374375 Fri Feb 23 18:17:23 -0800 2007 7 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 2324245 I stopped in to the new store today - it is on Hollis, right across from the Starbucks. http://www.charleschocolates.com/store The store is not completely done - still a somewhat spartan display, but quite a varied selection (all prepackaged). I learned that a counter where you can hand-pick selections will be installed soon, and a cafe will be opening right next door within a few months, and will serve Blue Bottle coffee. The actual factory is right next door. Most varieties were available for retail sale, and the good news is that samples are available of some items I hadn't yet seen in other shops, including Teance-infused chocolates (one I loved, one I liked). The Mojito Hearts were very good. The Pate de Fruit looked fantastic, but none were available for sample, and at that price, I wanted to try them first. While nothing really compares with my chocolate-eating on the Place du Grand Sablon, I'm glad to have a local chocolatier making high quality chocolate oh so close to home, and not owned by megaconglomeratecorp. The next several Saturdays are going to have "focused chocolate tastings" (yum). It was also a friendly little place to visit, and I may just be back tomorrow for the Peanut Butterfly tasting. Fri Feb 23 18:17:23 -0800 2007 13471 lmnopm 1 2324418 I'm glad they will have selection by the pieces. Those mojito hearts are my favorite so far. The chocolate butterflies are second. Last year I had the blood orange pate de fruit. While juicy, there wasn't any orange flavor. I guess I'm spoiled by Citizen Cake where the flavor hit by the pate knocks you out. There was a lot of talk about the chocolate almonds but I wasn't blown away by them The coating was a little thick. By having a chocolatier close to home, do you mean the East Bay or Emeryville specifically? Have you tried Lulu Rae on College? She carries lots of premium brands but makes a few in-house. I really like her chocolate dipped fruit a lot. I was just looking at the site recently and it turns out she sells house-made Turkish Delight so I want to get over there and try that. I might throw calorie caution to the wind and finally splurge on a piece of fudge. The shop is really big on carrying vegan sweets too. http://www.chowhound.com/topics/42395 Anyway thanks for the update. Looking forward to how you like some of those Charles Chocolates. Fri Feb 23 19:40:26 -0800 2007 2324245 10264 rworange 1 2326160 I stopped by today for the "Butterfly" tasting. The dark chocolate ones were delicious - they are filled with a peanut praline. There were also some blood orange pate de fruit for sampling - they were quite interesting in that the flavor develops and intensifies while eating. The almonds (there was a bowl out for sampling) - I know what you mean by "thick" but they are good. I liked them better than the coated hazelnuts, but then, I like almonds better than hazelnuts. The orange twigs are very good. One of the chocolatemakers was in the store today - it was interesting talking to him about (especially) the pate de fruits and the complexities in making them, from the difference in each batch of fruit (which affects taste, amount of pectin, etc.) to weather, etc. By "close to home", no not Emeryville specifically, but anywhere within a stone's throw of Berkeley. Sat Feb 24 15:56:44 -0800 2007 2324245 13471 lmnopm 1 2373449 I just went by and sampled the fleur de sel caramel (both the square with chocolate and a firmer caramel twig with a milk chocolate and almond coating), the coated hazelnut, milk chocolate and almond cluster, a butterfly with peanut praline filling, dark chocolate and pistachio cluster with a hint of lemon, a mint truffle, and peach and blood orange pate de fruit... I'm not that greedy, honestly, but Charles was lecturing on where the different chocolates came from and how he paired them with the fillings, and before I knew it... I did pass on the mojito truffle, but I liked the mint one quite a bit and I don't normally like chocolate and mint together. The mint here was more complicated than most candies, and the chocolate picked up the herbal notes. They said that the counter should be installed on Thursday, after which you will be able to buy individual pieces and custom mixes... Sat Mar 10 16:52:08 -0800 2007 2324245 39451 kds 1 2386663 I also went the Saturday when they were sampling the fleur de sel caramels, those are good, but slightly sweet for my taste. However, although they were doing focused tastings, they offered almost everything for sampling. My favorite would be their unique tea chocolates which come in fiver different flavors, Jasmine Tea, Lychee, Taiwanese Baochong Tea, Taiwanese Charcoal-Fired Oolong and Osmanthus Tea. The tea really pairs well with their chocolates, very fragrant and elegant taste... I think these come out to $30 for a 15 piece box, although they do have postcards on their counter which is a 10% discount coupon for the taking. Wed Mar 14 18:04:39 -0700 2007 2324245 77836 liujenny 1 2488658 I finally visited Charles Chocolates a couple of weeks ago. Here are some photos of the store and chocolates: http://singleguychef.blogspot.com/2007/04/designer-chocolates-in-emeryville.html (I've also posted a couple below.) The people there were friendly and they do let you sample a lot of the varieties. As of now, the cafe still hasn't opened. The guy was nice enough to show me the space where they were working on. It's going to be on the side of the store and windows will face the factory where you'll be able to see people hand-making the chocolate items. Of course, when I looked at the space it was far from being done. It was supposed to open this month but looks like it'll be another two months, if I had to guess. It's also not in an area with a lot of foot traffic. You really have to drive there with the purpose of buying their chocolates. I have to say that their chocolates are similar to Recchuitti but it feels like maybe a little more variety? They do taste really rich and good, very sublime in feel. But may absolute favorite is the Mojito chocolate with a mint-infused lime ganache. It was so refreshing with the rich chocolate. I hope the store does well, but I wonder since it seems to be out there by itself. Of course, it's next to the factory so that's why they opened there. But hopefully they'll open more stores. Seems like he should be in Fourth Street in Berkeley. Tue Apr 17 10:10:58 -0700 2007 2324245 43882 singleguychef 2 2489282 I think it's odd that it's so close to Scharffenberger, as if you'd go on a double-binge cocoa frenzy. But it's handy to have a place to try the more experimental offerings, and the staff is friendly and enthusiastic. Like Recchuitti, the chocolates vary tremendously as to whether they're worth the price. The pates de fruit (champagne? zinfandel? apricot?) were scrumptious. The tea truffles were an interesting experiment that I found ultimately disappointing. My favorites are still the chocolate covered almonds and the mocha bar. I ordered a chocolate box filled with chocolate covered fleur de sel caramels for Christmas. It made a great impression on my family, although I prefer Recchuitti's caramels. The box itself was divine, though, as well as gorgeous. I smuggled it home and savored bits of it for weeks. After trying a sampling of the specialty items I concluded that I like their chocolate more than their fillings. I hope they'll do more interesting shapes and focus less on the ganache. Tue Apr 17 12:46:25 -0700 2007 2488658 10966 Windy 3 2489384 I agree with you on the tea truffles, but I disagree about the ganache. I think they give their chocolates a very Parisian feel. And like I said, the Mojito-influenced lime ganache is very refreshing. But then again, I'm not a big chocolate person, so I like it when it's a mix of flavors. Tue Apr 17 13:11:50 -0700 2007 2489282 43882 singleguychef