Erika Cline Builds New Chapter of Bleu Chocolàt on St. Croix After a Lifetime in the Culinary Arts

Erika Dupree Cline’s journey from her grandmother’s kitchen to national acclaim, television appearances, and now a chocolate shop in downtown Christiansted spans decades of discipline, mentorship, setbacks, and reinvention. Her conversation on Live With Laura traced how early lessons, rigorous culinary training, and a career shaped by recognition and loss ultimately led her back to the Caribbean to build the latest chapter of Bleu Chocolàt. Ms. Cline said her earliest inspiration came from helping her grandmother bake. “I wanted to lick the bowl, and the only way I could lick the bowl was to help her,” she said, recalling the pies and pound cakes they made together. That foundation eventually carried her into formal culinary studies in Detroit, where the standards were exacting. “You never walk into a kitchen without a notepad and a pencil. You needed to make sure that your uniform was on point and you knew your position and not to step out of line.” Though the expectations were stri...