Our Seattle Chocolate Tour

My sweet Hubby (not a chocolate lover himself) planned the ultimate date--a self-guided chocolate tour of the Seattle area.  Better yet, we decided to make it a family affair since his Mom would be in town and didn't that sound like even more fun?  We took the advice of the February 2013 Seattle Magazine issue to plan our chocolate adventure.  Rowdy mapped the route out according to location and off we went on the perfect weekend outing! With the magazine and addresses in hand, we hit the road.

First stop was Chocolati Cafe in Wallingford to try their Cayenne Hot Chocolate (fabulous with just enough warmth).  We left with a bit more yumminess for the road--but I told the family to slow down on consumption since we still had tons of chocolate to taste. The MIL and kiddos liked the salted caramel hot chocolate the best and we were also given some house made granule mixes to make some at home!

Our next stop was Chocolat Vitale.  We loved the 50 cent dispenser of chocolate pistachio's and the owner was so gracious to let us try her European Classic Hot Chocolate without ordering.  We also picked up the famous Pink Peony orange chocolate slices(too bad I was the only one who liked it). My MIL bought some silky chocolate body butter and the decor was so fun and eclectic we stayed there longer than planned.

Next on our list was HOT CAKES in Ballard.  This was a chocolate MEAL and so we made sure it was at the forefront of our adventure since we might be too stuffed later.  We picked up the recommended Hot Molten Cake and Grilled Chocolate Sandwich and Smore's cookie.  The store had such rustic charm and the food was sinfully decadent.  Honestly, we could only take a few bites so I am glad we did not order more!  Their smoked chocolate samples were a super fun treat, too.

Theo Chocolates in Fremont was our next stop.  They do chocolate tours but we opted out and just browsed the store.  There were samples everywhere and I thought their packaging was super pretty and modern.  And, who wouldn't love to get a chocolate library box? Good news about these chocolates are that they are in just about every upscale market in town. We actually went next door to PCC and found the bars for $1 cheaper (shhhhhh!)

Just down the block was our next taste test called Wine Tea Chocolate.  The sipping chocolate was deep and bitter (pudding consistency)--but I enjoyed it. Not for the milk chocolate lovers out there and the kids will not enjoy it at all.  A fun experience though!

We then headed over to Queen Anne to try Chocolopolis.  Valrhona Manjari Drinking Chocolate was what I went for and it was definitely intense, but the rest of the family loved the sea salted chocolate caramels and fruit passion chocolate.  It was also the prettiest chocolate bar we had seen.  And can I just say that the staff at each chocolate location was just fantastic?  No matter what you read, always ask what they recommend because so far they have all been spot on. 

Our last chocolate stop for the night was Fran's at the Four Seasons downtown.  We grabbed some salted chocolate truffles and saved them for later.   We also found out that these are the US Presidency chocolate of choice--so if you ever go to a White House event (which I frequently do btw), these chocolates are on the menu.

We capped off the night with our new favorite Pizza joint Italian Family Pizza.  The day could not have been better!

Locations we opted out of due to chocolate fatigue but can't wait to try:

The Chocolate Box

Indi's Chocolate at Pike Place Market

Intrigue Chocolate 

I would also like to add that I experienced some serious heart palpitations at the end of the day.  So, proceed with caution on such an adventure!  Not for the faint in heart:)