What lies behind the beards

Washington

THE beards said it all, really. Long and well groomed, attached to handsome young faces, they were the beards of men who worked the land. The beards of men who built things with their own hands, which, we all surmised, were callused, but clean. Those beards told a story about a New York-made brand of handmade chocolate of "meticulous craftsmanship" produced "bean-to-bar" from cacao that the two bearded brothers and company founders, Michael and Rick Mast, brought back after journeying to tiny rustic farms overseas.

So when that carefully crafted image began to melt away - when the website DallasFood.org alleged that the Mast Brothers made their US$10 bars from re-melted Valrhona chocolate and the rest of the food media piled on - it was no surprise that everyone focused on the beards.