A little piece of heaven beckons at Chi Chocolat

by MICHELLE HACKNEY San Diego Community News Group

 

Jesse Brown, co-owner of Chi Chocolat at 2690 Historic Decatur Road in Liberty Station, serves up a taste sensation to a customer. COURTESY PHOTO

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When owners/chocolatiers Jesse and Tess Brown travel, they get ideas for food from encountering different cultures. Aside from the traditional favorites, Chi Chocolat mixes exotic flavors like curry, cayenne pepper and green tea from Japan into their chocolate recipes. COURTESY PHOTO

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Fine chocolate is like fine wine — rich, delicate and full of complexity. At Chi Chocolat, an exclusive decadent collection is at one’s lickable fingertips. Specializing in fresh artisan chocolates and unique edible gifts, even those with impeccable taste will likely be satisfied.

With the holiday season quickly approaching, there might not be a better time — or excuse — to indulge those cocoa cravings.

Located in Liberty Station at 2690 Historic Decatur Road, Suite 103, Chi Chocolat offers an array of sweets from artisan truffles and bon bons to chunky slabs of premium chocolate and succulent enrobed fruit selections. There’s no minimum order, so whether ordering a single piece or thousands more for a wedding or corporate event, the same courteous, personal service is offered.

Chi Chocolat also groups pieces with similar characteristics into what is called “a flight of chocolates,” that is, each with a distinctive theme. For example, handcrafted bonbons with exotic spices or organic infused tea ganaches are available.

When owners/chocolatiers Jesse and Tess Brown travel, they get ideas for food from encountering different cultures. Aside from the traditional favorites, Chi Chocolat mixes exotic flavors like curry, cayenne pepper and green tea from Japan into their chocolate recipes.

“At the end of the work day when I’m tired and my hands are covered in chocolate, I have to smile and I realize how much fun and how much creative freedom we have while doing this,” said Tess.

With more than 12 years of experience in the food, beverage and hospitality industry, the husband-and-wife duo crafts chocolates entirely by hand in batches of no more than 50 pieces at a time. Their approach to chocolate making bans the use of additives like hydrogenated vegetable fat and artificial colors in order to let the pure chocolate flavors and aromas shine.

An intense focus on both the culinary and visual artistry of chocolate make these treats both beautiful to behold and a delight to consume.

As a creative, sweet offset from their company Banyan Catering, Jesse and Tess purchased Chi Chocolate in 2005 and recently moved it from Little Italy to Liberty Station, where they celebrated a grand opening on Sept. 18.

“I never really liked chocolate before, but I came in with a friend and the smell was divine,” said Nora Peak, a Point Loma resident and now chocolate convert. “I picked up a white chocolate with rose water and ate it immediately. It was delightful and I imagine this is a fun place to do a tasting with a group of friends or for a bridal shower.”

When you experience a tasting, the chocolatier discusses the tasting disks and gives a brief history of chocolate. The cost per person is $26.95 and includes 6 tasting disks, a non-alcoholic beverage, wine or beer and a gift box with six pieces of chocolate to go.

SAN DIEGO Magazine

 IT INTOXICATES AND INVIGORATES. The senses surrender to its velvety touch, luscious taste and hypnotic aroma. Transmuted from the cocoa (also called cacao) bean into a delirious array of confections, chocolate has for centuries been held in esteem as one of humankind’s greatest pleasures. There’s no better time——or excuse——than the holiday season to indulge your cocoa craving. In that spirit, we bring you a sweet selection of melt-in-your-mouth chocolate sensations. Bet you can’t eat just one.
——JULIA BEESON, December 2007

Choc, mate! Chi Chocolat makes a complete chess set fashioned entirely of chocolate. The hard part is picking a side: white or dark?

 

944 MAGAZINE

Chi Chocolat, an upscale chocolate paradise in Little Italy, was recently purchased by Jesse and Tess Brown. The caf_ caters to chocolate connoisseurs with creations far more creative than the clich_ combinations found at candy franchises. All of the treats, from the chili-tangerine chocolate cones to the coffee-flavored miniature mugs, look as though they were zapped by Willy Wonka_s shrinking machine and are handmade in the store. Chi Chocolat also hosts chocolate fondue parties and tasting sessions in which groups of four to six people sample candy containing different percentages of cocoa. - Jennifer Olinger, 944 Magazine, Unique Boutiques, Nov. 2005

Jesse Brown from Chi Chocolat joined us to talk about the chocolate gifts you can give your sweetheart this Valentine's Day. He talked about everything from Bonbons to creamy hot chocolate. For more information on the different chocolate treats go to www.chichocolat.com

 Imaginative Boutique Chocolatier"...The chocolate itself is among the best you can find, foregoing the cheaper beans used most often in commercial chocolate for fine aromatic varieties. Chi also uses no artificial products or preservatives; the chocolates are meant to be eaten young." - Drew Clayton, 2007

I walked into Chi Chocolat on a Tuesday afternoon, and found Chocolatier Jesse Brown leaning over a tray of minutes-old chocolates, carefully brushing their tops to add texture. Brown is crafting chocolates entirely by hand, in a batch of no more than 50 pieces. "There's no shortcuts," he said, smiling. "We want to provide people with something unforgettable, an unforgettable experience." Brown said that he wants to show people the "mystique of chocolate." "It has a very grand history," he said. Owner and Chocolatier Tess Brown has been at it for a year-and-a-half, creating unique chocolate for local customers who are looking for quality, not quantity. "Most chocolate manufacturers can't produce a high-quality product," said Jesse. "Chocolate's not cheap. Then they have to use preservatives for the high volume." Unlike insipid store-bought chocolates, which I now realize have all the flavor of a hockey puck, fresh chocolates are meant to be consumed relatively soon after they are made. Chi Chocolat can boast about 50 different flavors of hand-made chocolates, with classics like coconut, classic dark and pistachio. However, expect to find numerous culinary originals in the chocolate flights, like white chocolate with rosewater or sweet thyme (strawberry lemon-thyme). Jesse said that when his family travels, they get ideas for food from encountering different cultures.   ...more  - Jared Cohen, Coronade Eagle, February 22, 2007

Little Italy's upscale chocolatier is everything exquisite... From richly flavored bonbons to decadently creamy hot chocolate, Chi Chocolat's offerings ooze yummy." - Jennifer Croshaw, SignOnSanDiego.com/San Diego Union Tribune