Waterfront treat at Leonidas

For my third expedition during the Hot Chocolate Festival, I headed to Leonidas with a friend. With a beautiful waterfront location just outside of the Vancouver Convention Centre West, you can’t go wrong. What I didn’t know about Leonidas is that it’s an international brand. The selection of chocolates and other desserts alone is enough to make you drool.

My choice of decadence was the Tosca, a dark chocolate and pistachio flavoured treat. For about $7.50, the drink came with a choice of chocolate or belgian waffle. I figured it was tastebud sabotage to eat chocolate upon chocolate, so I went for the waffle instead.

I had to get an aerial shot of the “meal” because it shows how much attention they pay to presentation –  on top of the chocolate froth is an “L” as well as in chocolate sauce on the waffle plate. The server also told us that the whipped cream was white-chocolate flavoured. That, with some fruit on the side…well you just can’t ask for a better afternoon snack.

The waffle wasn’t heavily sweet, which was great because the sweetness of the whipped cream and fruit was a good pair… and then the taste of the hot chocolate – mmm. The drink wasn’t very rich and tasted a bit on the milkier side to me than dark, but that hint of pistachio was real nice.

As for the location, there are about 5 tables for two, so during peak times it could be full… also since it takes about 5 minutes just to make a purchase decision, the traffic by the door can pile up. But all for good reason, I suppose. With such an ideal location, there’s no excuse to visit again and try out their chocolates.

Leonidas
#29-1055 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC V6C 3T4
604-647-7559
chocolat@leonidaswaterfront.com
leonidaswaterfront.com
Twitter @leonidaschocola (They’re definitely Twitter friendly)

Hours:

Mon-Fri 10am-6:30pm
Sat-Sun 11am-6pm

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Chocolate just gets better: CocoaNymph in Kits

You’ve likely already heard about CocoaNymph chocolates & confections. If you’re a chocolate lover, then you won’t believe that the first time I visited CocoaNymph, I bought my aunt a box of chocolates and walked out without spending a penny on myself. The smell was overwhelming, but I didn’t give in. Yes, I do have some Jedi willpower going on.

Since then I’ve bought CocoaNymph’s chocolates at several events like Make It! Vancouver. But the Hot Chocolate Festival was a great excuse to visit and try something new – like their Dark Drinking Chocolate with Black Sesame, and a wafer of sesame bianco chocolate bark. Yes, my friends. Yes.

The coolest mug I’ve ever held hot chocolate in.

At about $4.50, you just can’t get a better snack. Did you know sesame is healthy for you? And so is dark chocolate! Put it in drinking form, and you have yourself pure heaven. The person who was supposed to accompany me at CocoaNymph ended up not coming, so I was able to enjoy this baby all on my own, while listening to some of CocoaNymph’s ambiant tunes. This was a Friday – I highly recommend ending your days this way. Plus, Chocolatier Rachel Sawatsky‘s shop is super cool and casual. She also holds Chocolate Lover’s Workshops – why I haven’t already done one is beyond me.

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2nd Hot Chocolate Festival + Bella Gelateria

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a Chocolate Festival in the Lower Mainland? Well, there is one called the Festival of Chocolate. However, the events last year were just too far from Vancouver for me to bother going. So, in 2012 I’m gonna be an active member of the next best thing: The 2nd Annual Hot Chocolate Festival.

Put on by City Food Magazine, this is the perfect solution to those winter blues (yes, there are active snow haters out there). Last year, this event didn’t get quite enough traction for me to really get out there, though I did see the awesome Rachel Sawatsky of CocoaNymph Chocolates & Confections cooking up some hot chocolate on Shaw Urban Rush. So when I saw the Tweet and the webpage announcing that there were twice as many participants with a chocolate grand prize ($300 in gift certs or a 2013 festival pass) to be awarded on Valentine’s Day to the winner of their Tweetup contest, I said to myself, to hell with Dine Out Vancouver. (Don’t get me wrong, I wish I could do Dine Out, but the choices are way too many and I’m just too busy to get organized and schedule out all of my dinners.)

The Hot Chocolate Festival started last Sunday and runs for four weeks until Valentine’s, so there’s no excuse to try out at least one vendor. So with my boyfriend in hand I went to one place I’ve always wanted to visit in the summer: Bella Gelateria.

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate with Biscotti

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