Delicious Dandelion Chocolate

Gentle Friends I already had a place in mind I was going to go to and get some snaps and talk about today..... but all my plans were scuttled while I was driving over to one of the Thrift Shops I frequent.  Usually I drive North on Valencia Street, dodging all the bicycles weaving in and out of traffic.  Well, this past Saturday there were fewer bikes on the road, which let me pay more attention to the shops on either side of the street.  One of the shops I noticed, in fact honed in on for some reason, was Dandelion Chocolates.  I had never noticed the store front before, although I had seen Dandelion Chocolates at my Favorite Chocolate store on 24th Street "Chocolate Covered" - HERE's my June 24th Post.  

After shopping at the Thrift Store I poured some more change into the parking meter, grabbed my camera and headed to Dandelion Chocolate.

... standing outside taking this snap I could smell the chocolate wafting on the breeze.....  enticing!!

... on either side of the cafe at the front of the store are displays about where they have sourced the chocolate... 

a copy of the drinks menu

 ......in the cafe you cane order Hot or Cold chocolate, different Mocha's or even coffee and......

Saturdays selection from the pastry chef Lisa Vega

......accompany your drink with a choice from the ever changing pastry selection.....

What's really fun about this place, other than the luscious chocolate, is that the back of the store is wide open and they make the chocolate from bean to bar while you watch, with explanation along the way as to what they are doing.

... a couple of the machines that they use to make chocolate...  in front of these is an open area .....

... where they make the bars....  starting on the left the gal in the beige shirt fills the bar molds from the stream of chocolate in front of her....  then passes the filled mold to the guy on the right who puts it on the shaker to remove the air bubbles and from there the molds go into a cold box.  The solidified chocolate is taken out of the cold boxes by the gals on the other side of the table and knocked out and wrapped up for sale.  Along the wall on the shelves behind them are large blocks of chocolate wrapped up in plastic.

... looking from the back of the store towards the front cafe - the cold box is on the right - and on the left is some detailed info about how chocolate goes from bean to bar.

... a better shot of the back stock blocks and below them are the spinning pots of tempering chocolate, all of them were full of steaming dark chocolate.....

... they have lots of events. like meet the makers, and workshops for hands on making chocolate.

I couldn't leave without a little treat....

... when I got home I got out my 2 cup tea pot, made some Anastasia tea and enjoyed......

..... a Dulce de Leche Bar..... that is flaked sea salt, I love the salty/sweet of chocolate and salt!!  If you ever visit San Francisco, make a point of stopping in at Dandelion Chocolate on Valencia, not only will you have some great chocolate but Valencia Street is a great place to shop and people watch!!

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That's about it for today sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar