Monday vacay into a French Chocolaterie

Ok, this is the real deal. Out of the four places I’ve trekked to for the Hot Chocolate Festival thus far, Chocolaterie De La Nouvelle France is the one to beat. Nestled in a little shop on 21st Avenue off Main Street, I had high hopes for this place. The name alone screams French chocolate (and translated, I believe means “New France Chocolatier”)! I was treated to the hot chocolate of the day by the Chocolate Realtor herself, Nina Pousette – a French-trained pastry chef – so when she says it’s the real deal, believe moi, it is.

Surprise Flower - 66% Mexican dark chocolate, infused with Jasmine

I know that the shop is most known for their chocolates, but I was super impressed by their festival selection. The Surprise Flower comes with the flower of the day, and although I usually don’t like smelling flowers – much less tasting them – the smooth, rich, dark drinking chocolate more than made up for the taste of Jasmine. It was a nice change, and definitely the most intriguing festival flavour I’ve tried so far. It also came with a little chocolate tart with gold dust on it – which is edible! Gold is good for you right?

The shop also gives you a choice between a cup of hot chocolate or just a shot – so you can sip that 66% like a glass of scotch if you’d like. For a sweet tooth, I found the cup rich enough, so the shot must just take you a bit overboard. There are only a few seats indoors, but there are tables outdoors too – which would be nice on a sunny day like today. The one server on Monday afternoon even spoke French and has only been in Vancouver for a year. Can’t get more authentic than that.

Be sure to check out the Surprise Flower this upcoming week if you haven’t already.

Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France
198 E. 21st Avenue & Main Street
Vancouver, BC V5V 1P8
604-566-1065
info@chocolaterienouvellefrance.ca
chocolaterienouvellefrance.ca
Visit their Facebook Page here
Twitter @MainStChocolate

Hours: 7 days a week, 12-6pm

View Larger Map

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.

Continue reading…

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

Continue reading…