Hot Chocolate Festival 2013 : Chocolate Arts !

Chocolate Arts
1620 West 3rd Avenue
M-Sat 9a - 6p | Sun 10a - 5p

#19 - "WHEN PIGS FLY" Cocoa Barry “Alto El Sol” -- a single plantation chocolate, topped with maple and bacon marshmallow, and served with a peanut butter cookie.

#20 - "ARMOURY AMOUR" Cocoa Barry “Madirofolo”-- a single plantation chocolate, kissed with raspberry, and served with a mini lemon and basil ice cream sandwich.

Chocolate Arts was only three short blocks away from Beaucoup Bakery (click), so 阿哥 and I went to Chocolate Arts too. It didn`t look like much from the outside (I failed to take a photo of the outside as always), but the interior is large and spacious. The little store / cafe is decorated with both their original works of art made of chocolate, as well as the craft of artisans in the Vancouver area: a localization of local craft. There are pamphlets right by the door that promote other crafts and events in the city. There does not appear to be very much in the area surrounding Chocolate Arts, although it is still right by the bus stop at Fir St and W 4th Avenue on the 84 bus: a very residual / industrial area.

A whole wall of artistic chocolate, yumm!

Too bad it`s not the year of the pig, these would be great !

They make unique chocolates, including these piggy pops (above) and robo pops, all the letters of the alphabet and even a life sized high heel shoe made of chocolate. I will make my way back here to get a present for any chocolate loving friend... Although I don`t know if I have a friend who loves chocolate quite to the degree that I do..!

When Pigs Fly topped with maple and bacon marshmallow, $4.75.

Intrigued by the maple and bacon marshmallows, we tried the Why Pigs Fly hot chocolate. This has a strong cocoa taste. If you mean to satisfy a sweet tooth, I would recommend either mixing the marshmallows into the drink (which we did not do because we enjoyed the marshmallows by themselves) or adding some sugar. This is not to say that the hot chocolate is extremely bitter but as I said, the cocoa taste is rather strong. A milk chocolate lover like me still enjoyed this drink.

The bacon marshmallows do not melt in your mouth as fast as the store bought marshmallows that I am used to. It has a rather chewy texture instead and when the marshmallow finally melts, you are left with chunks of bacon in your mouth. YUM. And I got a thumbs up for the peanut butter cookie from 阿哥 since I don`t like peanut butter. He claims it was quite "peanut buttery," yum I guess? Not bad, I enjoyed this change from the rich and creamy drinks that I`ve had at most other participating venues.

*Chocolate Arts main website: click.