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After nearly 3 decades of sweet success, Penticton’s Accent Chocolate passes the torch

Eva and Les Poloskey are retiring, but not before they’ve trained their successors
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Timea Bordas and Eva Poloskey put together a box of chocolates. Poloskey, owner of Accent Chocolate in Penticton, is handing down the reigns to Bordas and Nikoletta Tormas. (Brennan Phillips - Western News)

After almost 30 years, Eva and Les Poloskey are turning over the reins of Penticton’s beloved Accent Chocolate.

The couple had multiple offers before they decided that the worthiest successors would be another pair of Hungarian immigrants like they were, Nikoletta Tormas and Timea Bordas.

“They wanted to go with the same heritage, like them we are Hungarians, so they wanted to get the same blood in the business and what they built up,” said Tormas.

The new owners of the store have been hard at work over the last month-and-a-half learning all of the tricks the Poloskey’s have come up with over their years as chocolatiers. That includes not just the standard chocolates, but also special orders and chocolates for events like Valentine’s Day.

Nikoletta Tormas working on a mold of chocolates. Tormas has been working under Eva and Les Poloskey to take over Accent Chocolate in Penticton. (Brennan Phillips - Western News)
Nikoletta Tormas working on a mold of chocolates. Tormas has been working under Eva and Les Poloskey to take over Accent Chocolate in Penticton. (Brennan Phillips - Western News)

The two have already settled into finding what they excel at, with Borvas for example enjoying the patience that decorating the Valentine’s hearts and Easter eggs takes while Tormas is better with the figure making, such as chocolate bunnies.

“We’re lucky, because we got to learn from the best chocolatiers in the valley,” said Borvas.

The Poloskeys are happy with their choice as they continue to pass on their experience. A steady stream of customers and neighbours have visited the store ever since the first rumours about the new owners began to circulate the community, and many people have left their well wishes with the Poloskeys as they consider what the future will bring.

“I’m 75, how should I feel? They are handy, they are good, they work hard, they learned a lot, I think they’re going to be okay,” said Les.

For Eva, finally stepping away from such a large part of her life is leaving her with mixed emotions.

“I was just telling the girls this morning, I was 40 years old when we go into this business, [Les] was 45, and here we are; now I’m 70 and he’s 75,” Eva said.

“The people who came into the shop, they were part of our family, they clothed me, put the roof over my head, fed me. It’s really hard to go, but it’s time to call it quits.”

Keeping the business going with the level of work ethic the Poloskeys put into it is the main focus of the new owners, and they are hard at work to make sure that when an old customer comes in, they can find the same quality they’re used to. Outside of reopening the coffee shop portion of the business for people to come in and grab a seat, nothing of what people loved about Accent Chocolate is set to change.

“It’s going to be hard for a couple of months to have the people [get to] know us, but we will do everything the same, but it’s going be just a phase,” said Tormas.

“The faces are going to be changing but the business is going to stay the same.”

Tormas and Borvas are currently set to open up Accent Chocolate as owners on April 17.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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Brennan Phillips

About the Author: Brennan Phillips

Brennan was raised in the Okanagan and is thankful every day that he gets to live and work in one of the most beautiful places in Canada.
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