Venture Chocolate + Wine Co. added their new bookstore and cafe directly above their original location on 605 W King St. in December 2025, expanding their space, products and audience.
When walking into Venture’s new addition, customers are met at the door with a warm environment of bookshelves filled with a broad range of literature, the smell of Local Lion coffee and a new seating area that leads into their downstairs wine cellar.
Along with the cafe and books, Venture sells other products such as olive oil, curated tea, wine and chocolate, which is roasted and made in-house.
All books are curated by Josiah Davis, co-owner of Venture and a Watauga County local, who focuses on having a good assortment to fit customers’ interests. The shelves feature a broad range of genres including classic literature, bestsellers, culinary arts and history.
Jeshua Jolly, who is also a co-owner, wanted to create an environment for community members to relax and engage with one another.
“Creating an outlet for people, for Venture specifically, that’s more conversation driven and more traditional in the way of sitting down and having a cup of coffee with a friend and just talking about your day, not having to be on a device is something we went for,” Jolly said.
Since opening, Jolly said the bookstore’s foot traffic has been greater than expected.
Before its new addition, Venture was solely located in the lower level below Appalachian Threads. Following a conversation with its leasers, Appalachian Threads moved over one building to a vacant lot. This allowed Venture to open its bookstore directly above its initial location, connecting the two through a stairway.
Jolly noted differences amongst the two floors, describing upstairs as “daytime cafe, more relaxed but yet elegant,” meant for studying and coffee dates. While downstairs is intended for celebrating with friends or going out on a romantic date.
Venture had its grand opening in August 2022. The Davis family owns Local Lion as well, making the two sister businesses that share coffee and chocolate products. Local Lion is also where the Davis’ met Jolly, who started working there as a baker in 2014.
“Without Local Lion this could not have been possible for us,” Jolly said when reflecting on Venture’s evolution over the past years.
Jolly said one of the reasons they settled on the name Venture was because of the unique ingredients in their products such as cacao, hibiscus and apricot, which carry flavors and terroir distinct to its region, creating a geographical experience for customers.
“So you’re venturing out through our products, going to these different spots in the world,” Jolly said.
Although books and tea weren’t part of Venture’s initial vision, both families welcome the new addition. Jolly said that Venture does not primarily see its identity as wine and chocolate or coffee and books, but as “all combined,” bringing a unique date-night experience to Boone residents.
“The funny thing about books is it kind of does a similar thing to what we’re trying to do through our food items. It’s like, kind of take you to a certain place, ” Jolly said. “Books do that in a way.”
