Long time Hudson Valley chocolatier, chef, caterer, and restaurateur Oliver Kita, 66, died at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla on Saturday, October 28. The owner of Oliver Kita Fine Confections for 27 years, formerly in Rhinebeck and until recently on Route 28 in Kingston, Kita was known as a perfectionist with an all-encompassing passion for his work and its artistic presentation, incorporating perfumes, herbs, flowers, and exotic fruits and spices into his artisan creations. He had been hospitalized since the beginning of October.
A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, Kita opened Heaven Café in Woodstock in 1996, which he operated for 10 years before concluding he had done all he wanted to in the restaurant business and turning his attention to chocolate, according to his CIA alumni biography. Kita then studied at L’École Lenôtre and L’École du Grand Chocolat Valrhona in France, and the Academy du Chocolat Barry-Callebaut in Montreal, and was mentored by the famous French chocolatier Michel Cluizel, according to the CIA. He also received training in 2004 at the Beringer Vineyard School of Culinary Arts in Napa Valley.
An avid reader and gardener, Kita often said that he got many of his ideas from those pursuits, creating a delicate violet chocolate that left a hint of violets in its wake, and chocolates with an Asian flavor that were inspired by a Pearl Buck novel he had read, according to the CIA. A firm believer in the health benefits of chocolate, Kita trademarked the tagline “Mind-Body-Chocolate Every Day” for his confections. His custom line of “Handmade in the Hudson Valley Estate Chocolates” were sold at the great estates along the Hudson, including Vandermint at the Vanderbuilt Estate, Fala’s Peanut Butter Bon-Bon at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt home and library in Hyde Park, and Mills Pistachio Marzipan at the Mills Mansion. His “Spiritual” line featured chocolate Buddhas of various sizes, vegan chocolate Buddhas in “The Eight-Fold Path of Chocolate Awareness,” and chocolate-dipped matzah.
In 2007, Kita told Chronogram Magazine that by tasting a finely crafted piece of chocolate, “you can understand where you are and appreciate what you have, right now, today. It’s focused attention through pleasure.”
Adds Kevin Kraft, his husband of 36 years, “He had the capacity to bring love an beauty to all he came in contact with. He walked in beauty.”
In 2017, Kita was awarded a Gold Medal by International Chocolate Awards – The America’s, the world’s largest craft chocolate competition worldwide. In 2016, he was named a “Top Ten Chocolatier” in the United States by Dessert Professional magazine, and voted “Best Chocolatier” in the Hudson Valley in 2011 and 2007 by Hudson Valley Magazine.
Oliver Kita Fine Catering, which operated its catering kitchen from the historic Beekman Arms Hotel in Rhinebeck, was established in 1996 and included artistic wedding cakes and European-style pastries in addition to personalized, off-premise catering at private and historic locations throughout the Hudson Valley.
Born in Battle Creek Michigan in 1957 to the late Leon and Evelyn Kita, Kita graduated from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan with a B.A. degree in microbiology. He graduated from the CIA in 1990. Kita is survived by his husband, Kevin Kraft; and sisters Susan Kriegbaum and Patricia (Eric) Heffner; brothers-in-law Peter (Lori) Kraft, Ed Ullmann, Richard (Suzanne) Kraft, and Joseph Chambers; sister-in-law Ann Marie (Robert) Bender; and many nieces and nephews.In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his sister Margaret Chambers, brother-in-law Dave Kriegbaum, and sister-in-law Patty Ullmann; and mother-in-law Anne Shorr.
A funeral service for Kita will be held on Friday, November 3 at 10 a.m. at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Woodstock, NY.
Because Kita was forced to close his business suddenly and medical expenses are expected to extend well beyond his insurance coverage, friends in the local community have created a Go Fund Me campaign to crowd fund these costs and ensure expenditures covering the unanticipated business closing and staff compensation are covered. Donations can be made at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/medical-fundraiser-for-oliver-kita/donate.
Join the family! 
