Dear Coco
Address: 428 Harvey Milk Blvd #103
Telephone: 801-883-7298
Website: dearcoco.love
District: Central City
“The universe has really taken care of me.” When you step inside Dear Coco, opened at the end of the summer in 2025, there is a sense that the universe has indeed conspired to bring everything, and everyone, here. The air is rich with the scent of Belgian chocolate and espresso, the shelves lined with thoughtful gifts, and at the counter, owner Susan Clissold greets each person as though they are already part of her story.
Born and raised in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Susan’s life has been defined by movement and curiosity. As a child, she was constantly outdoors - riding horses, playing field hockey, and having the beach as her playground. She admits, "I was a tomboy, always getting dirty, never a care in the world.” After studying hospitality management, she trained as a chef in 2002 and quickly rose to the top of her class, earning a placement at The Rubens at the Palace, a five-star hotel across from Buckingham Palace. From there she moved to the Michelin-starred Swan in West Malling, then returned home when her visa expired to work in her parents’ boutique hotel.
In time, adventure called again. Susan joined the crew of a yacht as its chef, sailing through Mexico, Cuba, and the Bahamas until a hurricane ended that chapter and sent her to the mainland United States. She eventually landed in Salt Lake City where life, true to form, shifted again. She married, had two children, and opened KUDU Boutique, a fair-trade gallery in Sugar House that celebrated handmade work from her homeland. When the demands of travel and family made it too difficult to continue, she closed Kudu and ended her marriage, but her creative spirit refused to rest. “I’m a thinker, I’m a doer,” she said. “If I sit still too long, I get into trouble.”
A short stint at a tanning salon simply to get back among people led to an unexpected turn. One customer, the HR director of Grand America, recognized Susan’s warmth and professionalism and offered her a position. Within months, she was flying on the company jet, eventually becoming Director of Retail for Grand America Hotels & Resorts. Those years gave her a deep understanding of design, merchandising, and service, skills that would later shape her own business. After leaving Grand America, she founded Her Majesty Rep Group, representing jewelry brands across the Southwest. Later, Susan joined Morgan Jewelers, a practical decision that helped her secure both a mortgage and an SBA loan.
Love, however, would open an entirely new door. In 2022, while visiting her family in South Africa, Susan met Kayle Van Zyl in a bank - pure happenstance. Kayle, a former professional rugby player, who had spent nearly a decade competing in Italy, was back home caring for his ill father and contemplating what would come next. Friendship grew into a transatlantic romance. They spoke daily, and every few months, Susan flew back to see him. In June 2024 he arrived in Utah, and by August they were married.
Because Kayle could not yet work in the U.S., they brainstormed a way to build something together. Susan first dreamed of opening a fish-and-chips shop. When she found a storefront in her neighborhood, however, she knew instinctively it was meant for something different. “I told the landlord, ‘Trust me, it’s going to be amazing,’” she said with a laugh. She designed the interior herself, secured financing through Zions Bank (“I called them every day!”), and set about creating a space where people could gather, sip something delicious, and find a perfect gift to take home.
At the heart of it all is chocolate. Through one of Kayle's rugby friends from Belgium, Susan discovered BE Chocolate. She is careful with the word “partner,” but she sings the praises of BE, the Belgian company based in Fairfield, Connecticut. Chef-owner Benoit Raquet supplies Dear Coco with the hot-chocolate and frozen-chocolate powders and the same Belgian morsels he uses in his own shop; he also entrusted Susan with a tightly guarded recipe. “It’s an under lock-and-key recipe.” The result is their showstopper: the Frozen Hot Chocolate. They make a thick, rich Belgian hot chocolate, then freeze it, crown it with whipped cream, and finish with Belgian chocolate shavings. “It’s like we managed to get the Coca-Cola recipe,” she said. “It changed everything.” And, alongside this outstanding drink, the counter gleams with handmade Belgian chocolates - small, sculpted bites in flavors like double dark, strawberry cayenne, cranberry, caramel apple, chai, and champagne and raspberry. Each is as artful as it is indulgent.
The drink menu is just as imaginative: tiramisu lattes, perfectly balanced matcha, and fresh-canned iced drinks that sparkle with color. Seasonal offerings rotate. For the fall it is a Pumpkin Cheesecake Latte made with real cream cheese with each one being a small work of art.
Beyond the counter, Dear Coco feels like a curated walk through Susan’s sensibility. Seedlings cards embedded with plantable confetti share space with Breathe People watercolor and clay-craft kits that invite spontaneous creativity. From California’s Flamingo Estate come heirloom tomato candles, vinegars, and olive oils pressed from 150-year-old trees. There are collectible Charlie Bears plush animals, local honey, dog toys, and one of Susan’s favorite imports from South Africa: the Field Bar, a sleek, high-end portable cooler that looks more like a fashion accessory than camping gear. “You can find something here for three dollars or three-hundred-fifty,” she said. “But everything is made to be loved.”
Kayle, for his part, brings both warmth and calm. A natural host, he handles pop-ups and greets regulars with his South African charm. His athletic past shows in his teamwork; his gentleness shows in how easily he laughs. “He’s the reason BE Chocolate found us,” Susan smiled. “Doors open when Kayle’s involved.”
There is, however, a deeper reason Susan built Dear Coco. Professional kitchens had not always been kind places for young women. The language, the hours, the constant proving, she had seen enough of that world. “I still love the craft,” she said, “but I wanted to practice it on my own terms.” Dear Coco became that chance: to create beauty, welcome community, and weave her culinary training into something joyful and hers alone.
A visit should start with the Frozen Hot Chocolate. Linger. Browse. Talk to Susan about South Africa or to Kayle about rugby. Let them tell you what is coming next because change is already underway. Susan has just filed the DBA for a new name - Better than Coco - a nod both to the BE Chocolate team that helped spark it all and to her belief that life, like chocolate, only gets richer when shared. “If you don’t tell your own story, who will?” she asked. “When people walk through that door, they feel the care, the love, the story. That’s enough for me.”
