70661 Fri Jun 24 01:46:12 -0700 2005 16 2 Los Angeles Area 0 386444 Yes, even though we're in for a long hot dry summer I'm still getting cravings for a good cup of hot cocoa (and no, by "good" I do NOT mean that gross, high-calorie, overpriced drinking chocolate swill Starbucks has) -- wondering if you hounds have any suggestions for either 1) good restauratns/bistros/cafes with really great hot cocoa (and probably some pastries go with) or 2) great shops/websites to buy great hot cocoa from. Thanks a lot! Fri Jun 24 01:46:12 -0700 2005 0 AquaW 1 386447 I'm a big fan of this stuff. You can find it arund town -- I think TJs sells it - but it's dirt cheap through the mail. Link: http://www.sovranastore.com/azdormexspic.html Fri Jun 24 02:03:59 -0700 2005 386444 0 TE 2 386452 Good place to start is Jonathan Gold's "Chocolate City" story in LA Weekly that covered the same topic earlier this spring. Link: http://www.westridge.org/community/pressroom/IsabelGold_LAWeekly.htm Fri Jun 24 03:09:26 -0700 2005 386447 0 SoCalorie 3 386471 Although, from my recollection, most of the places J. Gold mentions are serious (thick and can be eaten with a spoon) hot chocolate spots. i like the lighter hot chocolate at fred 62 in los feliz. always ask for extra whipped cream! Fri Jun 24 11:21:24 -0700 2005 386452 0 e 1 386466 Skooby's Hot Dogs on Hollywood Blvd. B/T Cherokee and Las Palmas makes a delicious cup of hot chocolate in addition to great hot dogs, great fries and great lemonade. Fri Jun 24 10:54:46 -0700 2005 386444 0 Neta 1 386476 Best gourmet hot chocolate is Schokinag Dark Chocolate. Good luck finding it in any retail stores, Bristol Farms used to have it, but you must order it online now (if any of you know differently, please post!!) http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=122797&prrfnbr=194893 Best Cocoa Powder available in stores that is worthwhile (Not sickeningly sweet): +Abuelita Cocoa Powder (Available in almost all stores in Latin Foods section) +Scharffen Berger Cocoa Powder (Available at Bristol Farms, Whole Foods, and (Chowhound's Best Grocer) HOWS Market in Pasadena. Best advice for making any hot chocolate at home is to use LOW FAT MILK so you can taste the chocolate. For a little richness, top it off with some 1/2 & 1/2, Whipped Cream, or (great european secret I learned in Germany) Evaporated Milk. Fri Jun 24 11:44:42 -0700 2005 386444 0 RobL 1 386480 Hi AquaW-- Out of curiosity, do you really mean hot cocoa or do you mean hot chocolate? A lot of people use the terms interchangably but they are different... hot chocolate is when you melt chocolate into water, milk or cream whereas hot cocoa came later as sort of the 'quick and dirty' substitute. Hot cocoa of course is a much thinner, less chocolate-y approximation (think Swiss Miss). My best recommendation for real hot chocolate will be City Bakery, when it open in July (just a couple of weeks away!) in Brentwood. They are famous for their hot chocolate in New York City and I've tried it there. It is truly powerful stuff-- one cup (at around $4) is enough to share with 2-3 people. In fact, unless you're a true chocolate addict, I defy you to get through more than 5-6 sips... it is wonderous, sensual stuff. The texture is truly viscous, a bit like the consistency of a chilled olive oil. However the flavor is not cloyingly sweet like what they serve at Starbucks. They leave the chocolate intentionally a little bitter, so that when you add their wonderful homemade marshmallows(!) to it, it adds a milk kick of sweetness and breaks up the intense chocolatey-ness. Try it and report back! Mr. Taster Fri Jun 24 12:02:30 -0700 2005 386444 0 Mr. Taster 2 386490 City Bakery is yummy. In the meantime, my favorite is the mexican hot chocolate at senor fred's in sherman oak's. you have to drink it quickly and should probably share. so decadent. they serve it with homemade cookies. i'd go for the cinammon mini-churro and that's it and spend my tummy energy on the drink. Fri Jun 24 12:39:15 -0700 2005 386480 0 e 2 386510 Because they use their hot chocolate in their mochas, City Bakery also has a mocha that tastes like no other. Whether you like that or not is a different matter. Until they open, I like to make my own with Scharffenberger's chopped chocolate nibs. I haven't found any real solid substitute served in cafes. Some like the Leonidas' drink, but I find it just too thin and more sweet than chocolate-y. Fri Jun 24 14:25:18 -0700 2005 386480 0 igj 2 386636 Wow Mr. T, did you ever stir up primal chowhound energy, or what??? Twenty five years ago, I considered myself a "true" chowhound. I felt like I had my fingers on the pulse of really cool, underground gems of restaurants. I'm talking places like Ishi's Grill near downtown---or when the Two Hot Tamales had their first place (a hole in the wall) on Melrose. Back to the present---these past years have had me find the best restaurant to be my kitchen, and I'm really out of the loop when it comes to what's hip. HOWEVER---your post made me feel cool again (for a nanosecond anyway). Last May we were in New York City for a wedding. We stumbled upon the very place you posted about! God that was ummmazing hot chocolate!!! Actually we had ours as Cafe Mocha---intensely chocolate, thick, rich, and with the added kick of espresso----I think my feet didn't touch the ground for the rest of the day, I was so up from the buzz. Best to you, Jeff Sat Jun 25 00:54:37 -0700 2005 386480 0 Jeff W 2 386866 Thanks for the tip! and I will (great way to indulge--my birthday's in July!) Mon Jun 27 05:51:16 -0700 2005 386480 0 AquaW 1 386489 Wow some great sounding places / sources ! Please resurrect this thread in the winter time. City Bakery sounds like it will be amazing, where in Brentwood will it be ? Mike g. Fri Jun 24 12:33:55 -0700 2005 386444 0 mike g. 1 386495 Leonidas makes a very flavorful Mexican cocoa- with vanilla, cinnamon, etc. Fri Jun 24 13:03:33 -0700 2005 386444 0 mycs 1 386499 Clementine makes an excellent hot chocolate with homemade marshmellos. Note: if you are prefer cocoa it might be to intense. Fri Jun 24 13:14:26 -0700 2005 386444 0 JudiAU 1 386545 for websites consider reposting to the General topics board where you'll get decent ideas. Supposedly the best hot chocolate in the world is at Chez Cazenave in Bayonne, France. Link: http://www.chocolatiers.fr/specialites.php?action=voir4&id_entreprise=396 Fri Jun 24 17:09:36 -0700 2005 386444 0 Jerome 2 386573 Please take a look at the image at this link. Does anyone know of a place in town that serves hot chocolate/cocoa that looks like this? Link: http://www.lantegiak.com/Labourd/Bayonne/Agroalimentaire/Cazenave/chocolat-Cazenave.htm Fri Jun 24 18:55:12 -0700 2005 386545 0 Jerome 1 386575 This (Country Cow Cocoa from Vermont) is the best instant cocoa I've ever had - very chocolate flavor, in a traditional "made at home" way. (I'm only speaking of the traditional flavor) http://www.vermontnaturally.com/cocoa_tea_index.html Fri Jun 24 18:57:23 -0700 2005 386444 0 Mooooo