AfternoonTea with a theme at Charles Chocolates 4/16

We arrived early and had time to check out (and sample!) the chocolates before the tea began. Charles Chocolates always features a fun, seasonal "chocolate box." Yes, the box is created out of chocolate too! Delicious. As far as Tea Time can gauge, Chuck designs a new box for whatever holiday is coming up, then the old ones go on a slight discount. When you attend their afternoon tea, you also get a discount on cafe goods including bars and confections. Score!

 

Chocolates In A Chocolate Box

J.K. couldn't resist the Chocolate Covered Matzah. This is so much better than the supermarket brand! Our honorary Tea Time member Emily bought chocolate to take to her Mom that afternoon. It was time for sweet treats for everyone!

After we browsed the cafe and shop we went to sit out on the patio. The heat lamps are helpful, though the sun was out and it wasn't too windy the day we enjoyed our tea. We spent the time before tea chatting and our tummies were rumbling by Twelve. (Our one suggestion is to have water glasses and carafes on the tables–unless they can get the tea out faster. That would be most ideal.) We didn't get an announcement that tea would be starting late, but we started seeing platters arrive in front of hungry guests at about 12:15. Chef Vijitha gave us a verbal description of the menu, so we ate with our eyes before digging in with our forks, knives and hands. We have a bit of description from Chef Vijitha herself with the appropriate pictures.

"Masala Chai is an integral part of every Indian's day. Chai means Tea in Hindi, the most popular language of India. Since it is flavored with spices, it is called Masala Chai." Angela sometimes finds Chai flavored too strongly for her taste, but our group agreed that this tea was smooth and delightful. There are many types of Chai, so keep shopping around until you find one that fits your palate.

Steamy cup of Indian tea flavored with
cardamom, cloves, peppercorns and fennel seeds

Cheers to Chai!

Here's the lovely platter of Afternoon Tea we were served at this Guest Chef event.

"Sundal is nothing but boiled beans/lentils/legumes seasoned with South Indian spices and coconut. Marina beach is the second longest beach in the world and it is situated in Chennai, Vijitha's home city. The beach is popular for its food–the fire roasted corn or spicy green mango slices or sundal or bhaji. For this sundal, the Chef paired boiled green peas with green mango, carrots and cucumber along with South Indian spices, curry leaves and shredded fresh coconut. This dish truly captures the essence of Chennai."

Marina Beach Manga Thengai Sundal 

  

Iyengar Bakery Style Vegetable Puffs
Caramelized onions + potato+ paneer baked over puff pastry 

"Kara Paniyaram with Chutney. Rice dumplings are  seasoned with onions, curry leaves, ginger, cashews and mustard seeds. It will be made in a paniyaram chatti (appe pan)."

"Masala Vadai is a popular tea time snack from South India. It is very similar to falafel. Crunchy and delicious!" We all enjoyed this tasty cracker like treat a lot. It was especially good with the Chai.

"Gulab jamun, a popular Indian dessert, gets a makeover with cream cheese.: We were happy to take a few of these home when the plate of "leftovers" came around to our seats and many of our co-diners mentioned that they would love the recipe." Lentils are the main protein source for vegetarians in India. A lot of Indian dishes are made with lentils, legumes and beans. For the dessert on the bottom, Chef Vijitha made ladoos with paasi paruppu (mung yellow lentils), cardamom, sugar and ghee."

Gulab Jamun Cheesecake (top) and

Paruppu Ladoo (bottom)

Semiya payasam–A dessert with milk and vermicelli

Time to dig in! No more waiting...

Tea Time enjoyed the information provided by Chef Vijitha although it was at times hard to hear over the chewing as we enjoyed her delicious creations. This region of India features well-balanced and flavorful foods. If you'd like to try recreating some dishes, check out spicesandaroma. Don't feel like dirtying up the kitchen? Look for Chef Vijitha at her next pop-up. 

Guest Chef Vijitha. Check out her delicious recipes at her blog.

Chuck Siegel of Charles Chocolates fame in the blue t-shirt on the right.

Emily, J.K. and Angela enjoyed the unconventional afternoon tea and take home chocolate. We left satiated and thinking new thoughts about the array of Indian food on offer in the Bay Area. Keep your eye out for Afternoon Tea events all over the city and let us know if we've missed any! You can find Charles Chocolates Afternoon Tea events on Eventbrite, Sundays at 12 p.m. Of course, you can stop by the Cafe and tasting room during regular business hours to get a chocolate fix.

Fall Luxury Chocolate Salon in pictures (2013)

Tea Time Adventures is happy to volunteer and help you with your foodie event! It's how we got involved with the Chocolate Salon! Now we know all the major players and chat them up whenever we get the chance. If you're interested in volunteering for a foodie event, (Tea Time also helps with the San Francisco Street Food Festival, Oakland Eat Real, the MOWSF Gala and we're looking for more!) just go to the website of the company hosting the event and click the volunteers link. You'll meet a bunch of fun people and get to see behind the scenes of a major event. Plus you (usually) get to attend the event for free (sometimes with restrictions). It's totally worth it!

Art Pollard (Amano Chocolate) and Chuck Siegel (Charles Chocolate)

There was a full roster of presentations.

Art Pollard's talks are always popular.

Angela loves the Teriyaki!

Tea Lovers chocolates

Art perusing Chuck's wares.

Plumeria flour

Their popcorn is always popular!!

Aaron Pollard minding the store while Art gives his talk.

