Last of the Hot Chocolate Festival : Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France, French Made Baking & Happy Valentine`s Day !

Here`s to the end of the Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival this year, we definitely got to all the drinks that I really wanted to try. That`s awesome because since the festival`s second run in 2012 (making this the third year for me), I`ve never managed to try all the ones on my list because I never have enough time. Hooray to only having classes on two (long) days of the week! We went to Soirette (twice), Bella Gelateria (twice), Thomas Haas, Schokolade, Leonidas, French Made Baking... And on Valentine`s day, we finished off with Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France and a final trip to French Made Baking.

I really liked these fake wax seals for their chocolates.

In 2012, I went to this little chocolate shop on the corner of Main St and 21st Avenue to try a hotcho.. And was really unimpressed with Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France`s store hours. After the trouble of commuting there, they were closed.. Contrary to the information on CityFoods, on their store website, and heck! Even on the little sign on their door that told me they would be open. But two years later, K took interest in the iced drinking chocolates they were offering and having tried an iced hot chocolate in Vegas (Serendipity 3 at Caesar`s Palace by the way, if anyone is interested), I really like the idea of them.. Thankfully, their hours were accurate this time and we entered the door to find a cozy and very small French chocolate shop... That was very crowded with people coming in to pick up chocolates for their loved ones on Valentine`s day, how sweet!

We shared a Chocolat Glace a la Rose, a rose flavored iced drinking chocolate that was served with a liege waffle with a choice between a chocolate hazelnut spread or a fleur de sel (sea salt) caramel spread to go with the waffle. If you know how much I love chocolate and hazelnut, then you already know which spread we picked. But I was actually worried that the spread might be too sweet, since liege waffles tend to lean towards the sweet side for me even by themselves, but no such thing. The waffle was just right, toasted so the chocolate spread melted just a little bit as you ate it. Delicious, I would definitely come back for another.

The rose iced drinking chocolate itself.... I would recommend for people who absolutely adore rose water. The taste of rose and cocoa (and I mean cocoa, not milk chocolate) almost compete with each other. I really have to say that it was as if my taste buds were struggling to decide which flavor stood out more. Neither necessarily overpowered the other, though I can`t say they complimented each other either. Meh, but with a very friendly francophone owner, I am hopeful to be back next year to try a different flavor. Plus, their chocolates were really a hit; the place remained full of people for our entire duration there!

Chocolat Glace de la Rose, with a really cute cardboard straw and waffle! ($5)

Yummmy! Gaufre de liege waffle with a chocolate hazelnut spread :)

Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France
198 East 21st Avenue, Vancouver
Weekdays : 12p to 630p
Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Saturday : 11a to 6p
Sunday : 12p to 5p

Ro Sushi & French Made Baking on a Sunday !

Yesterday, we decided to try this sushi place that had caught my eye because it shared its name with a sushi place that used to be on Broadway (between Cambie and Ash St), on a block that is now entirely under construction. Ro Sushi has relocated to a block down from its previous location, right across from the Michael`s Craft Store. We went there right after we picked up Project Life by Becky Higgins from Michael`s, which is a really cool scrap-booking project that I`ve wanted to start for months now. (Give this a Google if you`ve never seen it and there are a lot of great examples on YouTube if you`re really curious! It is unlikely that I will be blogging about it much because it is a way of keeping more personal life events.) They`ve re-designed their store front and redecorated. I really like the new interior, it feels cleaner and I especially like the smaller size of the restaurant.

Tray E on their menu, called the Passion Sushi Tray for  $30 before tax.

K and I got a tray to share between the both of us, yumm. It`s not Minami or Miku for sure, but it`s decent sushi that is fairly affordable at a pretty populated intersection and area. Good stop for lunch break if you`re near by or on the way to somewhere, considering it is a mere two blocks from Cambie and Broadway. Not to mention, their waitress was all smiles, and my cup of tea was never empty! After sushi lunch, K and I were off to find ourselves something sweet..

French Made Baking is not a new stop for me, because their macarons were the first that I had ever tried two years ago now. The beauty of it all is the variety of macarons every time that I go into a macaron shop are different. This box here contains caramelia, le noisette (hazelnut), le jasmin (jasmine), matcha, le cassis (blackcurrant ganache) and marron glacé (chestnut white chocolate), and was K's purchase. Despite how delicious these are, our intent was not for macarons but for another stop of the hot chocolate festival...

Six macarons for $10 including tax at French Made Baking!

Beyond the Milky Way at French Made Baking for $4, tax inclusive.

