When you walk into Cacao Atlanta Chocolate Company’s sparkling new boutique in Buckhead’s Garden Hills shopping district, it’s like entering a Parisian wonderland. Filled wall to wall with prettily parceled packages, candies of every shape and size, and brilliant hues of tangerine and turquoise, the shop performs an unexpected feat of balancing gleaming elegance with hospitable warmth. There’s something intoxicating about this romantic gem that makes passersby linger for a while, perhaps in hope that they’ll absorb a bit of the magical ambience along with their espresso and chocolate bar.    Designed in full by nymph-like entrepreneur and chocolatier Kristen Hard, this second Cacao location (the first is in Inman Park) is the full realization of Hard’s dream. Utilizing the bean-tobar process, a highly specialized technique that few chocolatiers use in the United States, Hard focuses on preserving the taste profile of every pod and every bean—the results being one-of-a-kind products more tantalizing than any chocolate you’ve ever tasted.   Upon listening to Hard’s adventures—first of working as a chef on a yacht where she discovered her passion for chocolate while experimenting in the boat’s tiny kitchen, then on the cacao fields in places like Trinidad and Peru, where she spends a large chunk of her time, you realize that this design-savvy woman has far more to offer the world than just a pretty face.   “I’m like a big nerd inside,” Hard says as she flashes a smile and swings a Lanvin-clad foot over one leg. “I love science. I am so interested in the most technical details of the science behind fermentation in chocolate. But that doesn’t mean I can’t wear a super cute necklace or have adorable Louboutin shoes.” Which is a sentiment that resonates throughout Hard’s impressive staff: six stunning women whom Hard describes as “cool, independent, authentic and amazing,” and all of whom are capable of turning out products that speak for themselves.   Since her first epiphany while working on the boat, Hard has devoted herself to chocolate and even became a certified master chocolatier on top of her training as a chef. “When it comes to chocolate making, I’ve never seen any of it,” she confesses. “It’s all come to me from within. It comes from tasting and understanding and having a feeling of what the chocolate is supposed to be, then manifesting that. I feel like what we’ve done is almost set a parameter for the chocolate world, because no one does what we do.”     While there are a few bean-to-bar chocolate producers in the Southeast, only a few companies in the country are sourcing directly. (Hard guesstimates there are about five in addition to her own.) Cacao chocolate bars contain an abundancy of vitamins, including polyphenol, the glorious mood-enhancer, as well as a rich burst of fiber—more than what’s found in a piece of whole wheat bread. So when you bite into a decadent bar from Cacao, you’re not just supporting sustainable farming techniques or the craft of bean-to-bar chocolate making; you’re also doing something good for yourself.   In Hard’s Buckhead boutique, she’ll be serving up chocolates, espresso drinks, flavored milk and gelato from High Road, plus fudge, nougat and chocolate croissants made from scratch (sold on Fridays or Saturdays in limited quantities). She’ll also be offering tasting parties featuring favorite pairings, like vermouth and chocolate. But it’s the occasional class Hard plans on teaching that elicits the largest smile. “There may only be two people in the class, but I’m still going to do it,” she says, beaming.