Stephanie of Tea Lovers Gift Baskets

Angela and Adele of Tipsy Tea

Nothing like absinthe to bring out the essence of chocolate.

Afternoon Tea at Charles Chocolates

Sun, friends and Afternoon Tea. What a great combination. J.K. and I caught up with our friend Robbie at Charles Chocolates last Monday. Afternoon Tea at Charles? But of course! Chuck Siegel was happy to chat with us about the inspiration behind his (daughter's) idea to offer a lovely Afternoon Tea service on Sundays and Mondays every week. We should all be grateful that his wife is British and his daughter is overseas at school and they both appreciate that America deserves all the opportunities it can get to relax and enjoy a cuppa with friends. Plus real, fresh, housemade clotted cream!

When we arrived at the patio, it was a bit windy. Chuck and co graciously moved our picnic table out into the sun and we perused the tea menu. The teas are provided by local gem Samovar, and they are delish. (No surprise there.) We got a variety and shared the pots. Your server is very good about bringing more water whenever you need a top off. Angela picked a lovely Organic Ryokucha Green Tea with Matcha powder that had everyone at the table daydreaming about summer picnics due to its fresh green flavor (and our picnic table furniture). J.K. branched out with Organic Blood Orange Pu-Erh Tea which has the fruity flavor she and Angela love combined with the earthiness of pu-erh. Robbie chose Organic Maiden's Ecstacy Pu-Erh Tea which featured the strongest tea flavor (besides PG Tips) that you can pick from the tea lineup. There is a wide variety on the short list of teas, so everyone should find something that speaks to what they're craving.

Ryokucha Green in the background and Blood Orange Pu-erh up front.

Beautiful Blood Orange in the cup.

Angela tried a bit of cream in her green tea, but everyone agreed these teas were better straight up.

Dark and delightful, it's the Maiden's Ecstasy in our pot.

Your afternoon tea is presented on a simple wood serving slab, from scones to desserts. Everything is sourced and made with care and attention. Chuck even partnered with Straus Creamery to come up with a recipe to make their own Clotted Cream! Lemon curd and Strawberry Jam round out your trio of scone condiments.

Afternoon tea all in a row, no tiered tray needed!

We started with Valrhona Chocolate Chunk Scones, a Red and Yellow Raspberry Ricotta Custard Cake Slice and Cheddar Sesame Shortbread (made with Cabot's Clothbound Cheddar). The menu suggests you pair the tartness of the lemon curd with the sweet of the cake, but as Afternoon Tea aficionadas we mixed and matched all three condiments with scone, cake and shortbread.

A chocolate chunk scone, Custard Cake slice, and Shortbread cookie with sides.

Right now they are serving three sandwiches as part of their afternoon tea menu. An Organic Egg Salad sammie with watercress as well as 4505 Meats Chicken Confit with hazelnut asparagus. The Gravlax Sandwich features healthy slices of salmon on Tartine dark rye with homemade creme fraiche. Tea Time has a hunch that the sandwiches will be seasonal, so fingers crossed that asparagus season stretches out a little bit longer.

L to R Egg Salad, Chicken Confit, Salmon sammies.

Of course the desserts and chocolates are made in the cafe and factory, right across from the patio. This "mini" macaron with its lovely dusting of cocoa powder has a filling of light mocha ganache. The tart (also available "to go" from the cafe) is made with Valrhona Chocolate and Fleur de Sel caramel. Supposedly this tart is also "mini," however Tea Time is suspicious that Chuck is using the word "mini" instead of the more bulky label of "serving one chocoholic". You also get 3 truffles from the Charles Chocolates family. At this visit they were all tea infused.

Dessert! including tea infused truffles. They used  Ryokucha, Jasmine and Pu-erh.

Tart! Lovely light crust with sun-warmed gooey middle.

Charles Chocolates is making lemons into everything but lemonade! All parts are used, from the zest (in chocolates) to the juice (in your lemon curd). Many business owners are inspired to be and use local in San Francisco, but Charles is taking it one step further by planning for the community too. Stay tuned for the patio to sport a small dog run and herb garden. Not only will you be able to gather with friends, family and neighbors at the chocolate factory, but Fido can come visit too. Chuck is excited about the future he has planned, and we are too!

If you're looking for a special father's day event, you can rush to see if there are reservations available for Charles Chocolates Father's Day Tea with its special menu featuring bourbon chocolates and every Dad's favorite meat–Bacon.

Charles Chocolates in the Mission / Posted by J.K.

I had sponsored Charles Chocolates, which has re-opened on Florida Street in the Mission, on Kickstarter, and it was time to stop by and pick up my "perk." I received a shopping bag stuffed with a sampling of the chocolates, and we took a close look at everything in the shop.

The new shop is a little out of the way (much more convenient than Emeryville, though!) but well worth the trip.

My loot–minus the bar Angela absconded with.

 

The label explains what's in the box, and lists the ingredients

There are large displays of individual chocolates and bars to choose from, and prepared packages for those who can't make up their minds.

  

  

Having just had dinner at Mission Bowling Club, Angela and I were ready for dessert. Everything in the pastry case looked tasty,

but we couldn't resist this huge piece of chocolate cake. It's big enough for three normal people; however, we had no leftovers. This cake is so gorgeous I have to show it to you both in shade and sunlight. The store's outdoors seating wasn't in place yet, so we went down the street to a coffee shop, which didn't object to us sitting down outside with our cake.

Cake in the shade

Cake in sunlight

We highly recommend this cake. I usually prefer my own baking, but this is excellent!