Thursday, July 30, 2015

Chocolate Gallery - Chocolate Explosion - July 30, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

The Chocolate Gallery
Chocolate Explosion
Good +
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) for 1 piece
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) for 1 piece
Cost: $1.50 (guess) for 1 piece
Purchased from: Chocolate Explosion, Goleta, CA

Today was Day #9 of Chocolate and Santa Barbara Theme Week.

During a recent trip to Santa Barbara, a friend and I visited Goleta, a community adjacent to the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), and just north of Santa Barbara proper.

When we saw the "Chocolate Gallery" sign, I had to stop and check out this local shop. We wandered into store, and after admiring shelves full of different chocsimiles*, and chocolates behind glass, we talked with one of The Chocolate Gallery owners (Karen Kegg).

Karen (and husband Tim Johnson) have been in the chocolate business in the Santa Barbara area for 35+ years -- a real accomplishment for any small business. And, that's long enough time to see many trends come and go. When I asked about certain flavor combinations, she admitted that she was not a fan of a lot of exotic flavors.

Basic chocolates (perhaps molded into different shapes), and basic flavor and texture combinations were her preference. She handed me a Chocolate Explosion to taste, that had a creamy chocolate filling and crunchy cocoa nibs, and was covered in dark chocolate. Yep, that's the essence of chocolate all right. And it was pretty tasty too.

*Chocsimiles are facsimiles of objects rendered in chocolate -- think Easter bunnies and other animals, musical instruments and other shapes.

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