The Cocoa Prescription: Tony's Brooklyn Story

The jingle of the bell over the door at "Perk & Grind" in Williamsburg was as familiar to Tony as his own heartbeat. Every Tuesday and Thursday, he’d claim the worn leather armchair by the window, laptop open, with a single, deliberate ritual: a small square of 70% dark chocolate, savored slowly with his black coffee.

His friends joked about his "chocolate habit." "Dessert for breakfast, Tony?" they'd tease. But Tony wasn't indulging; he was on a regimen—a quiet rebellion against his family's history of heart problems.