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Uploaded: Sunday, February 10, 2013, 2:07 PM
Shop Talk: Lots of chocolate in Palo Alto
Boston Market closes and other tidbits
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by Daryl Savage
Palo Alto Weekly Staff
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 | CHOCOLATE TIMES THREE ... A high-end chocolate shop is scheduled to open this week in downtown Palo Alto in the former space of hair and makeup studio Mimi & Taylor Salon at 522 Bryant St. The decision to open Alegio Chocolate in Palo Alto came after its owners, who started their first chocolate shop in Berkeley seven years ago, noticed more customers coming from Silicon Valley. "We decided to open another store near them," said Panos Panagos, who co-owns Alegio with business partner Robbin Everson. Alegio sells truffles with ganache filling, and chocolate bars made by Italian-born tropical agronomist Claudio Corallo, a small cacao producer on a tiny island west of equatorial Africa. Alegio also offers a 45-minute chocolate-tasting tour, where customers learn about the company's own West African plantation. Participants hear how chocolate is grown and harvested, and are given an assortment of different chocolates to sample, said Panagos, a former director/producer for the European Broadcasting Commission.
The location of Alegio may raise a few eyebrows among chocolate-lovers. It is across the street from another gourmet chocolate shop, Monique's Chocolates, which opened three years ago at 539 Bryant. Recognizing the awkward proximity of the two shops, Panagos said: "It wasn't intentional. It just happened. But I don't see a competition." Monique's owner Mark West takes a different view. "Yes, it is competition. There's no way around it. It's going to be interesting. Fortunately, people love chocolate," West said, adding that there is a fundamental difference between the two shops. "At Monique's, we make all our own chocolate right here and we don't sell chocolate bars. Instead I do truffles, caramels, marshmallows and a lot of hot chocolate," he said.
And if that's not enough chocolate for Palo Alto, less than two blocks away at 654 Gilman St. is The Chocolate Garage. Owner Sunita de Tourreil offers 90-minute presentations in a small garage that has been converted into an intimate tasting room. The one-room business is decorated with dozens of chocolate-bar wrappers lining the walls. Furniture consists of a single couch, two chairs and a table. For the past few years, de Tourreil has been able to combine her love for chocolate and her desire for teaching into offering corporate events and parties. A former molecular biologist, de Tourreil averages three educational tastings a week. "That's definitely an increase from a year ago. Word is getting out," she said. She focuses on the educational component of making chocolate. "I show (customers) the actual cacao bean. The tastings range from the very whitest chocolate to the very darkest," she said. De Tourreil also concentrates on small-batch American chocolate producers. "When I teach about 'happy chocolate,' that means I screen chocolate for two criteria: It has to be really high quality and delicious, and I need to know how it is getting sourced. I want to make sure the cacao farmer is getting paid fairly," she said.
BOSTON MARKET CLOSES ... The comfort-food restaurant Boston Market closed its doors at 3375 El Camino Real in Palo Alto last month. White paper now covers all the windows of the former restaurant, with a short note thanking customers for their support and patronage. The note also advises customers that two nearby Boston Markets -- one in Santa Clara, the other in Fremont -- remain open.Heard a rumor about your favorite store or business moving out, or in, down the block or across town? Daryl Savage will check it out. Email shoptalk@paweekly.com. Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by Dr. W, a resident of Stanford, on Feb 11, 2013 at 10:33 am Let's hope all of these chocolates are Fair Trade. Owners, what do you have to say?!? Surely, we in Palo Alto can all pay higher prices to ensure fair trading practices and safe labor conditions for those who farm our First World indulgences!
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Posted by Enough!, a resident of the Charleston Gardens neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2013 at 10:51 am No surprise about Boston Market. And all I can say about the post above is, WOW. "We" in Palo Alto can NOT "all" pay higher prices. What an elitist comment! I have lived in Palo Alto for 39 years, and I am sickened at the direction this once diverse community is heading.
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Posted by KP, a resident of the South of Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2013 at 10:52 am I recently had a conversation with the owner of TCHO, (in the City, Pier 17) and suggested he look into opening a store in our area...too late now! Our locals have already seen the light! Yummy chocolate! I don't care who brings it as long as it's good! LOL!
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Posted by Penny , a resident of the Greenmeadow neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2013 at 11:09 am Our family LOVES Monique's choclates. We bicycle from south Palo Alto to nosh on their decadent truffles and lovely hot chocolate. The owner is a terrific guy. My daughters have learned so much from him about how excellent chocolate is made. They enjoy watching the chocolates being prepared. It's a wonderful experience. AND their chocolates are peanut-free, which is really important to our family. We are so grateful to have a local chocolatier who offers such an outstanding chocolate and is sensitive to the nut allergy problem.
Also, they do events! Monique's provided an array of custom-made amazing sweets for my daughter's bat mitzvah recently. They were so great to work with.
I HIGHLY recommend Monique's!!!!
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Posted by Augustus Gloop, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2013 at 12:17 pm I'm investing in companies that are going to do well from the impending Type II diabetes increase. Elder care as well.
