Oak Cliff's CocoAndré reopens in a bigger Centre Street home rooted in Mexican heritage

Andrea and Cindy Pedraza started CocoAndré after losing their jobs in 2009, putting their last paychecks into the business, NBC 5 reports. Now the mother-daughter team has reopened CocoAndré Chocolatier & Horchateria in a larger Oak Cliff space, just in time for Hispanic Heritage Month. It's their first permanent storefront in three years.

The new shop is in a remodeled 5,000-square-foot building at 423 Centre Street. The old shop on West Seventh Street was 1,600 square feet, according to The Dallas Morning News. The new location has a retail shop, a production kitchen, a coffee bar and space for work by local Mexican American artisans. Upstairs, an open room is set aside for cultural events, classes and art exhibitions. "It took us two and a half years to build this space and make it exactly as we wanted. It's much larger and reflects a lot of who we are as a family," Andrea Pedraza told the Morning News.

Regulars will find familiar comforts. The café serves coffee, teas and Mexican drinks such as horchata, champurrado and pozol, plus new matcha creations and seasonal treats like pumpkin horchata. Andrea Pedraza, the chef chocolatier, makes the chocolates, sold both as bars and as molded shapes. The coffee comes from Chiapas, Mexico, CultureMap Dallas reports. The Morning News reports that the larger kitchen turns out at least 600 pounds of chocolate a week for hotels and other businesses.

For the Pedrazas, the move is about more than chocolate. NBC 5 notes that their Seventh Street shop became known for neighborhood gatherings, Día de los Muertos celebrations, markets and community events. The family says the new home is a fresh chance to share their Mexican heritage with the neighborhood they call home. The grand opening was held Saturday, Sept. 26.

This story is based on original reporting by NBC 5 DFW, with additional reporting from The Dallas Morning News and CultureMap Dallas.