ChocolateBet: June 18, 2010

Chocolate of the Day (and other fun):
1 cup
Gelateria Naia
1.) Numi Chocolate Puerh - Very Good
2.) Banana - Good + - Very Good
Weight: 4 oz. (113 g.) (estimate) in 1 small cup with 2 flavors
Calories: 250 calories (estimate)
Cost: $3.75 for 1 cup with 2 flavors
Purchased from: Gelateria Naia, in San Francisco, CA


Today (Day #8 of Chocolate and Monkey Theme Week), I enjoyed chocolate and monkey items from the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, CA.

The gorilla figure perched on the tray of banana gelato caught my eye. I tried this banana gelato with the Numi Chocolate Puerh (chocolate tea flavor), in a cup. The Numi tea inspired flavor (also the flavor of the week) had a little bit of chocolate, and a hint of nutmeg if I'm not mistaken. Thank you to the staff at Naia.


Z. Cioccolato & Arata Gallery, North Beach
To send off chocolate and monkey week in style, I had stopped at Z. Cioccolato earlier.  They've carried "flying (stuffed animal) monkeys" in the past; and they even have a monkey "target" on one wall. So I was hopeful they might have a chocolate monkey. No luck. However,  I found tins of coconut-flavored, and also banana-flavored monkey mints there (pictured). They had plenty of chocolate items to pair with these mints. (Be alert for the smell of freshly popped caramel popcorn as you walk down Columbus, and you'll find this store.)

A few doors down, was the Arata Fine Art Gallery and Studio. The Gallery owners don't carry chocolates, but they did have a painting of Z. Cioccolato's storefront. So, with permission from the artist (Arata), I'm including an image of this painting of a North Beach chocolate favorite.

Pigs Love Chocolate Too
Last, but not least, I paid a visit to a local county fair, where there were monkey and banana images galore (think over-stuffed toys/prizes). I was too full to eat anymore chocolate (and this blog post is now too full for more monkey pictures). But I did enjoy watching the pig races. According to their handler, the winning pig's reward at the finish line was a single Oreo (chocolate sandwich) cookie. Go, pigs, go.