Le Belge Chocolatier

At some point, I don't remember why, I was gifted a box of chocolates from Le Belge.   

"Le Belge Chocolatier, a name that connotes an inventive redefined approach to the art of fine chocolate making. Our chocolates offer distinctive contemporary style for an indulgent experience that inspires the palate."

 It sure did sound upscale, French.  And "contemporary"?  Sure, I was in.

Fancy Box.

I opened my box feeling quite fancy.  Tissue paper, logos, cursive ... I wanted to find out more about this fancy French chocolate!

"Handcrafted in the heart of Napa Valley, Le Belge Chocolates are created in the French chocolate making tradition by award winning Master Chocolatier Chef Sebastian Beline of Paris. Known for producing distinctive chocolates of exceptional quality, Chef Beline has perfected a balance of flavor and texture to produce a chocolate experience that is unparalleled."

Ah, ok.  So not really French, the company is actually based in Napa Valley, CA and ... just uses the "tradition" of an award winning French chef?  Hmm.  I'm still not really sure what this means, except that they use a "European chocolate layering technique".  

Le Belge makes an assortment of Grand Cru bars with unique flavors like almond & fennel, lavender basil & black currant, raspberry & hibiscus, basic "tablets", "Signature" bars with more basic flavors and wine stained wrappers (because, Napa), "Heritage" bars that kinda seem the same but without the wine soaked labels, and then the the "Bijou" bars which have items like toffee bits or almonds hand placed "like a hidden jewel".  I didn't have any of the bars, but instead was gifted truffles.

Truffles 

"Le Belge truffles are the perfect indulgence for the true chocolate connoisseur. Handcrafted in the French chocolate making tradition, incorporating a variety of contemporary and traditional techniques, our truffle selections represent the finest in quality. Intense blends of ganache and sophisticated flavors combine to create a range of rich, creamy truffles with a delicious French accent. We invite you to experience our truffles and experience the taste of pure luxury."

Much like the bars, Le Belge offers a slew of product lines for the truffles, that don't really make all that much sense.  "Sublime" ones are, um, sublime, "Studio 761" are the latest "flavor trends" (and each one is numbered, like "No 1: Red Velvet Cake"),"Pearl" ones come in a fancier box, Eclipse ... yeah, I dunno.  Like I said, I don't really understand the product lines, nor do I have any clue which mine came from.

Mystery Box.

My box came with no guide, and I wasn't able to determine what they all were from looking up online.  My guesses from my research, post trying them all (from top left, clockwise):

• Hazelnut Orange Peel
• Dark Sea Salt Caramel?
• Citron
• Tiramisu?

Milk Chocolate Truffle
(Tiramisu?)

I started with this one randomly.

The shell was fairly mediocre milk chocolate.  It looked fancier than it tasted.

Milk Chocolate Truffle (Tiramisu?): Inside.

I was surprised when I bit in to find a filling.

 I wasn't sure what the filling was.  It seemed a bit like caramel.  But not quite.  I couldn't really find more information online either, but one photo guide I saw looked like it could be ... tiramisu?  Maybe the "not quite caramel" was a sweet coffee infused mascarpone cream?  I'm not sure.

In any case, it wasn't particularly good, my least favorite of the box.

**+.

Citron.

Next, I went for the pretty one.  I didn't know what it was either, but, my post-consumption research says "Citron".

It was a smooth dark chocolate shell, with a chocolate caramel-like inside.  The filling had a flavor to it I didn't quite like.  I think it was indeed citrus, but just not something I cared for.  The chocolate shell was unremarkable, although it had a nice snap.

Overall, unremarkable, although it looked pretty.

***.

Hazelnut Orange Peel.

Another one that I didn't know what it was before eating it, but quasi-figured it out after.

As I tasted, I detected salt (yes!) and some hints of something interesting I couldn't quite identify on top.

But it was the inside that was interesting.  I *almost* tasted peanut butter, and there was a slight (pleasant) grittiness to it all.  But it wasn't strongly enough peanut flavored for me to be convinced it really was a nut flavor.

After careful consideration, I believe this was the hazelnut orange peel, which, makes total sense.  Nutty filling that wasn't quite peanut butter was actually hazelnut, and it had some hints of pop from the orange peel.

