Chocolate Garage

Do you live in the South Bay? Are you looking for a place to get unique chocolates? Check out the Chocolate Garage! We ventured down the coast on Caltrain one day to host a Meetup event during their open tasting event. Several bars were available for try and the employees were happy to help curate the tastings. Plus guests could bring wine, turning the event into a Chocolate Happy Hour!

Light to darkest was the suggested tasting menu.

There wasn't a large group for our event, but the little garage bustled with guests making purchases and enjoying coversation. Currently the Chocolate Garage is open for general tasting on Saturday mornings, but you're welcome to call and schedule a private group tasting. A tasting event could be a lot of fun for a birthday or bridal shower. The Garage is a very easy walk from Caltrain, so no excuses from the SF contingent.

Oakland Chocolate Company

Nancy Nadel is not hiding Umpa Lumpas like Willy Wonka, but her Oakland Chocolate Company factory in Emeryville is a wonderland all the same. Our group (SF Bay Area Chocolate Meetup) booked a tour online and got to enjoy both a tasting and tour of her mini-masterpiece factory. The tasting takes place in her front room, furnished with a lovely wooden table and chairs and decorated with photos of Jamaica where Nancy sources all the cacao beans and some other ingredients that she uses in her chocolates.

Ready to taste!

and take notes/order chocolate

Oakland Chocolate Company is a bean to bar company. Nancy orders her big bags of beans and after delivery, she tests them for consistency and purity using a fancy slicing tool.

After the beans are sorted, they have the husks winnowed from the beans in this custom machine. One reoccurring theme in small chocolate factories is the lack of small batch equipment! So if you're a fabricator, get out there and fill the niche.

There is a myriad of other little machines in the kitchen and Nancy explains them all! Since we had a few knowledgeable people in our group the discussion was quite informative and there were a lot of questions.

tools of the trade

staying to the city code!

tempering Jamaican chocolate

Our tour included take home chocolate. Our choice of two bon bons/truffles and two bars. We also got to peruse her table of wares—usually you'll only find her set up at the Montclair Farmer's Market or at the Oakland Art Murmur/First Friday. Nancy also has a list of retail stores that carry specific products (but not the Oakland Chocolate Company's full line).

J.K.'s pick—rosebud bonbon (l) and rum raisin barrel (r)

J.K. goes for the classic bars

Angela's pick—cocoa tea (l)  and caramel (r)

Angela's pick—Same bars front

and back—Jamacian almond and black salt bars

JK and I both got some goodies from the product table as well!

There is a lot of local chocolate making that goes on in the Bay Area! From Dandelion and Charles Chocolates in the City, it's just a hop skip and jump over the bridge to Emeryville to find the Oakland Chocolate Company!

Do you want to book a tour? Here is Nancy's blurb about booking a tour (taken from the website)
"Our tasting room at the Beach Street location is ready for Small Group Tours and Tasting. Please call 510 545-2462 to make a reservation.  We suggest a month in advance of the desired date. The tasting room seats 12 comfortably. The Tasting and Tour Program includes tasting our Jamaican chocolates of different cacao concentrations and compare to another origin sample. Guests also receive 2 1-oz. bars of their choice and 2 truffles or bonbons. The tour of the facility includes a demonstration of fermented bean testing, a talk about how chocolate grows and how the export system works in Jamaica."

sorry this photo is so blurry!

Harris-Lass Museum-Afternoon Tea for Charity

Tea Time Adventures brings you a summer charity event! The Harris-Lass Museum in Santa Clara hosts this fundraiser annually so this year we got tickets (courtesy of the Let's Go to Afternoon Tea Meetup group) and took Caltrain down to the South Bay for another tea adventure. Here is a little history about the house (from their website):

"The Harris-Lass House Museum is located at 1889 Market Street in Santa Clara, California.  It is the last farm site in the city of Santa Clara and is named for the two families who owned and lived on the property for 125 years.  The museum consists of the house, a classic California barn, summer kitchen, tank house and landscaped gardens."

We arrived early on this warm June day, so after we checked in and found our assigned tables (grabbing seats in the shade!) there was plenty of time for picture taking. We perused the raffle goodies. Most popular was the chair planter of purple petunias, but there was a wide variety of baskets and goodies available to win. You also got the chance to win a raffle just by attending when you entered your ticket stub for a door prize. A third chance at winning a drawing was to purchase something from the Harris-Lass gift shop which is housed in the Tank House (it has a windmill on top, easy to spot).

Plenty of door prizes.

Put your ticket in a basket for a chance to win!

Typewriter planter, Whaaat!

There is sure to be something to strike your fancy at the Harris-Lass gift shop. Including photos of the past residents and information about their lives.

The grounds are small, but lively flowers and an arched trellis show this could be a lovely setting for a wedding or garden party. The house was not open for tours since it was the preparation and staging area for the fashion show. We were reminded to save our tickets and return at a later date to see the insides of the house itself.

The catered afternoon tea included sandwiches, a mini scone with jam, lemon curd and (melted) cream, hot tea (we requested ice to make into iced tea—it was a warm day, even in the shade) along with dessert (lemon bars and brownies). 

J.K. made a party favor for the Meetup guests, Tea Marshmallows!!

Just as dessert began, so did the entertainment provided by Portraits of the Past. This group donned vintage clothing and enacted short vingnettes from the history of San Jose and the Bay Area. All the actors and actresses had a lot of fun and after the show they walked among the audience to let us see their costumes up close and personal. If you're interested in having them perform at your event, see their information below! The Harris-Lass tea is another fundraising tea event that happens yearly. Tickets to this afternoon tea sell out quickly, but don't despair. If you'd like to find out more about this historical home, you can visit year round!