New England Seafood Dinner

Our July dinner has been announced and mouths are watering! I've chosen a seafood theme in honor of the sunny weather and salty ocean breezes before us (albeit the opposite coast!). Regardless, this upcoming entree is a personal forte of mine so don't miss out! Take a look at the three courses we're serving:

Roasted Corn Chowder with Cocoa-Glazed Bacon

Pan-Fried Crab Cakes with White Chocolate Blood Orange Drizzle & Mixed Greens

Chile-Burnt Caramel Apple Pie with Vermont Cheddar Cheese

We're also featuring some tasty vittles as our optional starter:

Steamed Mussels with Crispy Salumi and Herbs

The dinner date is set for Saturday, July 25th, with seatings at 4, 6, and 8pm. And all three courses are just $25 per person. As always, space is limited so RSVP to 619.578.2984 to claim your table before its gone. Until then, take a gander at the pics from last month:

Starter: Tangy Chicken Wings with Dipping Sauce Trio (Tarragon Honey Mustard, Balsamic Blue Cheese,  Chile Burnt Caramel Peanut Sauce)

First Course: Chile-roasted Corn on the Cobb with Cocoa Nib-Infused Butter

Main Course: Chocolate-Caramel Cheeseburger with Cocoa-Glazed Bacon and Caramel Gjetost Cheese

Dessert: Cherry Vanilla Bean Buckle with White Chocolate Biscuit Topping and Frozen Semifreddo

Cupcake Extravaganza Update!

Its just over a week before our Second Annual Cupcake Extravaganza Weekend and I've got some exciting updates to share! Tuck in cocoa-kiddies and listen up...

First off, remember that Eclipse Chocolat VIP Pass I mentioned? You know, the one that grants the holder a free Box of Nine Cupcakes each week for two months (over a $200 value)? The one that you can get by being the lucky winner of an Eclipse Chocolat Golden Ticket? Yeah that one! Well we've decided to double the prizes this year and give out FOUR!

In case you missed it previously, the Cupcake Extravaganza Weekend is July 3rd, 4th, and 5th and we will be featuring 28 exotic flavors of cupcakes. All cupcakes are Buy 2 Get 1 Free, and a Box of Nine is discounted to just $20 (normally $27). Nine cupcakes, eh? I hear you say... perfect for 4th of July picnics and bar-b-ques, no?

Well it gets better, because every Box of Nine purchased is a raffle entry to win the Eclipse VIP Pass, which two lucky people will win. Even better, two lucky cupcakes will contain a Golden Medallion tucked under the cupcake lining that will be instant winners for two more passes! That's four passes altogether and if you're doing the math, $800 dollars in fabulous cupcake prizes!

So what are the upcoming flavors for these cakes in a cup? Some are are old standards, some are returning by popular demand from last year, and some are brand new! Comin' at ya is the complete list. Check it:

Yellow Cake:

Marshmallow Almond

Toasted Barley and Ale

Ginger Green Tea

Banana Cinnamon

Crispy Bacon Caramel

Maple Pecan

Chile Hazelnut

Macadamia Lemon

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Banana Rum Cigar

Salty Peanut Butter Toffee

Honey Saffron

Coconut Curry

Kentucky Bourbon Caramel

Chocolate Cake:

Berry Merlot

Basil Absinthe

Double Espresso

Boysenberry Pink Peppercorn

Strawberry Rhubarb

Salty Smores

Muscavado Caramel

Lavender Vanilla Bean

Sea Salted Caramel

Peanut Butter and Banana

Bergamot Orange Peel

Goat Cheese and Fig

Toasted Coconut Caramel

Burnt Caramel Marshmallow

Second Annual Cupcake Extravaganza Weekend

The Fourth of July is nearly here, and with less than three weeks before the big holiday weekend Autumn, Dan, myself, and the rest of the Cocoa Babies here are gearing up! For what, you ask? Well its our Second Annual Cupcake Extravaganza Weekend! Yay!!!

If you were being held captive this time last year by anti chocolate and/or cupcake terrorists, then you may not have heard about our event. Otherwise, I'm sure you made it. Yes? But for the benefit of everyone who might be reading this, here goes:

Fourth of July Weekend (Friday-Sunday) join us at the cafe for 28 different flavors of Crème Fraîche Cupcakes (as our normal selection of 16 rotates with 6 flavors daily, this is quite a feat!). Better yet, all cupcakes are priced to move! So take them to your picnics, parties, and pro chocolate and/or cupcake capitalist rallies at just $20 for a Box of Nine (normally $27) or Buy One Get One Free!

Can it get any better? Yes!

Here you can see our Box of Nine Crème Fraîche Cupcakes, accompanied with the two VIP Eclipse Passes, which if you were around for last year's event you know are good for a Box of Nine every week for two months! How does one receive such a pleasure? Well by winning the Extravaganza Weekend Raffle, of course (each Box of Nine is an entry). But why bother with entries into a lottery when you can win the fast way? One lucky patron that weekend will receive the Golden EC Medallion. That's the pretty little token in the cupcake liner shown above. That person will ALSO win the VIP Eclipse Pass. Who needs a golden ticket when you can have a medallion (insert inevitable Willy Wonka joke here, I've heard 'em all!).

Later this week I will post all of the new exciting flavors (we have 8 new ones and 8 returning from last year) so stay tuned. In the mean time, begin salivating.

