BRADENTON BEACH, Fla. — The Fudge Factory on Bradenton Beach is selling viral Dubai chocolate bars for Valentine's Day.
Owner Benjamin Kaminecki said the chocolate bars became a viral sensation on TikTok.
"It's viral, all over TikTok, so I said alright, let's make it ourselves," said Benjamin Kaminecki.
The chocolate bars are made with pistachios and knafeh.
"We have a sign on the window. People come by every day. I want to try the Dubai chocolate. It tastes is out of this world," he said.
He is also selling traditional chocolate-covered strawberries for Valentine's Day.
"Everything we make here in the shop is made by hand in our shop. Nothing we bring in the door," he said.
"We have chocolate-covered strawberries. We have homemade truffles, turtles, fudge, pretty much all the chocolate we make here in our shop."
The Fudge Factory reopened on Thanksgiving Day along with the Siesta Key location.
In late September, Hurricane Helene flooded the store on Bridge Street.
"We lost everything. The whole entire store was underwater. We lost everything from the showcases, the freezers, everything in the entire store is brand new," said Kaminecki.
He said after he reopened in November, the first few months were slow.
"The first two months after we opened up was really, really slow. The month of February, thank God, our numbers are back up again. Hopefully, we're going to have a good season," he said.
The majority of businesses along Bridge Street have reopened since the two hurricanes.
"It's changed a lot. All the big, high sand is gone, most of the debris is gone. It definitely looks like back before we had the hurricanes."
“You know, it might just be time we take a look if HOAs are really even necessary.
Maybe we should just do away with homeowner associations as a whole.”
South Florida lawmaker Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami) says it may be time to do away with homeowners associations altogether, as more Floridians speak out about rising fees, costly lawsuits, and even arrests tied to HOA disputes. He said this week that he is considering filing legislation in the next session that would abolish HOAs statewide.
