Food & Spirits

CocoaBella: An International Chocolate Boutique

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CocoaBella_18_Piece_Greates.jpgCocoaBella Chocolates positions itself as a “chocolate lifestyle” store, offering hot chocolate, toffee, bonbons, baking chocolate, fondue sets, chocolate books, and everything in between – as long as it’s related to the enjoyment and consumption of chocolate. But the store is not only for people in it’s immediate vicinity. CocoaBella has an online store where you can peruse all of the exquisite chocolates and create your own?custom box of?sumptuous delicacies.?

In his quest for all things chocolate, founder Michael Freeman has traveled the world to find the best chocolate makers, and his journeys have not been in vain. At CocoaBella, 16 international artisans are represented by their truffles and their flavors. If you’ve ever wondered how truffles flavored with jasmine tea, cinnamon, tangerine, and chili taste, CocoaBella has the goods.

CocoaBella first opened its doors at a cozy boutique in San Francisco’s upscale Marina district, where it offered customers a decadent chocolate shopping experience. In the same way they might examine precious jewelry, shoppers could linger over marble slabs cocoabella_03.jpgdecked out with more than 150 types of chocolate. Among the wares, they might choose chocolate-covered fruit or rich ganache made by the world’s premier chocolatiers, usually small, family-owned and operated chocolate makers. Currently, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Italy, and the United States are all represented among CocoaBella’s wares.

In fact, CocoaBella couldn’t have come at a better time. Ancient cultures treated chocolate as a medicinal elixir and even an aphrodisiac, and today’s scientific community has amassed evidence that chocolate can be good for your health too. Researchers have found that cacao contains high levels of calcium, antioxidants, vitamins, and anandamide (the chemical released when we’re feeling blissful). According to scholars at Cornell University, cacao has twice the level of antioxidants as red wine and thrice as much as green tea–thus helping your body fight diseases, regulate blood flow, and reduce blood pressure. Chocolate with high cacao content is especially beneficial in this regard.

To that end, CocoaBella offers a wide variety of delicious items to satisfy your chocolate cravings. How about a chocolate bar, the likes of which your corner store has probably never seen? CocoaBella has them from all over the world, including the famous Italian Cremino bars, a blend of hazelnut paste and chocolate that’s then filled to the brim with toasty hazelnuts and almonds.

cocoabella_01.jpgFor highly coveted Belgium chocolate, go with Caf?-Tasse bars, including the 77% dark bar, the dark bar with orange, and the milk chocolate bar. Of course, you can’t talk about chocolate without talking about France, and at CocoaBella, you can indulge in the Marquise de Sevigne bars, such as the irresistible gianduja bar, which combines milk chocolate, hazelnuts, and crispy wafers. Not to be forgotten, American chocolatiers are represented with classic Bridgewater bars, as well as the Bay Area’s own CocoaBella bars, created by local artisan Charles Chocolates.

cocoabella_02.jpgWhen a single bar won’t do, CocoaBella also carries pre-selected assortments for a range of palates. Wine lovers will find a special collection that complements the full flavors of their favorite vintage. The truffle selection features only the most luscious, soft-centered bites available, while the exotic collection combines flavors you’d never associate with chocolate: strawberry, thyme, tangerine, and red chili, for starters. But don’t worry–those with more traditional tastes can opt for the old standbys: milk and dark chocolate. And if you can’t find the perfect assortment, you can easily put together your own.

You could hardly call us Americans deprived of chocolate, but for a long time, our selection was limited to supermarket brands, with only a handful of luxury names available at department stores and higher-end outlets. If you wanted truly rich, decadent chocolate, you had to travel to big cities or as far as Europe, but even then, you could shop for only a single brand at a time. But no longer – the CocoaBella chocolate boutique and online store offers a truly international selection of chocolate under one roof. Your taste buds will never be the same again. www.CocoaBella.com

About the author

Gianna Brighton