Chi Chocolat: A Spot of Decadence in Little Italy

Jesse Brown is a character. He loves to talk about chocolate, about the way it can be crafted, about its health benefits and how Americans can learn something from Europeans both in how chocolate is made and consumed. In short, Jesse Brown loves to talk.

Fortunately for his customers, Jesse Brown is just as passionate when it comes to actually making his truffles and bonbons. In his small shop, Chi Chocolat, which includes a charming café set with mosaic tables, a place to play chess and a picture window onto the passing world of India St., Brown works his growing skills as an artisan chocolate maker. The open kitchen allows customers to watch the chocolate temper, watch him fill the plastic molds that form his bonbons and roll and dip his truffles. “People are paying a lot for hand-crafted chocolates and I think it helps for them to see the effort that goes into making them,” he says.

Brown and his wife, Tess, have been in chocolates for three years in conjunction with running their thriving catering business. It’s clear the self-taught chocolatier loves what he does and feels he has a higher calling to serve the community through his chocolates.

The bonbons and truffles, made with Callebaut chocolate, hold up to scrutiny. Like many other chocolatiers, Brown is taking his creations to a higher level with the use of a variety of spices and herbs, teas and liquors, salts and curries and fruits and nuts. Brown sees a similarity between wine and fine chocolate—both in their richness, delicacy and complexity and the necessary balance of texture, aroma and taste. He cleverly has organized his chocolates into themed “flights” that highlight various characteristics. These flights include:

Truffle: an assortment of hand rolled rustic truffles

Exotic Spice: Ganaches combined with spices like chile and pink peppercorns

Cosmopolitan: Ganaches such as crème brulee, burnt caramel, white chocolate, dark chocolate and lavender and caramel

Liquer: bonbons infused with an assortment of fine liquors

Tea: Ganaches infused with green tea, earl grey leaves, exotic chai spices, jasmine tea and ginger

Nuts & Flowers: Milk chocolate with roasted almond butter, dark chocolate with marzipan, almonds and almond paste, hazelnuts, pistachios and lavender

I tried a wonderful duo—a long, glossy Jaeden, a white chocolate ganache infused with green tea powder from Uji, Japan, and the Blue French, a lavender and caramel ganache encased in dark chocolate. The Jaeden had just the slightest hint of the green tea. It’s simple and satisfying. The Blue French was like a long drink of lavender bookended at bite and finish with a distinctive crunch of the dark chocolate shell. It was surprising and happily so.

I also enjoyed Brown’s traditional classic dark truffle. Made with 72 percent chocolate and finished with a roll in dark chocolate powder, it was truffle 101—earthy and rich with deeply dark, woody undertones.

In fact, it’s this darkness that Brown emphasizes is so good for us. Forget the sweet, sweet, sweetness of a Hershey’s Kiss. Dark chocolate with its more sophisticated and restrained flavors is, he says, actually good for you.

“We’re regressing from mass produced, highly sugared chocolate to what chocolate is today by understanding that higher percentage chocolates taste better and are better for you,” he says. “Dark chocolate contains high-density lipoproteins, which protect against heart disease.”

And, of course, chocolate is said to contain antioxidant properties and act as an appetite suppressant. These claims all are subject to continued studies, but isn’t it cool to think that eating good-quality chocolates could actually be healthy?

Medical claims aside, Brown’s confections are quite simply deliciously decadent. But, even if you’re not in the mood for them, Chi Chocolat is a wonderful place to stop by for a mocha and bagel or croissant. Brown makes a number of espresso drinks using Caffe Calabria’s roasted coffees and offers paninis and several pastries like cheesecake, chocolate-dipped biscotti and tiramisu.

“This is a place to meet, greet and talk,” says Brown. “We want to welcome people in to sit and enjoy themselves, have some chocolate and be a part of the community.”

Chi Chocolat is located at 2021 India St. at Grape St.

Have some thoughts about Chi Chocolat or other artisan chocolatiers in San Diego? Do you have a favorite neighborhood market or shop that carries unique or unusual foodstuff? Let me know or add to the conversation by clicking on comments below:

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Chuao Chocolatier: Bonbon Vivant in San Diego Via Venezuela

First things first—in case you were wondering, Chuao is pronounced “chew-Wow.” And, yes, it’s a fortunate play on words for this decadent house of chocolate, but it also happens to be the name of a small village in central Venezuela, famous for its cacao plantations.

With Valentine’s Day approaching, it’s all hearts and sweets at the various Chuao Chocolate Cafes. But, nothing like what you’d find at your momma’s chocolate shop. There’s chocolate with chevre, chocolate with Earl Grey tea, chocolate with cabernet caramel, with lemon tequila, with green tea and with Meyer lemon pulp. And, my favorite, the Spicy Maya—a dark chocolate, both in bar form and as hot chocolate, infused with pasilla chile and cayenne pepper.

