celebrated as Valentines Day

Chocolate for Chocolate Day

There are great moments in movie history. Love stories, love lines, movies you watch when you are in high school and even in college. And then life settles in, and love becomes reality. Not quite the same as the movies.

“No, I don’t think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That’s what’s wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.” – Rhett Buttler, Gone with the Wind

“Don’t forget I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” – Anna Scott, Notting Hill

Though movies are pretty romantically wonderful, nothing has ever compared to the love I have felt when my daughter said, with her little hand in mine, “I love you Daddy” … and seeing my Father walk hand in hand with my 5 year old son, oh so many years ago

It explains a lot to me why my Dad would give flowers to all the women in his life on Valentine’s day, not just to my Mom.

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” — Lao Tzu

And then there is the most important love there is …

"Your love is better than ice cream.” — Sarah McLachlan

“The best way to mend a broken heart is time and girlfriends.” – Gwyneth Paltrow (I am pretty sure she meant chocolate and girlfriends)

"All you need is chocolate!” misquoted the Beatles

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because the chocolate is finally better than your dreams.” — misquoted Dr Seuss

"Life is the flower for which love is the chocolate. — misquoted Victor Hugo

“Don’t forget I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to share his chocolate.” —

Valentines day is not necessarily a day of Hallmark. You can make it true to the heart, and of chocolate! Give, share or keep - chocolate is always perfect.

Please Share

RED - WINE - CHOCOLATE - EASY!

Red Wine Chocolate Cake with Whipped Mascarpone Recipe

This is a fabulous recipe from Smitten Kitchen. It is sophisticated and flavorful yet super easy to make.

RED & CHOCOLATE

Wildwood Berry Berry 70-Percent Dark Chocolate Bar

It has been the rage forever, taking unusual ingredients and putting them in or on chocolate. The key to a good bar is the blend of the chocolate, its characteristics, and the chosen accoutrements.

And that is where these bars from Wildwood excel!

This is one beautiful bar. And more than that, the balance of 70% dark chocolate with the sweetness of the delightfully placed freeze-dried strawberries and raspberries hits exactly the right notes. This berry chocolate bar is perfect for Valentine's Day - or any day really. If you love berries and chocolate together, you can't go wrong.

CHARACTER & CHOCOLATE

Chocolat Moderne 65-Percent Dark Lime Toffee Bar

This butter toffee bar is married to pure lime oil and crumbled toffee into a perfectly fine %65 chocolate cocoa.

Chocolat Moderne’s bars are a special treat. Each one is always a surprise filled with joy!

Elegant, aromatic, and surprising

Likkle More Pink Peppercorn 70% Dark Chocolate Bar

Elegant, aromatic, and surprising, this 70% dark chocolate bar showcases whole Jamaican pink peppercorns for a flavor experience that’s as much about texture as it is about taste.

Pressed into the back of the bar, the peppercorns add a gentle crunch and release bursts of fragrant spice as the chocolate melts.

Pink peppercorns are not hot in the way chili peppers are; instead, they bring a softly peppery warmth with floral, citrusy notes that complement the richness of the cacao.

Each bite moves between smooth chocolate and aromatic spice, creating contrast without overpowering the palate.

Made bean-to-bar at origin in Jamaica, Likkle More crafts this bar close to the cacao source, celebrating local ingredients and expressive, chef-driven flavor pairings.

Finished with the brand’s signature cocoa-butter splatter, every bar is visually striking and thoughtfully composed.

PRETTY LITTLE RECIPE

Raspberry Souffle Recipé

This recipe reminds me of my childhood - the age of the soufflé - thanks to Julia. My mom made chocolate and lemon soufflé periodically -- and also cheese soufflé. This one is a sweet Raspberry version - although you can easily substitute blueberries.

This is Raspberry!

SOMA Raspberry Bar

This is Raspberry! Snap a piece, bite and chew and it is raspberry. Twang and twinge as the rasberry dances through your mouth. The edges of tongue tell you what's going on. Raspberry.

This is one of SOMA's "fruit bars" that are very intensly fruity and colorful, and made with all natural ingredients.

Although it looks like a white chocolate bar, technically it is not - as there is no dairy added.

So, perfect for the vegan looking for a white chocolate-like experience.

It's also the perfect bar for berry-lovers and its fresh-fruity flavor will make it hard not to eat the entire bar in one sitting.

What's Happening in the Store

Chocolate Bars are Tasting great! Come by the shop!

Come, taste and compare! Pick your favorite and meet friends old and new who all love food.

January 3-30, 2026
Friday & Saturday: 10am-5pm
ChefShop Retail Shop, 1425 Elliott Ave West, Seattle

FULL OF AROMA

KESSHŌ Lychee Rose 48% Dark Milk Chocolate Bar

This bar's aroma is lush and floral, with rose petals rising above the smoothness of dark milk chocolate.

On the palate, tropical lychee bursts through juicy, fragrant, and sweet—before melting into the creamy body of dark milk cacao.

The finish is subtle, leaving behind a perfume of rose balanced by cocoa’s grounding depth, both playful and elegant.

Lychee's exotic perfume and distinctive sweetness is the perfect pairing for rose, the universal symbolism of romance.

Together in chocolate, they tell a story of East–West dialogue, transforming beloved dessert flavors into bean-to-bar craftsmanship.

It’s a bar that epitomizes KESSHŌ’s mission: to crystallize fleeting sensations into experiences that endure.

