A Chocolate World: Love Served at Philz

Who would have thought there could be bad drinking chocolate? But after a few weeks of very disappointing experiences, I have discovered what I enjoy in a cup, and have come to appreciate the subtleties that make a fine brew. And it's not just about the chocolate!

With a friend in town last weekend, we went on the San Francisco Gourmet Chocolate Tour where we sampled chocolate in the downtown area. While the truffles and bars were excellent, the drinking chocolate at one of the stops was not up to my standards. BLECK!

To redeem the experience, I decided to order a spicy drinking chocolate for the road at our final tour stop. Made with milk and spiced with cayenne, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, it had a smooth slightly creamy texture and a nice kick that needed to be slowly sipped. Not bad after a string of bad drinking chocolate experiences over the past few weeks. It was especially enjoyable at the end of our tour as the sun was going down and it was getting cold. But while good, the best was still to come.

My friend wanted some excellent coffee, and with my car in the Mission district, Philz Coffee is the only place to go. With beans of your choice, each cup is freshly ground, brewed fresh to order, and handcrafted with love.

When I asked our barista Jacob (pictured above) about their drinking chocolate, I discovered that they work a similar magic. Though they do not grind their own cacao beans for each cup, they have a special blend which they make with hot water, rather than milk, thus making their hot chocolate vegan! I was already loving this.

After having 2 cups of drinking chocolate already that day I didn't need a third, but Jacob insisted and brewed one up "on the house." And it wasn't just a sample sip. It was literally a full cup, which was larger than each of the other brews sampled earlier that day.

Though not thick and creamy in texture, it was a balanced bittersweet brew which trumped the others. The third was the charm! The fresh sprig of crushed mint added a wonderful depth to the already rich dark chocolate flavor, but what made this cup one of the best cups I've had in a while is the "love" that went into its preparation.

Going above and beyond his job, Jacob is not a "barista" as much as he is one who share his love for life by creating "cups of love," as me and my friend have come to call it. "Cups of love" simply brighten a day as someone pours their heart and passion into what they do and then shares that gift with others. Jacob does it with coffee and chocolate. My friend who is a doctor does it with an encouraging word to each patient in her clinic. I try to do it with a smile and good attitude at school.

It is so easy to simply go through the motions at work, in class, at home. Jacob reminded me that it's all about enjoying what you do, living out your passion, serving others, always giving it your best, bringing to the counter a "cup of love."

As Gandhi has said, "Be the change that you want to see in the world." You can change the world with a smile, a kind word, a cup of chocolate. The smallest things make the biggest difference.

In addition to a free cup of chocolate, Jacob also gave us baklava and then refused to take an extra tip which my friend tried to put in the jar. "You are all the tip that I need," he said. "Just make sure you tell 10 people about us." With this blog (and my facebook chocolate reviews), I am doing just that!

With Philz opening a new cafe in Berkeley which will be just down the street from school on my way to BART, I soon will be able to get my chocolate fix, get some studying done, and with each cup, remember that it's all about the love.

And to think, I learned all that from a cup of chocolate.

Not all chocolate cakes are created equal

With a friend in town, we were in search of some excellent dessert. Having been voted Palo Alto’s Best for over 15 consecutive years by Palo Alto Weekly, The Prolific Oven looked promising. Four locations in the South Bay also allowed for lots of options for a chocolate break, no matter where we explored.

I asked the counter barista to recommend the chocolatiest dessert, and a slice of their Chocolate on Chocolate Cake was served. Though this cake is the most popular on the menu, my chocolate palate was disappointed as it lacked the deep dark bitter sweet bite and rich texture I appreciate and have come to expect.

While the “American Style sour cream chocolate cake” was pleasant, it did not however pair well with the frosting. The cake on its own was fine, but the semi-sweet chocolate frosting had a waxy, “not quite real,” too-sweet taste that made me pause as I needed to try it a few times to figure out what was wrong. I actually scraped some of the frosting off the cake and left it on the plate. And if you know me, you know that leaving good chocolate on a plate is a sin! This however was not good chocolate.The heaviness of this pseudo-chocolate frosting overpowered the light, moist airiness of the cake. I was surprised to find that the cake is described as “rich” because for me it was everything but.

My friend however tried their Chocolate Mocha Cake. Though not my first choice in a chocolate cake, this cake does have an overall better taste than the Chocolate on Chocolate. Both desserts begin with the same “American Style sour cream chocolate cake,” but while it doesn’t pair with the Chocolate on Chocolate frosting, it is complemented by the cream cheese frosting in the Mocha Cake. Though there is a subtle coffee flavor in the frosting, a brown sugary flavor dominates which actually plays off of the subtle sour cream bite in the cake and cream cheese in the frosting to create an overall very good cake. While I liked the chopped chocolate on the edge, my friend, who chose wisely and whose cake I highjacked as mine bit the dust, did not, and let me polish it off.

Overall assessment: 2.5 cacao beans (out of 5).
With a few chocolate options, there are choices to be had, but for me, it will probably be German Chocolate or Chocolate Rum next time. However, if you’re looking for a good deep dark chocolate cake, keep looking – and definitely not here.

(review date: 2009_10-16)