NEW YORK — Johan Halsberghe was just 8 years old the first time he made chocolate mousse. He was taught by his grandfather Jozef, a local baker in Old Antwerp in Belgium, where he grew up.

"Mousse is a very fluffy texture. It's not pudding, it's not ice cream, very fluffy, airy and well balanced dessert," Halsberghe said.

Two years ago, Halsberghe, who started training as a chef when he was 12 years old, and his wife, Jaqueline Queiroz, opened what they believe is the first mousse bar in the whole country. 

MOJO Desserts is on East 100th Street near Lexington Avenue in East Harlem, the same neighborhood where they live with their two kids. Halsberghe came to the U.S. 11 years ago to work for the Belgian ambassador to the United Nations, where he made lunches, dinners and desserts. 

"Coming from Belgium of course, a dessert with chocolate would be really appreciated so I started making chocolate mousse, and people loved it so much that every time they would come back for a lunch or a dinner, [they'd] say, 'Is it going to be chocolate mousse for dessert?'" said Halsberghe.

They started selling at small events and parties, then expanded. The mousse is available in around 300 retail stores, and at the shop, with flavors including dark and white chocolate, hazelnut, passion fruit and matcha.

They opened the shop in February 2020, five weeks before the COVID-19 shutdown in New York City. They survived by offering up a comfort food menu for delivery, an online store and bringing coffee and, of course, mousse to staff at local hospitals. 

"We created this campaign, and from there we donated over 10,000 mousse cups and coffees not only to our surrounding hospitals but also all throughout the city," Queiroz said.

Last July, MOJO added some Brazilian to its Belgian flair. Queiroz is from Brazil, and they opened a cocktail bar connected to the mousse bar as a quick way to travel between Belgium and Brazil.  

Find out more about Mojo Desserts.