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Chocolate!
The 19th Annual Chocolate Affair
Ma Petite Shoe was a vendor at this special event! For more information, go to the Baltimore Sun article.
photo by La Kaye Mbah
It began as a kind of whimsical afterthought: Susannah Siger decided to add some chocolate to the inventory at her Hampden shoe store, Ma Petite Shoe.
“As soon as I opened, chocolate connoisseurs and travelers started coming in and asking about this chocolate and that chocolate,” says Siger, who now stocks more than a hundred types of chocolate, some unadulterated, some enhanced with flavorings that range from lavender and lemongrass to bacon. Since than, Siger has used her passion for chocolate as an excuse to travel the world. “Some go to see the seven wonders,” she says. “I go seeking chocolate.” To read the full article, click here>>
Fran Capo at Ma Petite Shoe
Best of Awards
Best of Baltmore, Baltimore Magazine
2009 - Hampden: Best Shopping Neighborhood
2008 - Best Estrogen Heaven
See the whole article here.
2004 - Best Chocolate Gifts
2003 - Best Post Breakup Oasis
City Paper, Best of Awards
2009, 2008, 2007, 2005 - Reader's Poll, Baltimore's Best Shoe Store
2007 - Best Men's Shoes
See the whole article here.
How could I resist a place that sells two of the biggest stereotypical female vices? It almost seems sadistic to sell chocolate and shoes in one store - sadistically awesome!
Of course I had to go in, even though I knew the temptation would be hard to resist. Actually, it proved to be impossible. The delightfully friendly clerk knew just which buttons to push - once she began showing me some of the store's newest additions, I was putty in her hands. Every specimen was killer!
I ended up splurging on an amazing pair of vintage-style low-heeled Mary Janes, although I passed on the chocolate. Buying those shoes made me happier than any footwear purchase ever had, despite the dent in my wallet.
Jess X., Albany, NY
Every time I go to Hampden for the afternoon, I stop into Ma Petite Shoe. And every time, I am met with warmth and friendliness by whoever is working. The shoes are delightful, for both men and women, and the confections are mouthwatering...
How could I resist a place that sells two of the biggest stereotypical female vices? It almost seems sadistic to sell chocolate and shoes in one store - sadistically awesome!
What can I say? I'm a shoe girl and many of my shoes come from here. This tiny shop offers a selection of shoes from a decidedly not-standard list of designers at prices that range from almost cheap to pretty expensive. While there are some basics here, these shoes are mostly the kind that make your outfit.
Ah, the Shoe. It is a flâneur stop par excellence, a chocoholics mecca, and a foot fetishist's dream come true. Boutique shoe shopping never tasted or felt so good. I liked coming here with my wife when walking the streets of Hampden on Sunday afternoons. We sometimes bought things, but more often than not we just browsed the unique and ever-changing selections of footware, accessories, clothing, and gourmet bites. It's so much a part of the Hampden Renaissance that I would hate to imagine the Avenue w/out it!
Bradley N., Woodside, CA
Baltimore Magazine
March '10 Spring Fashion
WONDERLAND
Feaured: Poetic Licence Passion Fruit heels, Quirky peep-toe pumps in green, Irregular Choice Trinklettina pumps and Angel Court watch necklace. See full photo shoot at www.baltimoremagazine.net
One of the happiest days in my culinary life was the day I first realized that bacon could be used in a dessert context. This was when I walked out ofMa Petite Shoe with the legendary Mo's Bacon Bar from Vosges Chocolate. The smooth chocolatiness surrounding sweet and salty bits of crunchy applewood bacon were more than enough to send me over the edge. Wow.
Recently I found out that Vosges has started putting out a dark chocolate version of their famous Mo's Bacon Bar. I was ecstatic, because I much prefer the slightly bitter, more intense chocolate flavor of dark chocolate to the smooth yet slightly tamed down flavor of milk chocolate. The bar is lovely, but here's thing: although I prefer dark to milk, I prefer the milk chocolate bacon bar to the dark chocolate one.
I had to think about why this is the case.
It eventually dawned on me that the things that make me like dark chocolate don't work when you throw the sweet and salty intensity of bacon into the mix. In this case, the dark chocolate and bacon are fighting for your attention. In contrast, the milk chocolate bacon bar really lets the bacon shine. The milk chocolate isn't so much in the back seat as it is in the passenger seat - but the bacon is clearly the one driving. With the dark chocolate bacon bar, the dark chocolate is constantly fighting with the bacon to control the wheel. It works, but not as well as when there's just one driver.
So do try Mo's Dark Bacon Bar from Vosges, but I'm still sticking with the milk chocolate original.
The Baltimore Snacker
Shoes in the front, chocolates in the back. Best. Store. Ever!
