Where do y'all get your chocolate?

[thegreatdane]

Hey, all,

I'm wondering where you get your chocolate fix. What kinds you like, where you get it, if there are any artisinal chocolate makers I should know about. I mostly just go to the local Central market and pick up a Valrhona bar or some El Rey bits. I live in Austin, but I'm willing to travel for true bliss. Suggestions?

Thanks,

Tom

[Kirk B]

I am not a big fan of chocolates, artisanal or otherwise. But others I know rave about Morgen Chocolate on McKinney Avenue in Dallas.

They have an online shop on their website:

http://www.morgenchocolate.com/index.htm

I hope this helps.

Kirk

[thegreatdane]

Thanks, I'll check it out. And by the way, I'm sorry you don't like chocolate, or maybe not... more for me!

Tom

[Scott -- DFW]

Are you talking about chocolate for cooking? Chocolate for eating out of hand (e.g., in small consumer-oriented bars)? Or chocolates, as in truffles and other confections?

Scott

[Jay Francis]

I bought a pile of chocolate at the gift shop of the The Chocolate exhibition here in Houston. My favorite turned out to be Vosges of Chicago's gianduja bar.

Today, I used the recipe from the latest issue of Fine Cooking for the chocolate bourbon cake, but substituted Abuelita brand Mexican chocolate (Nestle's) and Irish whiskey and the results were spectacular. The recipe is a genoise, with just a little flour to hold the cake together, 350 F in a water bath in the oven, eggs seaparated beaten and then reblended whites.

Check out Fine Cooking this month for the recipe.

[fifi]

Thanks to Jay's tip I have to second the Abuelita brand. Without his recommendation I would have never picked it off the shelf at Fiesta what with it being Nestle and all.

Up until then, I was in the El Rey mode.

My favorite use of chocolate is in chili recipes. My current fave is Huevos del Toro's Work in Progress Chili. That is one awesome use of various sacred pods.

[thegreatdane]

I'm looking for truffles, bon bons, and other finished chocolates. Where in Texas do you find them made fresh?

[brngckn]

The Chocolate Bar on W Alabama in Houston is fairly good. They have great home made ice creams, too.

[theabroma]

Check out Whole Foods Market. They cut up the big slabs of Callebaut and Valrhona and sell them (at a pricey price) by the pound. They also have Scharffen-Bergerm and occasionally, El Rey. Check El Rey's web site - they're located in Fredricksberg, Tx, and I think you can order from the web site.

I'll talk to one of my purveyors here in Dallas ... their hq's are in Houston. You may, subject to their minimum quantities (6-11 lbs), be able to drive over to their offices and buy them.

Also, try Maid of Scandinavia, Bridge Kitchenware, Albert Uster, and Swiss Chalet. Check their websites. Some are professional suppliers, but you may be able to buy from them. The trade off is that you can get a much better price per pound from the wholesalers, but the quantities are large.

Not that this is a particular problem with chocolate...

Theabroma

[jess mebane]

I'm looking for truffles, bon bons, and other finished chocolates. Where in Texas do you find them made fresh?

Mr. Chocolate in Austin on N. Lamar in the vaunted C.Mkt strip mall looks promising, but I'm a simple gal who enjoys picking up the occasional egg crate of chocolate-dipped strawberries from Lamme's. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm a chocolate freak and if I need a $5 chocolate bar fix there's also Grapevine Market off Anderson Ln, where a wide variety of exotichoklit rubs shoulders with retro candies, jalepeno jams and gourmet olives. But Mr. Chocolate definitely advertises truffles, et al.

[Susan G]

If you happen to be heading in to the Sangre de Cristos by way of wandering for great chocolates, try Todos Santos on East Palace Ave in Santa Fe. Artisanal, exquisite, unique stuff.........when I walk in there with a credit card, I'm fiscally doomed!

[thegreatdane]

I visited the El Rey folks in Fredricksburg and that was enlightening. I learned there are so many different delicious dark chocolates. Wow.

I called Lammes, asking for a tour. "We're too small," I was told. Huh? What's going on in that little factory? Their strawbs are good. I'll always love their Longhorns and caramels.

Still hunting for all things chocolate in Texas.

Anyone know of chocolatiers I can visit? Any new chocolate products to taste?

[texesser]

For European chocolate bars I like to go to Spec's Warehouse in Houston. The big warehouse store in Midtown, which is just south of downtown.

Highly recommend the Cote D'Or chocolate bars, in varying strengths. Well priced and great quality.

