High-end hot chocolate a true luxury
Too often it’s lumped in with junk food; considered little more than empty calories and a quick and dirty sugar high.
Because of the antioxidants, we’ll throw it a bone and call it healthy.
But chocolate — especially melted chocolate — is so much more.
“It should be an experience,” says Andrew Willcock, 24, manager of Cacao 70, a chocolate-centric restaurant that just opened in the Distillery. “It’s really something fine, something decadent.”
Especially when it’s given the fivestar treatment. And, you know, served melted in a brandy snifter.
It’s a star at Cacao 70, Willcock says, and one of the first — and still bestselling — menu items since the restaurant first opened four years ago in Montreal. Now, the small chain — the Toronto outpost is the latest to open — serves more than 32 drinks infused with chocolate: milkshakes, smoothies, coffees, something called a Champurrado, which is a mix of dark chocolates, cream, milk and a pinch of cinnamon. The list includes “hot chocolate.” On the first Saturday it was open, Cacao 70 sold more than 1,000 of its signature drinks, Willcock says. Taken aback by its presentation and the heady smell of pure, melted chocolate, he says “some people will sit and sniff it for 20 minutes.” This drink is different. To begin, customers choose their chocolate from among 14 varieties plucked from cacao-growing regions around the globe, including Tanzania, Guayaquil and Venezuela. Staff can discuss cocoa percentages; the higher the percentage of cocoa, the more pure it is. Customers can even snag a quick sampling from the large, glass canisters of chocolate dimes on display near the bar.
Once the decision’s been made, the barista ladles a generous heap into one of two silver bain-maries, where the dark coins transform slowly to liquid velvet. Then he coaxes it into the snifter, swilling it up the sides.
The drink is served on a sleek, white platter with a small, silver jug of Cacao 70’s “base,” a mix of cream, milk and more melted chocolate. It’s there to tease and pull the thick liquid into a long, languid sip.
It is something to take in with all the senses; true luxury and an experience worth its $9.75 pre-tax price tag. Got an idea for Sourced? Email mhenry@thestar.ca