“No children have ever been lost in a chocolate factory,” at least as far as Chris Vistro knows, and certainly none on their watch at Taza Chocolate, despite what Roald Dahl would have you believe. Between graduating from Commonwealth in 2009 and Taza, Chris “ended up in all sorts of weird places,” like spending nine months in the woods of North Carolina WWOOFing, aka working on homesteads through World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. After returning to Boston, they started at Taza in 2015. Today, as Director of Retail and Administrative Operations, Chris oversees Taza’s factory store, tour program, customer service team, offsite events, and more, with no Oompa Loompa assistance whatsoever.

1. What three words best describe Commonwealth?

Rigorous, interesting, engaging.

2. What is your favorite Commonwealth memory?

There's a really silly photograph somewhere of me and a couple of other folks doing the Metro crossword on the floor in the middle of the Commonwealth lobby. I think we were trying to do it as fast as possible. That sums up the culture of Commonwealth, at least amongst my friend group.

3. What’s your #1 piece of advice for Commonwealth students?

Take advantage of the resources and the teachers you have available to you. I feel like it's rare to find people who are genuinely invested in you like that. 

4. What was your favorite Commonwealth class?

I really enjoyed classes with Rebecca Jackman; Chemistry was great. 

5. What does your ideal afternoon entail?

Ooh, I've been playing a lot of tabletop role-playing games recently, so a solid Dungeons & Dragons session sounds like a great afternoon.

6. Whom do you most admire?

It sounds cliché, but my mom. We immigrated from the Philippines when I was 11, and it’s the classic, single mom immigrant story.

7. Which word or phrase do you most overuse?

“If the spirit moves you.” I say that a lot when I’m asking someone to do something and trying to be casual!

8. What attracted you to your work?

A job at a chocolate factory definitely seemed fun! But something particularly interesting to me was Taza’s commitment to direct trade. Back when I started, that wasn’t something you saw in chocolate a lot. I had been in the coffee industry, where sustainability and social consciousness were more common. It was interesting to see a company doing that sort of work in chocolate and also locally. When we first started, you could find either really high-quality cacao beans, fair-trade cacao beans, or organic cacao beans, but not all three at the same time. That was the impetus of starting those direct-trade relationships and just doing it on our own. So that's what drew me to Taza, and that's still really great about working here now. 

9. What myth(s) would you like to dispel around your work?

You don't eat nearly as much chocolate as you think you would. And no children have ever been lost in a chocolate factory, as far as I know. 

10. What is your favorite aspect of your career?

Honestly, the people I work with. I am really fortunate to have a super-supportive boss, and the entire team is super curious about chocolate and excited to talk about it all day.

11. How do you define success?

If you have reached a point in life where you don't get the Sunday Scaries, I think that's pretty successful.

12. What are people surprised to learn about you?

I don't think I'm that surprising. At this point, I'm what it says on the tin.

13. If you could have dinner with one person—alive or dead—who would it be?

I'd like to have dinner with my grandmother—when she was my age. That'd be really fun and interesting.

14. Scripted or improvised?

I mean, D&D is a lot of improvisation. You plan so much [as a Dungeon Master], and then the players do whatever they want. And you go, Okay, we're off the rails. 

15. What is your favorite museum?

The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. It was the best, funniest, weirdest tour I've ever been on. The guide was all over any eighteenth-century pharmacological question. And he had a handlebar mustache. 

16. What do you bring to a potluck?

Honestly, chocolate in various forms, because it's easily accessible to me!

17. What is your favorite dessert—sans chocolate?

Peach-blueberry pie. We had this pie at my wedding in lieu of cake so this will always be my favorite. 

18. What was your go-to Boston eatery as a Commonwealth student?

I mean, Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's on Newbury Street was always solid. 

19. If you could live as a local for 48 hours anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Ooh, there are so many places on my travel bucket list! Malaysia would be fun.

20. Who would you want to play you in a movie of your life?

Eva Noblezada. I saw her in Hadestown a couple times.

Bonus: What is your favorite compliment?

If your socks catch my eye, I will compliment you on them. I mean, if you've got good socks, you’ve clearly got a good personality. 

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