Eat up! Just in time for summer swim suit season :)
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Posted by Belgique, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2013 at 2:44 pm I hope they have Belgian chocolates other than Godiva. In Brussels, Godiva chocolate does not even compare to the other chocolates made there. it is not even considered truly high quality chocolate in Belgium.
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Posted by moi, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2013 at 3:49 pm Dear Mr. Augustus Gloop >>>>>
So sorry to disappoint you, but I won a golden ticket.
AND rumor has it Johnny Depp will be reprising the role of tour guide.
AND blue is my color!
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Posted by Is it kosher, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2013 at 3:55 pm Are they kosher, penny? Or did you serve treif at a bat mitzvah?
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Posted by Nea Gina, a resident of another community, on Feb 11, 2013 at 4:31 pm San Francisco is a mere 30 miles from Palo Alto. What makes San Francisco unique is the array of neighborhoods. If you wanted an Italian meal you would go to North Beach, where every other store front is an Italian restaurant. If you wanted a Chinese meal you would go to China Town which has 24 blocks of food and small shops. There are at least 10 coffee shops in Palo Alto of which half are Peet's coffee and the other half Starbucks. They are not businesses that are failing, if anything it brings more business to the neighborhood. The uniqueness of coffee beans and in this case cocoa beans is what will bring more people to this particular area. Why not have a cocoa neighborhood in Palo Alto? Now that would be unique!! I say welcome Alegio, having competition brings in better quality chocolates.
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Posted by James, a resident of the University South neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2013 at 5:02 pm I've tried all these high price chocolate, but nothing beats a good old Hershey chocolate bar with almonds!
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Posted by Como, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2013 at 5:25 pm Doesn't Coupa Cafe make their own chocolate too?
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Posted by Chocolate lover, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2013 at 6:15 pm Nothing on any continent beats Mary See's chocolate! There used to be two See's stores downtown . One sold things like candied apples and caramel corn. Anyone else been in town 65 years that also remembers?
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Posted by musical, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2013 at 11:03 pm I think See's was before my time, but I remember a MacFarlane's on ECR in Mountain View.
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Posted by Another See's Lover, a resident of the South of Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 12, 2013 at 1:47 am Chocolate Lover, there are still See's shops in Stanford Shopping Center, on El Camino just south of Showers/Whole Foods in Mountain View, and in the Sequoia Shopping Center on El Camino in Redwood City, among other places. They're probably not "upscale" enough to pay downtown PA rents anymore, which suits my pocketbook just fine! (And I'll be in line again in the next day or two myself.)
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Posted by Native, a member of the Palo Alto High School community, on Feb 12, 2013 at 8:47 am A shame about Boston Market closing. I have 3 kids and it would often bail me out of having to cook dinner. However, Safeway offers nearly the same packaged goods for less money.
Glad to read th someone else notices that Godiva chocolates are crap quality! I've always thought the chocolates are all packaging!
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Posted by Linda C, a resident of Menlo Park, on Feb 12, 2013 at 10:14 am Please support child /slave labor free chocolate production. I put a few helpful sites below. Think of the extra expense as a donation to a global cause.
Web Link
Web Link Scroll down for a list (updated 2009)
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Posted by Chrisc, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Feb 12, 2013 at 1:04 pm To como: my understanding is that Coupa cafe's chocolates are not made here, but the owner has them made to his specifications (or it's his enterprise) in Venezuela. They are delicious. Nordstrom also sells some fine chocolates.
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Posted by Pat Markevitch, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Feb 13, 2013 at 9:15 pm The See's on University back in the 60's only sold See's candies. It was located next door to a store which sold carmelcorn and candies apples as well as many other items.
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Posted by John, a resident of the Palo Alto Hills neighborhood, on Feb 18, 2013 at 12:48 am Alegio is a very nice place. I used to drive 45 minutes to get some chocolate, now it is only 15 minutes away. I am very excited for the opening of this chocolate shop, they have an excellent quality product.
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Posted by Alexander, a resident of the Meadow Park neighborhood, on Feb 19, 2013 at 4:30 pm There is a woooorld of chocolate out there! And then, in a remote corner of the global village, in a tiny volcanic island off the coast of equatorial Africa there is Claudio Corallo, an Italian born tropical agronomist who has taken on the worlds’ largest manufactures and started a personal crusade to produce the pure chocolate that our grandparents used to enjoy. And it is his true story, from the heart of the Congolese Jungle to the islands of Sao Tome & Principe to guide you along the discovery of a cacao unlike any other!! Go and taste for yourelves! I am ecstatic and can't wait to go back again. Alegio-Claudio Corallo welcome to Palo Alto!
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Posted by Teresa Bozikis , a resident of another community, on Feb 19, 2013 at 9:03 pm Different strokes for different folks... I favor Alegio and I always go the distance for quality.
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Posted by Panos for Alegio Alegio Chocolaté-Claudio Corallo, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Mar 21, 2013 at 6:37 pm Yes, our chocolate is Fair Trade, organic & slave labor free!
(the only slave there is me..LOL)
panos
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