The shoes are reasonably priced for what you are getting (quality stuff). They have some quirky styles that I haven't seen elsewhere (and I have a LOT of shoes).
I bought a pair of buttery soft leather boots that fit my "athletic" calves very comfortably AND actually are as knee-high as they come. I hate when I try on a pair of knee-high boots that really only come up mid-calf (not that I can usually zip those shut anyway). In Ma Petite Shoe, I found not one but TWO pairs of leather actually-knee-high boots that fit my physique, each pair priced at less than $200. That's not expensive; that's a good deal.
Yes, the selection is limited. It's a small boutique shop, so I get that. But I haven't previously walked into a shoe store where I wanted one of everything they were displaying, either. The men's shoe selection is extremely limited, but a shop this size has to target itself to a narrow audience...an audience who will get wider as they hit the back room of the shop. ;)
The chocolate selection there is really good. I was pleased to see a very large display of Vosges chocolates as well as Theo's from my hometown.
Definitely a keeper.
Tracy S., Baltimore, MD
Baltimore Sun
Thursday, February 4, 2010
By Rob Kasper
It's February, and it's time to eat chocolate - lots of chocolate
Life is short and so is February, so let's eat lots of chocolate. For fans of chocolate, this event is "like a fairy tale," said Susannah Siger of Hampden shop Ma Petite Shoe, which is serving sweet stuff at the event. "They feel like Cinderella at the ball, going to booth after booth that's serving chocolate," she said...
A panel of judges hands out awards for the best sweet and savory dishes. Area chefs have been busy crafting their offerings.
Siger's staff, for instance, will serve a "sipping" chocolate. Made with granules of dark chocolate and served in demitasse cups, it is "the espresso of the hot-chocolate world," she said. For those who likes to eat their chocolate, Siger said she will also be passing out pieces of milk chocolate bars studded with bits of cranberry and melon made by Hachez, a German chocolatier.
The Family Scherer Blog
"I went in last weekend intending only to buy some of their yummy chocolate (they have a white chocolate one with black olives that's to die for), but I came out with another fabulous pair of shoes...along with the chocolate bar."
As a continuing tradition, the Chocolate Affair is a great way to expose yourself to new and fabulous chocolates! See their website for more information here.
AirTran's In-Flight magazine, Go, January 2009
"Designer shoes share space with a collection of decadent sweets"
March 2006
"This Barcelona Bar, by Vosges Haut-Chocolat, was out of this world." Click here for the whole article.
February 2005
"Owner Susannah Siger beams with delight at the future of chocolate. “Savory chocolates are on the way. Have you ever heard of Chocolate Sushi?” she asks..." Click here for the whole article.
...opening the door of Ma Petite Shoe reduces me to drooling like Homer Simpson at the foot of a the world's largest sprinkle-covered, pink-frosted donut.
We love Baltimore for many things, from its baseball stadium to its harborside tourist haunts. But many of us love it best for its "hon" factor: the cat's-eye glasses, the bouffant hairdos, the boas and housedresses made immortal by local director John Waters and still found in certain diners, five-and-dimes and vintage clothing shops.
Saturday, the hon factor will go off the charts with the annual return of HonFest to the streets of Hampden, the most Hon-tense of Baltimore neighborhoods. Some 20,000 revelers are expected to celebrate the mystique of the kind of fun, sassy, melting-pot woman we imagine keeping a kitsch-filled house shaded by aluminum awnings.
Oh, beehive! Dolled-up revelers fill Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood for last year's HonFest, the city's annual nod to all things cat's-eye and bouffant. (By Bill Ballantyne)
"The generation between went to college and tried to leave all that," says Susannah Siger, who owns two shops in Hampden. "When I got my hair done up and the chiffon scarf and the glasses, it made me think about my grandmother and how they struggled, and the closeness of the family and the neighborhood. And it's fun!
"It's even more important to get in touch with your inner Hon if you normally dress in a navy suit," says Siger.
Yes, Washington, that means us. Here, then, is a guide to some of Baltimore's Hon-ier locales:
Baltimore is so quirky it could be straight out of a John Waters movie. Actually, much of it is ...
JHU Spring Fashion Show 2004
"The [show] is basically a way to introduce Hopkins students to this world of Hampden that they don't necessarily know about," said Susannah Bridget Siger, owner of Oh! Said Rose and Ma Petite Shoe. "It's basically a fun [introduction] to highlight the more unique, independent designers of the area."
Sweeten the pot a little with some specialty sweets available at Ma Petite Shoe. Give your girlie a pair of Darlings and a Cookie Clutch or some Supervogs and Kiss Me frog-shaped truffles. Can't think of a friend who will appreciate your Fluevog love? Then head to Ma Petite Shoe and buy yourself a little holiday cheer instead.