Chuao Chocolatier, which is based in Carlsbad with several cafes in San Diego as well as Irvine and Miami, was started in 2002 by Venezuelan brothers Michael and Richard Antonorsi. The two had first come to San Diego in the ‘80s to attend UCSD. Michael studied biomedical engineering and Richard computer sciences. They returned to Venezuela and launched businesses in networking and telecommunications.

Michael, however, always wanted to cook, so at age 38, he took off to Paris with his wife and kids to follow his dream, enrolling first in the École Supéríeure de Cuísíne Francaíse Ferrandi and then the École Lenotre, where he was trained as a pastry and chocolaterie chef. “The French are the architects of food,” he says.

Because the brothers already owned property in San Diego and Richard was married to a San Diegan, they decided to return to the area to start a chocolate business, using Venezuelan chocolate, of course, with Michael as chef and Richard running the business. The business started with a small shop in Encinitas and has expanded to include several cafes; a thriving wholesale, corporate gift and online business; and even hands-on bonbon making classes at their Carlsbad headquarters.

“At the time, there was nothing here but See’s Candies and Godiva,” says Michael. “There were no traditions in chocolate here so we were free to think outside of the box and take advantage of the exposure here of so many cultures. Since I’m a chef and that’s my passion, I want to push the limit all the time, crossing over with ingredients.

“Our vision is to arouse the senses with unusual and unexpected chocolates that are delicious,” he explains. “I find chocolate incredibly satisfying. Women love it. Men who have developed their feminine side love it. It’s truly sensorial and connects deeply with people.”

My connection began at their cafe in University Towne Centre with the luxurious Spicy Maya hot chocolate. It’s deeply rich and thick. Sensuously chocolate, wrapped in a velvety heat sans the pain. It made a chilly day more than tolerable.

The café has a variety of drinks, including bittersweet Abuela hot chocolate, Caramelo, espresso drinks, tea, blended frappuccinos and chocolate milk. Chuao Chocolatier also has a pastry chef, who works with Michael to develop a number of exotic pastries. There’s a flourless wild truffle cake, flourless chocolate cake and the deeply dark Black Magic—coffee mousse over chocolate rum cake topped with a bittersweet chocolate glaze and dipped in caramelized cocoa nibs.

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I wanted a heart, so I took home a “Love Letter”—a blackberry tea mousse on a ginger shortbread cookie, all topped with a dark chocolate glaze. Light and airy, the pastry is beautiful to look at and a wonderful counterpoint to rich meal.

Along with the café, is a shop filled with all things chocolate. Little packages of treats, large exotic bars, cacao powder, chocolate nuts, froufrou Valentine’s Day gifts and elegant wine-tasting boxes that pair chocolate with wine. The store sells small bags of "coco nibs" for snacking, as a topping on ice cream or other desserts or even as part of a marinade for steak.

And, they have a whole section dedicated to hot chocolate, with Bodum hot chocolate jugs, traditional wooden hot chocolate whisks called molinillos and, of course, packages of their various hot chocolate mixes, including a customer favorite, Winter hot chocolate, that blends bittersweet chocolate with ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove and pepper.

Finally, there’s the tremendous selection of truffles and bonbons on display that you can choose from to create a unique box. Some are caramel filled, others with rich ganache or buttery cream, with nuts and fruits and intriguing spices.

The flavors that Michael Antonorsi has played with come off beautifully. The Cacique dark chocolate bonbon, filled with California raisin and rum dark chocolate ganache was a favorite. The unusual flavors melded naturally with the chocolate. I also enjoyed the Framboise, a layered hazelnut almond praline and raspberry “pate de fruit.”

In the fun and frivolous department is a terrific surprise—the Firecracker confection. Offer one to a friend and watch the reaction to the first bite. There’s quite literally an explosion in the mouth, thanks to the popping candy that envelops the mixture of caramel fudge, chipotle chile and salt.

“You have to stay in the world of chocolate,” says Michael. “I’ve done stuff with garlic and rosemary. It’s tasty but confusing. So what can we use that respects the chocolate but also respects the spectrum of people’s experience, that would make you want to repeat the experience? It’s a way of offering chocolate entertainment that creates a connection.”

Chuao Chocolatier has several locations:

The Lumberyard, 937 S. Coast Highway 101, Suite C-109 in Encinitas

Del Mar Highlands Shopping Center, 3485 Del Mar Heights Rd, Suite A-1 in Del Mar

Forum at Carlsbad, 1935 Calle Barcelona in Carlsbad

Spectrum Shopping Center, 95 Fortune Drive, Suite 603 in Irvine

University Towne Centre, 4465 La Jolla Village Dr. H-09 in San Diego

70 Miracle Mile in Coral Gables - Miami, FL

Coupa Café, 538 Ramona Street in Palo Alto

Coupa Café, 419 N Canon Drive in Beverly Hills

Have some thoughts about Chuao Chocolatier or other artisan chocolatiers in San Diego? Do you have a favorite neighborhood market or shop that carries unique or unusual foodstuff? Let me know or add to the conversation by clicking on comments below:

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