Category Archives: Chocolate

Dandelion Chocolates’ 12 Nights of Chocolate

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Chocolate braised lamb pierogies by Sarah Rich at "12 Nights of Chocolate.''
Chocolate braised lamb pierogies by Sarah Rich at “12 Nights of Chocolate.”

Could there be a more wonderful way to spend an evening than indulging in chocolate, chocolate, and more artisan chocolate?

That’s just what Dandelion Chocolates’ annual “12 Nights of Chocolate” is all about. The San Francisco bean-to-bar chocolate factory celebrates everything chocolate in its 9th year of this festive event that benefits the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank.

I had the opportunity to experience night #3 when Dandelion’s pastry chef, Stephen Durfee, kindly invited me as his guest.

From the moment you open the door of the 16th Street factory, you are enveloped in the hedonistic aroma of chocolate everywhere. If only my house could smell this way all the time.

The setting for the evening.
The setting for the evening.

The factory’s loading dock was transformed into a wonderland for the event with chandeliers hanging over three long tables set with a line of illuminated candles. A piano player provided welcoming cheer next to decorated holiday trees.

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Greening Up the Holidays With Grey Salt, White Chocolate Matcha Blondies

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Matcha not only gives these blondies great color, but tempers the sweetness of the white chocolate in them.
Matcha not only gives these blondies great color, but tempers the sweetness of the white chocolate in them.

With twinkling, decorated-to-the-hilt trees everywhere at this time of year, why not add a bit of that festive green to your cookie plate, too?

“Grey Salt, White Chocolate Matcha Blondies” will do the job deliciously.

These bar cookies get their hue, of course, from Japanese powdered ceremonial green tea. The matcha also adds a nice grassy astringency from its natural tannins to balance out the sweetness of the white chocolate chunks.

This cookie recipe is from “Love Is A Pink Cake” (W.W. Norton), of which I received a review copy.

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Shekoh Confections Adds Second Location — Plus Lunch and Dinner

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Owner Shekoh Moossavi at her new downtown Palo Alto confectionary shop.
Owner Shekoh Moossavi at her new downtown Palo Alto confectionary shop.

It’s been a banner time for chef and chocolatier, Shekoh Moossavi, who not only opened her Shekoh Confections, 2305 El Camino Real near California Avenue in Palo Alto last March, but added a second location in downtown Palo Alto last month.

Now, starting this Thursday at the downtown outpost, 444 University Ave., she’s upping her offerings to include lunch (11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and dinner (5 p.m. to 9 p.m.) six nights a week (except Mondays, when the shop is closed).

At lunch, look for salads, sandwiches, and her heartfelt wild mushroom soup with mint — her mom’s recipe that she has featured at every restaurant she’s ever opened. At dinner, the fare will be simple yet satisfying with the likes of risotto, polenta, and lamb shanks. With a liquor license recently approved, look for wines coming soon to complement the meals.

Handmade chocolates.
Handmade chocolates.

Like all the chocolate bonbons, marshmallows, nougats, madeleines, and other confections, Moossavi will be making all of the savory items, too.

When she sleeps is anyone’s guess.

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Mic Drop For TCHO’s Limited-Edition Collab Chocolates

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TCHO chocolate bars (front to back): The Perfect Matcha, Grizzly Berry, Deep, Dark & Salty, and Hoppy Hour.
TCHO chocolate bars (front to back): The Perfect Matcha, Grizzly Berry, Deep, Dark & Salty, and Hoppy Hour.

Berkeley’s TCHO Chocolate has just debuted three brand-new, limited-edition bars in partnership with three local icons: Third Culture Bakery, the Oakland Zoo, and Berkeley’s Fieldwork Brewing Co.

Like a Supreme drop, these are small-batch productions that wait for no one, meaning once they sell out, you’re out of luck.

I had a chance to sample these creations that sell for $9.99 per bar on the TCHO web site. The respective bars are also sold at the three partnering businesses: Third Culture Bakery’s Bay Area locations, Oakland Zoo, and Fieldwork Brewing Co.

The new, limited-edition bars.
The new, limited-edition bars.

The Perfect Matcha was inspired by Third Culture Bakery’s popular strawberry, lychee and matcha latte.

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A Visit to Chateau du Sureau and The Elderberry House

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Olive oil-poached steelhead trout at The Elderberry House.
Olive oil-poached steelhead trout at The Elderberry House.

When Ethan de Graaff was just 13 years old, he knew there was no other choice but to become a chef.

Now, the head chef of The Elderberry House in Oakhurst, he explains with a chuckle, “Once my dad started using mayo as a sauce on everything, I knew what I had to do.”

Today, he oversees the menu at the fine-dining restaurant at the Old World Chateau du Sureau, a 9-acre oasis in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, not far from Yosemite National Park. He works in conjunction with Culinary Director Chris Flint, the former chef de cuisine at New York’s storied Eleven Madison Park and former executive chef of Michelin-starred Maude in Los Angeles.

Also tasked with overseeing sister property First & Oak in Solvang, Flint was hired in late 2022. Since his arrival, he’s brought back the restaurant’s tasting menu and leaned into sourcing locally even more.

Last week, when I was invited in as an overnight guest of the Relais & Chateau property, I had a chance to experience the roll-out of his first full new menu.

Chateau du Sureau.
Chateau du Sureau.
Keys to your guest room.
Keys to your guest room.

You might say my visit was more than two decades in the making. Way back when, while staying at another property near Yosemite, my husband and I had made dinner reservations at The Elderberry House. Unfortunately, it happened to be one of those precarious winters with such a deluge of snow that we were alarmed to see a snow plow had gone off the side of the road. Because the onslaught kept forcing the closure of the roads, we ended up canceling our reservations, fearing that even if we made it to the restaurant, we might never be able to get out again.

Finally making it here was definitely worth the wait. Imagine pulling up to a turreted estate in the European countryside, and you get an idea of what Chateau du Sureau is like.

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