My favorite of the chocolates.

****.

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel?

Again, no idea what awaited me until I bit in.

Outside, another smooth dark chocolate shell that wasn't particularly remarkable.  And then, a surprise inside.

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel: Inside.

A smooth, fairly runny, caramel.  Classic caramel.  Decent flavor, decent texture, and some saltiness.

My second favorite of the box, but again, not particularly great.

***+.

Flour & Co: Toasty Tarts!

Once upon a time ... a co-worker asked me, "Do you know anywhere that makes gourmet, grown up pop tarts?  I want to get some for an event."

I was *thrilled* to be asked this question, because of course I had an answer.  Only one place came to mind: Flour & Co, one of the best bakeries I've ever known.  Sadly, sadly, they have closed, but, really, that place made the best versions of all the classic pies that I have ever had (harvest pie, brown sugar nut pie, banana cream .... oh, and the carrot cake ... Seriously, so good).

But I'll focus on just the "fancy pop tarts", dubbed Toasty Tarts, available in both sweet and savory flavors.  And yes, of course I was invited to taste them all, since I recommended it.

Card Labeling the selections.

Each box came with a card labeling the assortment.  I found this fairly adorable.  

I thought it was absolutely adorable how they were marked - for example, the salami + manchego were marked with diagonal slits on the top, with the "key" on the card.  The herb goat cheese + tomato had herbs marking the top.

Such a cute touch!

Savory Toasty Tarts

To be inclusive of those who don't particularly like sweets, the host selected some savory options too.  For me, this meant I could make a meal out of Toasty Tarts, and that did not make me upset.  In fact, the savory ones I'd get again in a heartbeat.

Savory Toasty Tarts!

For savory, we had herb goat cheese + tomato, salami + manchego, and pimento cheese + tomato.  Per the handy guide, they were easy to identify.

Pimento Cheese + Tomato. $4.25.

I started with a savory one.  Since I don't like goat cheese, that was easy to rule out.  I wasn't really feeling the salami either, so I picked the pimento cheese + tomato, with fond memories of the pimento cheese biscuit I had enjoyed from Flour & Co previously.

The pastry on this was incredible.  Herbed, slightly savory, soft, flaky, crust.  It was delicious in its own right, it didn't even need a filling to be good.  Inside were juicy cherry tomatoes, bursting with flavor, pecans for crunch, and the delicious creamy pimento cheese filling.  Oh, and more cheese baked on top.

This was totally tasty as served, but I think it would have been incredible if served warm, so the pimento cheese inside was hot and gooey, just like when I had it with the biscuit.  Mmm, I'm drooling thing about that.

Definitely a winner, and I'd get it again.  ****.

Update: We had a few left over, and I saved one for the next day, since it was my favorite.  I wasn't sure it would hold up well, but it held up like a champ.  And this time, I threw it in the toaster oven until it got warm and bubbly.  SOOO good.  Delicious savory flaky pastry, creamy flavorful comforting filling ... so hard to go wrong!  ****+ when warm.

I also saved another and froze it.  It reheated pretty well in my toaster oven, although the bottom crust did get soggy, and the filling consistency changed a bit.  Not a disaster, but not 100% success.

Housemade Bacon Jam, Brie, Spinach.  $4.25.

On another occasion I visited the bakery with my mom, and she wanted something savory.  I was a bit thrown off my game ... I always get the sweets!  But, I saw that they had a brand new savory toasty tart, and it sounded fantastic.

Since we were eating at the bakery, they warmed it up for us in their magic oven.  It came out perfectly toasty and warm.

This thing was a flavor powerhouse!  Stuffed with an incredibly flavorful bacon jam.  Yes, BACON JAM.  Yes, it was delicious, salty, slightly sweet.  The cooked spinach inside helped add a lighter feel to the decadent treat.  I didn't get much brie in my half, but my mother commented that she had plenty of brie in her piece.  I do like the combination of brie and spinach, and I can imagine how well that worked together.