BIRTHDAY DINNER

Shepherd's Pie Recipe

Shepherd's pie is one of those dishes that I love so much that I am constantly tweaking the recipe every time I make it to make it better.

It doesn't mean that the previous version, which was absolutely fabulous, was bad; it just means that the dish is an old friend, and we are constantly jiggling how we bond together.

From broad brush strokes to little pokes and dashes of this and that, helps to find our way, changes the taste, yet keeps the core the same.

It is the dish that I have had on my birthday for over 20 years now. It's simple like me, it's calming, it's home, it's friendly, it's fulfilling, and it's wonderful as a leftover.

What more could you want from a friendship that is virtually impossible to screw up? It is just plain right.

mango and cocoa come together in harmony

Levêlez 58% Mango-Infused Dark Chocolate Bar

Mango and cacao come together here in a way that feels both familiar and completely new.

This 58% dark chocolate is refined with 100% natural freeze-dried mango, not added as chunks or inclusions.

The result is a bar with a delicate golden hue, soft tropical aroma, and velvety smooth texture.

On the palate, it is gently sweet, indulgent, and lingering—comforting yet refined. The mango adds a mellow fruit note that enriches the chocolate’s natural warmth, making this bar as easy to savor as it is to love.

For Levêlez, pairing cacao with mango is a celebration of Mexico’s bounty.

By fusing two cherished flavors into one seamless chocolate, this bar reflects the brand’s devotion to crafting experiences that feel both inviting and extraordinary.

RECIPE

Rustic Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese Torte Recipe

Rustic cheese torté celebrating Parmigiano-Reggiano!

Syzygium samarangense, is a tropical fruit

Dried Wax Apple from Taiwan

Wax apples, also known as Syzygium samarangense, are a tropical fruit native to Southeast Asia and widely cultivated in Taiwan, where they're locally called 蓮霧 (lián wù). And they are not related to apples at all, except in name.

These "apples" are bell- or pear-shaped with a smooth, glossy skin that resembles wax, which gives the fruit its name.

The most common varieties in Taiwan are deep red or purplish-red, though they can also be pink, green, or white depending on the type.

The flesh is light, crisp, and very juicy—somewhat like a watery apple or melon—with a mildly sweet, refreshing flavor and subtle floral notes.

Taiwan’s warm, subtropical climate is ideal for growing wax apples, especially in southern regions such as Pingtung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung. Wax apples are usually eaten fresh and chilled, often with a sprinkle of salt, plum powder, or chili powder. These fruits are considered a delicacy by many.

Zip open the package and get a waft of a unique smell. The pieces are all different in shape and size and the taste is kinda like apple but not. The chew is easy with chewiness. It has fun chew!

Know someone who loves food?

I love these little squares of toffee

Mrs Weinstein's Milk Chocolate Almond Toffee Squares

Way back when, in 1995, Mrs Weinstein toffee came into being and into our lives and our happy mouths!

We loved it then! For its wonderful bite and crunch. And for the less than grabby toffee teeth effect that is so common for other toffees made with corn syrup.

The first ingredient to this toffee is butter! Butter, perhaps the most important ingredient in all in the world of ingredients and this toffee starts with it!

Many years later, as in now, we have rekindled our love for this wonderful toffee! It is a very special treat!

One bite, and yes you can bite it as it is not rock hard, you will experience toffee bliss!

There is something about this recipe that Lotte made that makes it so memorable and special. The flavors, the crunch, the bite, everything makes this toffee perfect.

A warning though, plan to share it with best friends, or you might eat the entire box on your own!

Give Roses

Ara Chocolat Almond and Roses 70% Dark Chocolate Bar

This bar begins with 70% grand cru cacao from El Salvador. The makers then layer on two gorgeous elements: caramelized almonds for a gentle crunch and a touch of sweetness, and dried rose petals for an elegant, floral lift.

The result is a bar that feels like a sensory journey: the deep, earthy richness of heirloom cacao, the nutty crunch of almonds, and the delicate perfume of rose.

Each bite reveals a new harmony of texture and flavor, both refined and deeply satisfying.

Ara Chocolat’s artistry lies in pairing ancestral cacao with carefully chosen inclusions, honoring tradition while creating something entirely new.

This bar is as beautiful to share as it is to savor.

Cacao Origin: El Salvador - Additions: Almonds, rose petals, cocoa nibs

SWEET HEARTS

Canasuc Brown Crystal Sugar Cubes

Nothing says “I love you more than coffee and chocolate” like a sugar cube perched on the edge of a coffee cup shaped like a heart!

ESSENTIAL PANTRY

ChefShop Cocoa Powder

This Deep Dark Dutch-processed dark unsweetened cocoa powder is in a class unto itself. We have removed less fat from our cocoa (22-24% fat content), which results in a more intense and immediate chocolate flavor.

This "service pack" of ChefShop cocoa powder is designed for commercial users like baristas, bakers, and gelato makers. It is sealed in a thick zip-lock style bag for production baking with a Plain Jane label. Like many of the foods and ingredients that go to the back of the house, the contents are more important than being pretty.

And price relative to quantity is also a crucial part of the commercial kitchen. So that is why we have chosen this cocoa, for the quality and consistency of product relative to the cost.

And that's what we have here in this bag of exceptional cocoa powder. The resealable bag keeps the cocoa powder fresh and it can last a good long time.