French Made Baking was offering their Beyond the Milky Way: a pear, almond milk and 72% dark chocolate hotcho (dairy free). Unfortunately, I have taken ill and perhaps did not get the full experience of this drink, but there is a strong pear aftertaste that lingers with a stronger dark chocolate taste. I quite liked this, but K (who is also at the onset of being sick) found that he couldn`t taste much of the pear himself. This drink will be offered again on January 31st, February 5th and 10th if you`re interested in trying it for yourself, I thought it was a great way to wrap up my weekend :)

French Made Baking
81 Kingsway St, Vancouver
Monday : 12p to 630p
Tuesday - Saturday : 10a to 630p
Sunday : 11a to 430p

Hot Chocolate Festival 2013 : Schokolade !

Me & Snowball in front of Schokolade last year (photo: Jerkface).

Schokolade Artisan Chocolates
2663 E Hastings Street
M Closed | T-Sat 10a - 6p | Sun Closed

#45 - "MOUNT FUJI"
36% white chocolate with fresh ginger and matcha served with four pieces of artisan chocolate.
Available: January 25 - February 9 Closed Sundays and Mondays

#46 - "BOMBAY SPICE"
Chai spice with 70% single origin dark chocolate served with four pieces of artisan chocolate.
Available: January 25 - February 9 Closed Sundays and Mondays


#47 - "SWEET N' SINFUL"
100% B.C. wild flower honey with 100% dark chocolate served with four pieces of artisan chocolate.
Available: January 25 - February 9 Closed Sundays and Mondays


#48 - "CANADIAN CLASSIC"
100% pure hazelnut with 38% milk chocolate served with four pieces of artisan chocolate.
Available: January 25 - February 9 Closed Sundays and Mondays


#49 - "ESPRESSO"
Espresso served with four pieces of artisan chocolate.
Available: January 25 - February 9 Closed Sundays and Mondays

#50 - "TEA ROSE"
Rose tea and 36% white chocolate served with four pieces of artisan chocolate.
Available: January 25 - February 9. Closed Sundays and Mondays.

After our little adventure at French Made Baking (and Kingsgate mall), we headed over to another favourite of mine, Schokolade. Their chocolates are some of my very favourites and their shop is a small and cozy one. Feeling very satisfied with the Lord of Hot Chocolate from French Made Baking, we decided to try one drink: the Canadian Classic and this is not just because we are Canadian, but because I have an adoration for hazelnut. It was quite foamy, and if you like then that`s great, but you really get that pure hazelnut taste when you sip this. I mean, you can pick up chunks of hazelnut with your spoon to give you an idea of what I mean by pure hazelnut. Another safe drink for the day because I love hazelnuts and I love milk chocolate: very little could have gone wrong and it was everything I expected: scrumptious!

The Canadian Classic with four pieces of chocolate was around $11, the chocolates are optional though.

With our drink came four pieces of chocolate that you got to pick. We chose the Mah-Jhong Orange Cream (fun fact for those who don`t know, I do in fact play mahjong, and the 红中 happens to be my lucky tile), the Mokka, the Sea Salt Caramel and the Hazelnut Crunch. All besides the Hazelnut Crunch which was made with milk chocolate, were made with 70% dark chocolate.

(CW starting on L) Hazelnut Crunch, Mah-Jhong Orange Cream, Mokka and Sea Salt Caramel.

I`m always returning to Schokolade for their chocolates, they`re delicious and quite unique. The lighting inside was not amazing, so my point-and-shoot camera did not feel like focusing for a good part of our visit... But there is a wide selection of other chocolates including chess pieces and Chinese chess pieces. All of their chocolates are made with very little to no mechanized equipment, which I think makes these quite impressive. I enjoyed the dark chocolate of the Mokka, and the orange cream in the Mah-Jhong chocolate. I would have liked the Hazelnut Crunch a little more if it didn`t taste exactly like my drink, which meant I didn`t find it standing out among the other three. My favourite chocolate of the bunch was definitely the Sea Salt Caramel, which surprises me because I don`t even like caramel. Apparently I like it with sea-salt!

Oh yum yum yummy Sea Salt Caramel!

I enjoyed my walk down memory lane, having been to both French Made Baking and Schokolade before. I do recommend them both, Schokolade in particular has a very cozy shop. French Made Baking is a little smaller which leaves less space for sitting but they always have amazing art on their windows (which I forgot to snap a photo of on my way out again, I`m sorry!) Again I wish I had had more time to sit and take nicer photos at French Made Baking (You can really tell I found parking at Schokolade because there are actually photos!) because I really do enjoy their drinks and little pastries. So far the people who are serving drinks at all the chocolate shops and cafes that I`ve been to have been extremely friendly, and willing to chat about what they do. So don`t be afraid to ask questions!

Thank you J for spending the day hot chocolate hopping with me :) We actually spent quite some time considering these really cute Korean agendas at the dollar store inside Kingsgate Mall (where I parked), and picked up a couple each before heading over to French Made Baking. I really enjoyed the day!








*Find French Made Baking on their main website here: click. 
*Find Schokolade Artisan Chocolates on their website here: click.