A cause of celebration for chocoholics? Or another fattening temptation? The Xocolate Bar is a brand new store at 1709 Solano Avenue in Berkeley, CA that opened on June 14, and it is well worth a visit.
The Xocholate Bar (pronounced "sh"ocolate) features homemade truffles made with a blend of several different dark chocolates. With a 70% chocolate content, these bonbons have an intense chocolate flavor without tasting waxy. Co-owner Malena Lopez-Maggi (pictured behind the counter) presides over the incredible display case of chocolate creations and will gladly give free samples all day. The idea of Xocolate was dreamed up on a beach in Thailand where she, with co-owner Clive Brown, came up with the dream of opening a chocolate café.Just as good as the chocolates is the store's selection of gelato and sorbet. In my first visit to the store on Tuesday evening, I sampled one scoop of chocolate and one scoop of lemon sorbet, a great combination. The chocolate was dark and rich, perhaps a tad too sweet, and the lemon was tart and extremely lemon-y. The combination of the two flavors made for a wonderful dessert.
Is it possible to stop with one visit to Xocolate? I suspect not. Berkeley, California, also the home of Scharffen Berger, is well on the way to becoming the chocolate capital of the world!
copyright (c) 2007 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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