I embarked on yet another road trip down to Southern California, this time, to acquire retail partners for Jade Chocolates. Instead of taking the straight and narrow of highway 5, I decided to take the slower, longer road on 101. It’s a scenic drive. I was awestruck with the beauty of the California landscape. I’m actually warming up to road trips, even with my recent car failures.
Driving up 101 from Southern California is a humbling experience. The vast ocean of the deep blue waters and the quintessential rolling hills carpeted with blond grass and landscaped with the out reaching arms of mighty oak trees are scenes in my head that I will never forget. At last, I’ve learned to appreciate a long drive.
It’s a learning experience, just like eating chocolate. For years, I took for granted what chocolate had to offer until finally, I just got it. Jade Chocolate’s Dragon’s Breath bar is chocolate that people who like taking the slow road will love. If you eat it too fast or without care, you’ve just eaten a piece of chocolate. But you took time to listen, feel and taste, then you’ll discover all the nuances in Dragon’s Breath. In your initial bite, you taste chocolate mixed with the crunch of roasted sesame seeds invading your palate, but quickly turns into smokey, almost bacony taste. Then when there is no more chocolate to chew, you begin to feel a slight and gentle heat on the back and sides of your throat followed again by the smokiness of the lapsang souchang tea. All this with just a single piece of chocolate.
Back to my road trip….From Southern California, I hit cities such as Orange, Los Angeles, Venice, Studio City, Manhattan Beach, Pacific Palisades, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez, Paso Robles, and Templeton. We immediately acquired accounts with a few retail stores, so the trip was well worth it. Here are some of our new retail partners:
Chocolate Maya in Santa Barbara. This is a quaint chocolate shop run by a woman aptly named Maya. She also conducts chocolate travels to cacao plantations. Her first trip was to Chuao, Venezuela earlier this year in February. Here are photos of her shop. This was my first time in Santa Barbara. The people in the town were warm and kind-hearted. I’ll have to make another trip here soon.
Chefmakers Cooking Academy in Pacific Palisades. This is a great shop for hard to find kitchen gadgets, books, cutlery, and gourmet foods. It also provides cooking classes for adults and children.
Big Sugar Bakeshop in Studio City. If you happen to be walking down the street and peer into this bakeshop, there is no way that the irresistible interiors won’t draw you in. It was hard for me to walk out empty handed, but I had to hit the road for more accounts. Next time, I’m getting their homemade ice cream cookie. *our chocolates won’t be available until early October 2008.
EOS Estate Winery in Paso Robles. You’ll be blown away with the 5,000 square foot marketplace. They also have self guided estate tours for you to enjoy at a leisurely pace. Wine and Jade Chocolates pair extremely well, more on a later post!
And lastly, Coco Noche in Manhattan Beach. They’re only open at night, keeping in tune with it’s name and serves up a full menu of Asian fare for dinner. This innovative wine bar, also has a wine pairing menu which matches ice creams/gelatos and chocolates. Three of our tasting tiles are paired with Natalie’s pick of three wines. It’s a great concept, I really wonder why this isn’t being done is more places.
The week I meet Will, he invited me to come to Puerto Rican night with all you can eat Puerto Rican food, a live band and dancing. Proceeds from the event I attended, benefited a non-profit organization for At Risk Seniors. I decided to showup with a few dozen Jade Chocolates prototype truffles, all made with Leland Tea. The band played some great Latin jazz, and to my surprise, they were all in high school! I was blown away. ‘Hijo de la Musica Latina isn’t any ordinary high school level band. 
