they don’t mention the relationship on their web site, so I can only put this forward as an unsupported assertion. However, knowing what we do about the King’s tastes, I can definitely imagine him coming through these doors on a nearly daily basis, or at the very least having a delivery truck arrive at Graceland five times a week.
The store carries a wide range of hard candies, fruit slices, and other non-meltable treats, and my personal favorites are the grapefruit candies and fruit slices, which is perhaps just a little wrong because their specialty is chocolates. These candies have been known to appear in the mail on important dates like birthdays. The main problem with the chocolates, of course, is that I live so far away.
The chocolates are quite respectable but the dark is significantly better than the milk chocolate. I got a few different varieties on our latest trip (though not too much, out of respect for the weather) and can say that the chocolate raspberry cream is quite intense, the caramels are deliciously creamy, and the nougat is both exceedingly tasty and very chewy. My personal beef with commercially-produced nougat (besides the lingering “eww” factor of BSE) is that it is is much too tender, but Dinstuhl’s does it right. I like a bit more chew in my candies. One of the other delightful things about Dinstuhl’s is that it recently acquired a Kosher rating; and in their discussion they said that they only recipe they needed to change was their marshmallows.
Dinstuhl’s does sell a number of products made by other companies, like Jelly Bellies. The chocolates, brittles etc. are their own, and those are the items that can be ordered through their web site.
I did not try their chocolate covered strawberry, and my allegiance to the caramels made by a certain other place in Asheville is not shaken. However, I have enjoyed Dinstuhl’s products for many years and will continue to take the opportunity to have more when the opportunity presents itself.
Other blog posts about Dinstuhl’s:
I Love Memphis (Jan. 26 2011)
Makin’ it in Memphis (Feb. 10 2012)
Marie, Let's Eat! 