Nestled in farmland a few miles south of Cortez is an oasis of magic and culinary art with roots in Las Vegas showmanship, offering an experience likely to dazzle even the most jaded of visitors.
On the bumpy road to get there, tourists unfamiliar with the rural Southwest may question if their excursion is worth it. But the bites of delectable chocolate awaiting them can make every rock on the road feel well earned.
Dotty Wampus is a small chocolate tasting tour on the edge of town, run by Bryan Davis and Joanne Haruta, a couple who moved to Cortez a little over a year ago, bringing with them a broad background operating elaborate food, beverage and entertainment extravaganzas for Las Vegas and Los Angeles crowds. In Cortez, they’ve traded large-scale spectacles for a smaller, more humble business.
But humble and smaller doesn’t mean any less fun.
The tour available to ticket buyers at Dotty Wampus is much like the chocolates themselves: A hybrid of multiple unique ingredients come together to form a refined whole.
Take tricks from a magic show, the chalk board knowledge of a chemistry lesson and excerpts from culinary history books, then add a cup of Willy Wonka, a dash of Harry Potter and a pinch of Pee Wee Herman.
Voilà, you’ve got Dotty Wampus.
All at once entrepreneurs and innovators, each new step for Davis and Haruta has been a new adventure.
Originally, Davis worked as an artist in amusement parks and Haruta worked for a public relations company, but the couple had the idea of moving to Spain, just outside Barcelona and starting an absinthe distillery, Davis said.
“We were kids,” he said. “We had no idea what we were doing.”
Enough attention generated by bloggers made the young couple successful, bringing their absinthe to the world of high-end cocktail bars.
Their next endeavor was in Monterey County in California, where they set up a whiskey distillery.
From there, the couple’s career in liquor took off in 2015 after Davis patented a distillation technique that allowed him to create rapidly aged spirits, akin to fast tracking years of alcohol sitting in a barrel.
Soon, big industry players in the liquor world took notice and the couple worked as consultants.
“We missed having a distillery,” Davis said.
So they opened one yet again, Lost Spirits Distillery in Los Angeles, this time going beyond just rum and whiskey tastings to offer accompanying amusement park rides. Soon enough, the show was selling out months in advance.
“That just got a life of its own and catapulted us into the entertainment side of things,” said Davis.
Las Vegas was where they went for Lost Spirits’ next evolution. Nudged into a different approach by Sin City’s business regulations, the amusement park idea was exchanged for a circus instead, opening in 2021. If that wasn’t enough, they also opened a restaurant based on the book “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”
But the operations, while successful, were too much to handle, Davis said.
“We were at 100 employees,” he said. “It was a beast.”
Financial troubles eventually interfered, according to an April 2024 article published in Eater, announcing that Davis and Haruta’s operations had closed down.
Quickly after their Las Vegas endeavors, the couple looked for what was next.
Cortez became a place for the couple to scale back and slow down, turning away from their award-winning liquor and high profile entertainment hubs for a more modest focus on chocolates, but without letting go of the delights.
“This place could have just been a glass table thing full of chocolates,” Davis said. “But it’s way more fun dreaming up what you can do to it and going to town on it.”
After arriving a little over a year ago, then taking a few months to develop Dotty Wampus, Davis and Haruta opened their tour up for a few months last fall. They closed down temporarily, then reopened officially just before summer started.
The rustic exterior of Dotty Wampus lends well to the first impression of surprises inside: marble counter tops, Victorian-style decor and an electric and audio system with wiring that can only be speculated upon.
The couple makes all their chocolates on-site, churning out about 1,000 chocolate truffles a week, Davis said.
Without giving too much away, guests who take the excursion to Dotty Wampus should be prepared for head-scratching magical tricks, quirky jokes, talking animals and much more.
Those curious about history will learn how chocolate went from Mesoamerican sacrament to European kitchen experiment.
Others inclined to artisan cookery can listen closely for tips to make their own chocolate.
Adults and kids alike are bound to enjoy the day’s sugar-filled bites and displays of enchantment. (Heads up: Some children may not be fond of one chocolate, offered toward the tour’s end, with a flavor that hearkens back to the couple’s distillery days.)
Of course, there’s the true heart of the experience: the varied mouthwatering chocolates themselves. Those who embark on the tour can expect a cornucopia of flavors when they taste each chocolate offered at Dotty Wampus.
Naturally, Davis and Haruta help themselves, too, with a degree of moderation.
“I think if I ate all of them on every tour, I would be like 700 pounds by now,” Davis said.
Everyone’s appetites are different, but for those who end the tour wanting more, chocolates are available for purchase.
“We don’t really want to get bigger per se,” Davis said.
The number of guests may vary, but the maximum they could allow is a little under 50 people attending the tour per a given day, he said.
“I love the idea of making it ever increasingly elaborate. I don’t necessarily like the idea of turning it into Disneyland.”
A bigger operation would be out of compliance with county codes, Davis said. Plus, it would mean hiring more employees and raising more funds anyhow, he said.
And that’s not something neither Davis nor Haruta want.
“Then, before you know it, we’re back where we started.”
With chocolates to craft and more features to add for their tour experience, they’ve got plenty of work to do.
At Dotty Wampus, the show is just getting started.
To learn more about Dotty Wampus or book a tour, visit www.dottywampus.com.
