A co-worker calls this Norfolk help-desk guy the king of chocolate

By Theresa Curry

Correspondent

Hard-working staff members at the Norfolk office of Vandeventer Black LLP know whom to call when they're struggling with installation of new computers or the day-to-day-glitches that interfere with their work. It's Kerry O'Neill, the help-desk guy. But during his 15 years with the international firm, O'Neill has earned a reputation for another kind of troubleshooting.

"He's the man we rely on to keep the chocolate monster at bay in our offices," said Cammie Halley, a paralegal with the firm. "He's not only a great guy, but he keeps our spirits up with his wonderful desserts." Halley said O'Neill's co-workers have nicknamed him "Theobromine" for the phytochemical found in the cocoa bean.

O'Neill didn't begin with a big interest in food or cooking.

"I grew up eating meat and potatoes, and always enjoyed our meals, but didn't pay much attention," O'Neill said.

His military family moved often, and his mother found a job at each new home, but she always found time to put dinner on the table, he said. One food memory he does have - perhaps a predictor of his future interest - is of his mother's wonderful chocolate chip cookies.

"I once asked her where she got the recipe, and I was surprised to learn it was always right on the back of the bag of chocolate chips. I thought it was some kind of family secret."

After college, O'Neill returned to Norfolk, the final naval post of his father, now retired; and his family still gathers for dinner every two weeks.

"I think it's important," he said. "It gives us time to catch up with each other."

He joined Vandeventer Black after college and was invited early on to an office dinner.

"I admitted I didn't know much about cooking, so they suggested I bring dessert," he said.

His creative efforts on this occasion involved scoops of vanilla and coffee ice cream and crème de menthe.

"I know it doesn't sound very complex to someone who cooks," he said, " but I found it to be a challenge, and I loved it."

Buoyed by the enthusiastic reception of his parfaits, O'Neill started down a fascinating new path, one that appealed to his sense of creativity as well as his training as a man of science. Desserts quickly became his specialty.

"I like baking because you follow a recipe precisely and it works," he said. "Cooking meals is harder because it's not as exact - you have to be able to imagine what will taste good and how much to put in."

And, although he'll bake an occasional apple or cherry pie, his main interest is chocolate.

"It's pretty universal," he said. "Who doesn't love chocolate?"

O'Neill's personal dessert journey has taken him from scooping ice cream to one of the most demanding processes in the repertoire of a chocolatier. For special occasions like Christmas and Valentine's Day, he makes truffles, the painstaking, hand-rolled balls of chocolate, butter, cream and flavoring that require both patience and a deft touch with the chocolate.

When it's time to gear up for his seasonal production, O'Neill buys his chocolate by the 10-pound block from Wine & Cake Hobbies in Norfolk and grinds the chocolate in his Kitchen-Aid grinder attachment for easier and more even distribution among the other ingredients.

The process, which involves a great deal of waiting as the chocolate hardens between handling, can take as long as a whole day for each 50 truffles (O'Neill typically makes 450 of the rich bites at Christmastime). It doesn't faze him: in fact, the harder the recipe, the more he seems to like it. One of his brownie recipes takes up two pages in the cookbook; another has 20 ingredients.

Life at the law firm isn't all tortes, estates and court appearances. There's a quirky tradition every year that involves everyone in a hard-fought dessert contest. If the truffles are an endurance run for O'Neill, the office "cookie day" is the competitive sprint.

No one knows quite how cookie day got started, but it predates O'Neill's employment there and his passion for baking. Because of his interest, he is now the guardian of the tradition and is known to his co-workers as the "cookie commish." He makes sure the rules are followed each year and that submissions - which are flown to the Norfolk office by FedEx from the firm's other national offices - are correctly numbered and displayed. He's the favorite each year to win in at least one of the categories (cookies, noncookies, chocolate, nonchocolate and healthier cookies) which are displayed by number and judged by people's choice.

It doesn't have to be Valentine's Day, Christmas or Cookie Day for O'Neill to treat his co-workers, Halley said.

"Anytime at all, he's likely to appear with a chocolate cookie or brownie, just when you need it most. He is the King of Chocolate."

Theresa Curry flavor@pilotonline.com