Last night someone gave me a box of Leonidas chocolates. A Belgian company. I've been to their NYC store and found the prices and quality were very good. I just looked them up on the web to see if maybe they opened up in Houston. No luck but they have a sales outlet:

Chocolats du Monde

5306 Morningside (Near Rice Blvd. It's near the Rice Village)

77005-7709 HOUSTON (TX)

At the Houston Galleria, Teuscher Chocolates sells Swiss chocolates in great packaging. Air fly them in. High prices, good quality. Been there for years. Beautiful packaging.

[theabroma]

Thought of two more places: Morgan's Chocolates on McKinney Ave in Dallas, just south of Chuy's. And is Dr. Chocolate still alive and well in Austin? They had a small shop just to the north of Central Market in the 35th & Lamar shopping center??

Theabroma

[thegreatdane]

Alas, The Doctor is out of Central Market South. Every time I went in there it was empty. I think they thought they'd get some spill over from Amy's ice cream and the movie theater. Not so, I guess. That's something that's mystifying; why chocolate shops fail to attract customers. Most, I dare say, are value driven, i.e., happy with Hershey's, and the small number who'd support quality chocolate are too dispersed for regular walk up traffic. I really don't know.

[theabroma]

Alas, The Doctor is out of Central Market South. Every time I went in there it was empty. I think they thought they'd get some spill over from Amy's ice cream and the movie theater. Not so, I guess. That's something that's mystifying; why chocolate shops fail to attract customers. Most, I dare say, are value driven, i.e., happy with Hershey's, and the small number who'd support quality chocolate are too dispersed for regular walk up traffic. I really don't know.

Is the Dr. gone - Gone period? Well, here comes CM selling a variety of couvertures in small, too handy bars (Valrhona, Scharffen Berger, etc), and unless the Dr. ramped up a bit, I remember they tended to have a lot of theme moulded chocolates and not a lot of candies or bonbons. Maybe that didn't help.

But it's still sad.

Are there any more independent chocolatiers in Austin coming in to fill the void??

Theabroma

[thegreatdane]

Thea,

There are some small operations, one really good one in Bastrop, thirty minutes down the road, who sells in various retail shops in Austin. We don't lack for chocolate unless, like me, you think there should be a bakery and chocolate shop in every neighborhood.

Dr. Choc. is better than Hershey's. They even make choc. covered pretzels, strawbs., and bars with assorted mix ins. Not much high art. I don't think Austin would support it. We're a value crowd.

[theabroma]

There are some small operations, one really good one in Bastrop, thirty minutes down the road, who sells in various retail shops in Austin. We don't lack for chocolate unless, like me, you think there should be a bakery and chocolate shop in every neighborhood.

I'll be down to Austin for a battery recharge in the next 2 weeks, so I may need directions to that place in Bastrop. Time was when the gourmet treat from Bastrop was found in cow pastures! There's even a P. bastropienses species.

Ah, yes. Getting back. If I may, I'll holler before I head down and get the name and directions. And hopefully you Austin party animals will be about ready for some kind of eat in.

Regards,

Theabroma

[thegreatdane]

Thea,

The Bastrop place, Roscar chocolates, isn't a retail operation, so you may not be able to visit. They do wholesale to Breeds, a housewares store. They make really large truffles, rich in fresh ingredients, and sell them for about two bucks each. One interesting combination is tequilla/lime/jalapeño.

[jess mebane]

Alas, The Doctor is out of Central Market South.  Every time I went in there it was empty.  I think they thought they'd get some spill over from Amy's ice cream and the movie theater.  Not so, I guess.  That's something that's mystifying; why chocolate shops fail to attract customers.  Most, I dare say, are value driven, i.e., happy with Hershey's, and the small number who'd support quality chocolate are too dispersed for regular walk up traffic.  I really don't know.

Is the Dr. gone - Gone period? Well, here comes CM selling a variety of couvertures in small, too handy bars (Valrhona, Scharffen Berger, etc), and unless the Dr. ramped up a bit, I remember they tended to have a lot of theme moulded chocolates and not a lot of candies or bonbons. Maybe that didn't help.

But it's still sad.

Are there any more independent chocolatiers in Austin coming in to fill the void??

Theabroma

okay, so now I'm confucious; the dr. c in westgate ctr with c.mkt is closed? Because I was speaking of the one truly central, in the mid-lamar center, where there's so much good retail and so little friggin' parking.

[thegreatdane]

Doc Choc South, Westgate, 290/Lamar area is no more. Doc Choc Central, 35th St./Lamar, is still there as far as I know. And don't even try to find parking there on a weekend or holiday.