Metallic shoes are not only getting both thumbs up, but they can be also found virtually anywhere. ... to Ma Petite Shoe in Hampden, no matter where they were found, there are some general ideas to keep in mind when rocking a pair of oh-so-fun bright and shiny shoes.
While this store showcases its collection of funky, fancy and French shoes, it is also the place to visit when shopping for that special someone with a sweet tooth.
Need a surefire cure for the blues? Head uptown to Ma Petite Shoe (832 W. 36th St.; 410 235-3442) in kitschy Hampden. In this shop pairing shoes and gourmet chocolates, you're likely to find some sweet relief.
Ma Petite Shoe is a one-of-a-kind boutique specializing in the world's most fabulous shoes from some of the newest designers including Biviel, Miz Mooz and Poetic Licence and artisanal chocolate from the best chocolatiers in the business.
Wloy Radio
Events
The Annual Chocolate Affair
Green Festival
HampdenFest
HonFest
Baltimore Magazine, June 2006
"What's important to remember is that the reason you need so many mom-and-pop chocolate shops is that they're using fresh ingredients," says Susannah Siger, owner of Ma Petite Shoe, a store selling shoes and chocolate in Hampden. Not unlike the European tradition of having a bakery in every neighborhood, "You need a lot of little guys doing this if you're going to do the European tradition the right way."
Washington Post, March 2006
Susannah Siger, who owns... Ma Petite Shoe, a shop specializing in footwear and artisinal chocolate, sees Hampden as a place to cut loose. It's really become a destination for innovative merchants because it hasn't been Gap-ed over," said Siger. "If they've got a different idea, they come here."
Washington Post, July 2005
If you prefer gourmet chocolates - or fabulous shoes = toddle down the street to Ma Petite Shoe, which specializes in what store manager Glenn Bennett calls "a woman's two favorite things." Susannah Siger, who since 1997 has operated the nearby women's clothing and accessories boutique Oh! Said Rose, opened Ma Petite Shoe two years ago as a natural extension of that store. Its collection of shoes, slippers, sandals and handbags is augmented be delicious chocolates from France, Belgium, Germany, Ecuador and New Mexico, headquarters for Sugart, whose Stevie Famulari is known for her edible fashion and art. Try- no, really - the Chocolate Sushi: no fish (thankfully) but a handmade confection with a rich, colorful center of dried fruits and candies rolled with Belgian white chocolate complimented with an outer layer of Belgian dark chocolate and coconut toping. "It has the artistic intricacies of sushi but its made from all-natural chocolate and other baker's ingredients," says Siger, adding that "it looks like sushi and tastes like heaven.""
Baltimore Messenger, February 205
Hampden merchant's award 'Oh!' so sweet
Surrounded by chocolates and shoes, Susannah Siger, owner of Ma Petite Shoe, said the store in Hampden does more business around Valentine's Day that at any other time of the year except Christmas.
Small wonder. The store in the 800 block of 36th street, the trendy business district known as the Avenue, sells just two things - shoes and chocolate.
"Two great obsessions," said Siger, 40, her eyes twinkling. As if to prove her point, in walked Jane Anthon of Timonium and Annie Bolton and Joyce Hoebing of Towson, three friends having a day on the town Feb 3 in honor of Bolton's birthday.
"We wandered by and saw shoes and chocolate," Bolton said. As they walked in Anthon remarked, "Somebody knows how to pull in women."
Siger beamed and even more so as Bolton tried on a pair of red shoes with big buckles.
"If you don't buy them, I will," Hoebing said.
City Paper Holiday Guide 2004
Slippers and Chocolate
Ok, let's say you're an Old Milwaukee-swillin', backward ball cap-wearin' uber dork, but you've somehow letched on to a real cool chick-you know, the kind who sips wine from fluted glasses and wears a leopard skin pillbox hat. How can you show her your sensitive side? How can you demonstrate your hidden hipness? Shoes and chocolate,bunkie. That's right, take that blender back to Lechters and instead get her the frilly, silly rose slippers from Goody Goody at Ma Petite Shoe in Hampden. Throw in a little box of bonbons, and you'll maybe be allowed to keep that half-restored '39 Phaeton in the garage for another season while she parks her Beetle on the street.
The Sun December 2004
"Many people say that, to them, the Christmas season hasn't started until they've seen the Christmas parade," said Susannah Siger, owner of the Oh! Said Rose and Ma Petite Shoe shops in Hampden. "It really kicks off the Christmas season. Anything before that is just warm-up."
One of the happiest days in my culinary life was the day I first realized that bacon could be used in a dessert context. This was when I walked out ofMa Petite Shoe with the legendary Mo's Bacon Bar from Vosges Chocolate. The smooth chocolatiness surrounding sweet and salty bits of crunchy applewood bacon were more than enough to send me over the edge. Wow.