200 Posts and a Free Tee-Shirt!

Wow. Just weeks before the blog turns two years old and I'm at my 200th post! Fun!

And what good timing for a fun promotional? Autumn, Wyatt, Nicole, Jess, and the rest of the bunch here have been rackin' our cocoa-clogged brains in attempts to come up with a fun Eclipse-branded tee shirt as our new cafe uniform... but alas, we're all outta ideas. So, we're asking for help.

Drop us a reply here with your idea for a funny, interesting, or inspirational Eclipse-related phrase for the front of our new chocolate-brown tees. The backs will, of course, feature the EC logo. Tees will be available in the cafe for anyone interested in sharing in the chocolate-covered goodness. Literally... they are chocolate-colored tees, but each will come with a small chocolate bar ($3 value) and priced at just $12! That's a $9 tee-shirt for anyone whose not inclined to do simple math.

Best yet, our favorite three suggestions here will receive a free shirt! So hurry up and get your brains workin'. The contest will close on Friday, June 12th.

Mom's Day Pics

Still catching up on blog posts from Mom's Day! My chocolate-dipped job is never done. With the next dinner coming up in a few weeks, it's about time to tempt you all with pics from our last special event.  Take a look at the cocoa-crazy vittles we all enjoyed:

Starter: Farmhouse Meats Platter- Cocoa-glazed Duroc Bacon, Chile-Maple Sausage, and Cocoa Nib-Sage Sausage

First Course: Buttermilk & Chive Biscuit with Cocoa Nib-Infused Butter

Second Course: Grilled Pineapple and Tropical Fruit Salad with Milk Chocolate-Curry Glaze

Entree: Quail Eggs in a Basket with Chile-Burnt Caramel Hollandaise and Vanilla-dressed Frisee

Dessert: Azteca Cinnamon Rolls with Burnt Caramel White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

The Chocolate-Caramel Cheeseburger

I enjoy being a chocolatier. It's fun, sexy, and although I take a shower first thing when I get home to wash the aroma of chocolate from my body, I've yet to tire of making chocolate. I have to say though... the oddest thing of this profession is the regular attitude that I don't live the type of life that a normal person does. I still wake up each morning to distastefully hit the snooze button before pulling myself out of bed and into work. Same as you, no? But somehow a lot of people associate this "glamorous" career more closely to celebrity than not. I assure you that my life is pretty normal.

Then again... maybe not. When Ray goes into work carrying his little Gladware container filled with a dinner that he and I enjoyed the previous evening, he is inevitably swarmed by those "hens" of workplace asking in jelously facitious voices: "What did YOU eat for dinner?". So yes, if there is one way in which my life is more exciting than the average it would be in the realm of what I eat for dinner. Especially with an exotic chocolate-dinner at the cafe each month each demanding it's own , I end up eatting a lot of fantastically crazy food.


So I guess this is where all the glamour lies, no? While you are enjoying your Memorial Day bar-b-qued goodies, take a moment to sneak a peak as to what we are enjoying: The Chocolate Caramel Cheeseburger! Go on... take a look:




What's that monstrocity you ask???? Well it begins with an all beef hamburger set upon pan-toasted Squaw Bread (think whole-grain Pumpernickle), is accompanied with Tarragon Honey Mustard and fresh butter lettuce and tomato, and ends topped with our famous Chocolate-glazed Bacon and warm Gjetost cheese (a caramelized goat whey from Norway!). It's pretty much everything you want a juicy hamburger to be but have been too afraid to ask! And you can enjoy it, too. Take a look at our upcoming June dinner:

For just $25 per person, each guest can attend our Exotic Chocolate Bar-B-Que on Saturday June 20th. We have seatings at 11am, 1, 4, 6, and 8pm, but we still expect it to sell out, so call the cafe ASAP to RSVP! Here's what you will be eatting:

Chile-Roasted Corn on the Cobb with Cocoa-Nib Infused Butter

Chocolate Caramel Cheeseburger with Cocoa-glazed Bacon and Gjetost Cheese, Served with Rosemary Potato Wedges

Cherry Vanilla Bean Buckle with White Chocolate Biscuit Topping and Vanilla Gelato

For our veggie friends we are offering a Gjetost, Tomato, and Tarragon Honey Mustard Panini in lieu of the burger!

There's also an optional start of:

Tangy Buffalo Wing with Dipping Sauce Trio (Tarragon Honey Mustard, Blue Cheese Balsamic, and Chile Burnt Caramel!)

Hope to see all you gluttons there!

Memorial Day with Eclipse!

It wasn't until yesterday that I actually realized that Monday is Memorial Day already. Where does the time go? I suppose those of us who don't get the holiday off didn't really have reason to mark our calendar's with a big red circle labeled "no work Monday!!!". Oh well...

But for those of you lucky enough to take a moment to celebrate our national heritage and the brave individuals who have given thier lives for the noble cause of this American Life, find a moment in your day to stop by for a tasty treat. Chocolate's pretty American, no? And cherry pie? How's that sound? Well as I don't bake cherry pies, you'll just have to settle on a Cherry-Vanilla Bean truffle.

While supplies last, take a break from the rest of your inevitable shopping errands during this upcoming holiday and visit us for a free cherry truffle. We're open just like normal, from 9am-10pm!