As I was walking about downtown San Francisco, I stopped by Teuscher's to see what they had that was new (picked up a 55% cocoa bar that I'll be trying out later), and decided to walk up the hill for a visit to Richart. I was disappointed to see a sign on their door explaining that they had closed in June.
I reviewed a couple of the
Richart bars, the
Sao Tome and the
Cote D'Ivorie. They were pricey, but always excellent. They also were shaped in large squares, very unusual for chocolate bars. Sadly, San Francisco has one less chocolate boutique at which to shop.
If you're feeling mopey as a result of this (a bit stale) news, then head over to Noe Valley for a visit to a born-in-San Francisco chocolate store experience. On another wander about town, I noticed the
Chocolate Covered store. It was closed when I took this blurry phone snap, but I came back later for a visit. The window in front of the store is packed with tin boxes of all shapes and sizes that are imprinted with the names of San Francisco streets and all kinds of other pictures.
Inside the store is an excellent variety of chocolates from all over. I picked up the
Chocolove Tanzania Chocolatour bar there, and a couple others. The owner of the store explained that his wife owns a clothing boutique on the street that used to be located in this spot, but they swapped stores as his collection of decorated candy boxes expanded.
You can find
another review of Chocolate Covered here, and they rate
four and half stars on Yelp (at this writing). Their address is:
Chocolate Covered4069 24th Street
San Francisco, CA
(415) 641-8123
I was surprised to like this bar as much as I do. I associate "organic" chocolate with other bars I've tasted with that label, and they were not great. This bar has a crisp snap when broken, a pleasant aroma when sniffed, and a tangy, rich choclate flavor, and a smooth finish. All the elements of a great tasting experience. 8.5
As I was walking about downtown San Francisco, I stopped by Teuscher's to see what they had that was new (picked up a 55% cocoa bar that I'll be trying out later), and decided to walk up the hill for a visit to Richart. I was disappointed to see a sign on their door explaining that they had closed in June.
If you're feeling mopey as a result of this (a bit stale) news, then head over to Noe Valley for a visit to a born-in-San Francisco chocolate store experience. On another wander about town, I noticed the Chocolate Covered store. It was closed when I took this blurry phone snap, but I came back later for a visit. The window in front of the store is packed with tin boxes of all shapes and sizes that are imprinted with the names of San Francisco streets and all kinds of other pictures.
I had not posted the reviews for an open tasting that I had done back in May -- so this one is a little late. The Asante bar is one of Scharffen Berger's Single Origin chocolates, similar to the Tome-Acu 68% cacao bar that was tasted earlier.
This is the last of the three open tastings.
This is the second of three open tasting with the Sales Productivity Chocolate Club.
In August I once again hosted the Sales Productivity team's Chocolate Club tastings. This is the first of three "open tastings" that week.