Chocolate Treats from Baker and Spice
Valentine’s Day is all about romance. And by “romance,” I mean sex. Whether you’re trying to get sex or you’re trying to comfort yourself because you’re not getting any, chocolate is your friend. Whatever the mood or reason, the following artisans, shops, restaurants, and chocolatiers will supply your wildest cocoa fantasies:
Bun Bo Hue Minh's fabulous $7 bowl of bun rieu
Willamette Week’s annual Cheap Eats issue came out yesterday. Despite a couple restaurants that I’d really like to see dropped from the list (cough…cough….Laughing Planet), it’s a very good list overall. If you want to browse the choices quickly before digging into the reviews, I’ve distilled them at Portlandfood.org.
Included in the issue was a fun listing of bites, snacks, and entire meals $7 or under. Following are 10 additions to the list — some of my favorites — from a whole new set of shops, some of which weren’t covered in the issue at all.
A selection of truffles and caramels from Alma Chocolates
Five years ago I did a two part survey of every shop selling chocolates in the Portland area. Part 1 focused on national or international chocolatiers: Godiva, Moonstruck, See’s, Teuscher, and Verdun. Part 2 focused on local chocolatiers: Euphoria, Guanaja, Jaciva’s, Michelle’s, Pix, Sahagun, and Van Duyn. During the following year, there were enough quality local chocolatiers to emerge that another survey was in order, this one covering Alma Chocolates, Art of Chocolate, Depaula Chocolates, Hot Chefs, Pix, Sahagun, Wingnut, and Vosges. (Vosges being a highly-lauded national chocolatier used as a comparison.) I’m happy to say that the best have not only survived, but flourished. Pix, Sahagun, and Alma Chocolates have all received notoriety locally and beyond. Wingnut and Depaula both sell their chocolates directly and through popular local stores, such as Cacao.
But since the last survey — and especially in the last year — there’s been another explosion of local chocolatiers. A new head-to-head tasting is in order. In this report, I’ll focus on truffles from six chocolatiers: Cocoa Velvet, Couronne Chocolate, Ladybug Chocolates, Missionary Chocolates, Northwest Sweets, and Xocolatl de David. I’ll also look at the bars produced by Cocanu. (I tried to purchase truffles from Coco & Co, but my calls were not returned.) As a baseline, I bought a large selection of truffles and caramels from Sahagun and Alma Chocolates, my two favorite local chocolatiers that I believe are making chocolates as good as anything you can find outside of France.
Hopefully you’ll read this in time to spend your money wisely this Valentine’s Day. There are definitely some to seek out and some to avoid.
Version 2.0 of Extramsg.com’s dining guide and tip sheet for the Portland metro area is finally finished. You can visit it here or by clicking the link at the left under Portland Food News.
The tip sheet has been greatly overhauled. Categories, such as Indian and Sushi/Japanese have been added, but also many of the entries in each category have been updated or completely changed. There’s also a new listing of “Quick Picks” by neighborhood in descending order by price.
Hopefully this tip sheet will help visitors and new residents of Portland — or those looking to expand their culinary horizons. If you would like to criticize or comment on the tip sheet, please follow the link in the dining guide itself.
Radishes from Groundworks
Despite a chilly April Fool’s Day teasing with sun, but threatening with rain, this year’s Portland Farmers Market opener was packed with people as if it were July. There were so many market-goers vying for a taste of cheese, a loaf of bread, or a bag full of mushrooms, it made it darn near impossible to take a decent picture. (How dare they!)
While there weren’t many new vendors, there was a good range of products….
A Corazon from Alma. Yes, that’s chocolate, not metal.
If you’ve waited this long to buy your SC (significant chocoholic) a cocoa fix for the holiday, you’re either a procrastinator like me, or have been desperately hoping I’d update my pre-Valentine’s chocolate reports from last year. Well, if you’re the latter, you’re in luck.
Portland already had a formidible chocolatier presence last year. Sahagun provided the artisan chocolates, Pix provided the exotic flavors, and Moonstruck provided the ass-kicking of the commercial competition. I was satisfied.
Then along came three new chocolatiers — Alma, DePaula, and Hot Chefs — small operations that aspire to unseat Sahagun and Pix from their chocolate-covered thrones. Add to that another small business hopeful, Art of Chocolate, vegan chocolatier, Wingnut (which I missed last year), and Vosges out of Chicago as a control, and here you go, a full report with just enough time to get your sweetheart a guilt-inducing present that will result in hours of insisting that they are not fat.
(A quick apology to the readers and especially the chocolatiers. I had some very nice photos which were accidentally erased while transferring them to my computer. New camera. Luckily I had others that aren’t terrible.)
Clockwise from top left: Desserts at Pix; Margherita from Apizza Scholls; Cherries and blackberries from the Portland Farmer’s Market; Burger and fries from Cafe Castagna.
Version 1.0 of Extramsg.com’s dining guide and tip sheet for the Portland metro area is finally finished. You can visit it here or in the future by clicking the link at the left under Portland Food News.
The tip sheet suggests quality restaurants in a variety of categories and cuisines, plus places to shop for food. Following these recommendations are a list of dining options on Sundays and Mondays, links to online discussions of Portland eateries, and other dining guides. Finally, there is a list of over-rated restaurants to avoid.
Hopefully this tip sheet will help visitors and new residents of Portland — or those looking to expand their culinary horizons. If you would like to criticize or comment on the tip sheet, please follow the link in the dining guide itself.
Stinging nettles are a NW native and early spring crop
The People’s Farmer’s Market in the heart of Southeast Portland has been offering one of the best choices of organic foods per square foot year-round every Wednesday. Whereas the Portland Farmer’s Market is big and bustling, often slightly overwhelming, the People’s Farmer’s Market feels like a quaint little community patroned by hippies and local families. (They even accept food stamps.) The whole market fits in the front patio area of the People’s Co-op, a spot that can’t be more than 50×50 feet. The concentration of unique local and organic goods, however, always makes a trip worthwhile. Following are some of the highlights from my latest visit.
The Box of Five: Pix’s gorgeous petite chocolates
Oregon is a pioneer state. Oregon is a hippy state. Today’s pioneers are the entrepreneurs who, tired of their 9 to 5 jobs or wanting to make a little money on the side while they stay at home with their kids, start a business based on their passion. Today’s hippies are the artisans who, often disregarding the economic, engage their passion and hopefully business finds them. Oregon’s — and Portland’s — unique character depend on both.
In the first part of this chocolate tasting, we covered the national chains and foreign chocolatiers. Now, we’ll cover the locals, the entrepreneurs and artisans who give Portland flavor.
One of Verdun’s several elegant displays
For a food-lover with a sweet-tooth, Valentine’s Day might as well be re-named Chocolate Day. In Portland, there’s certainly no shortage of cacao-confection consumption opportunities. We have both several local chocolatiers and chain chocolatiers. Even one local chain chcolatier. But which is best? Who deserves to be given to me this upcoming excuse-for-gluttony of a holiday?
Only one way to find out: head-to-head chocolate tasting. Given my current diet, some might consider this undertaking an extreme sort of foodie masochism. But with spit-bag in hand, my wife and I set out to try every major chocolatier in Portland. In this first part, we’ll cover the chains. In the second part, next week, we’ll cover the locals.