I adored the flavors in this, I think even more than the pimento cheese and tomato.  That bacon jam was just incredible.  The only thing I didn't care for was the pastry, it was rather oily, probably due to the bacon and the brie, so it seemed a bit greasy, and wasn't quite as flaky as I'd like.

****+ though, a stunner.

Sweet Toasty Tarts

But you know me, my heart is in the sweets.  The sweet options were all good, but, amazingly, I preferred the savory.

Sweet Toasty Tarts!

For sweet selections, we had blueberry cream cheese, honey nut (almond, walnut, honey, hint of orange), and Nutella hazelnut banana.  Really, something for any (sweet) taste.

The same labeling key was used here too: blueberry cream cheese were marked with a swirl, nutella hazelnut banana and honey nut each with a different zig zag.

I wanted them all.  So of course I *had* them all.

Blueberry Cream Cheese.

I started with the fruity option, blueberry cream cheese.

The pastry on this was standard sweet dough, again, soft and flaky.  Perfect.  Topped with a swirl of sweet icing, that was actually a bit too sweet for me, given the sweet filling.  Inside was blueberry flavored cream cheese, and some whole blueberries.  I didn't love the cream cheese, as it was a bit separated, more like a ricotta, so it had a sorta strange texture.  The blueberries were juicy and flavorful, but I would have preferred more of them.

Overall, it was good, the pastry was remarkable, but this wasn't my favorite filling choice.

***.

Honey Nut (almond, walnut, honey, hint of orange) 

I couldn't stop at just one!  I also tried out the honey nut.  This one had nuts in it, so it counts for protein, right?  Totally balanced meal I was having.

The pastry on this was actually a bit different.  It wasn't as soft and flaky as the others.  I wonder if it is because the filling wasn't as moist?  It was a drier, crumbly style.  Still good, but I preferred the softer versions.   It had the same sweet icing on top.

Inside was a mix of chopped up almonds and walnuts, sweetened with honey, a bit sticky inside.  Like a nut pie wrapped in a crust.  That was all good, but I didn't care for the "hint of orange".  I don't tend to like lemon, lime, or orange in my desserts, and this was no exception.  The orange was too strong for my taste.

***.

Nutella Hazelnut Banana.

And finally, the last sweet selection.  I don't actually like nutella very much, so I just tried a bite of someone else's.

Same flaky pastry dough, filled with sliced bananas, whole hazelnuts, and tons of nutella.  I think if you like nutella, this would be tasty, but, since I don't, I really didn't care for it.  I did like the fact that it had full, crunchy hazelnut inside though!

***.

Red Door Coffee

POPOS.  One of the more unique elements of San Francisco, and something many locals are not aware of.  

What are POPOS?  Privately Owned Public Open Spaces, basically, kinda interesting locations that seem like you shouldn't just be able to use them, but, actually, you can.  Anyone can.  Sometimes they are up on rooftops, sometimes they have beautiful landscaping and wildlife, often they have seating.  Developers get tax incentives to have these in their properties, and they go largely underutilized.  

505 Howard St, a mixed use commercial building, has one of these spaces, and, adjacent to it, a coffee shop, a tiny coffee shop, Red Door Coffee, which also has a location at Minna Gallery.  They don't roast their own beans (they use Four Barrel), they don't make their own pastries (sourced from other local brands), and they don't even have their own seating (they utilize the POPOS).  But its a convenient stop for office workers nearby, and, pre-pandemic, was always fairly busy.

The Space

Outdoor Seating.

Red Door Coffee does not, in fact, have a red door.  I'm not sure where the name comes from.  They also don't have much curb appeal, just a small sign, quite easy to miss.  They have direct access to the outdoors, and also interior to the office building lobby.

Outside is plentiful seating, provided by the building, not dedicated to the coffee shop.

Public Open Space: Inside.

Inside also has plentiful seating, again, provided by the building, as part of the large lobby area.  This is also a POPOS, and can be used by anyone, even if they aren't visiting Red Door coffee or a tenant in the building.

Drinks

I don't review it often, but I am actually a big coffee drinker, I start my every day with a cup of coffee, alongside a piece of chocolate (and breakfast of course).

Coffee Menu.

Red Door uses Four Barrel for their coffee.  All your standard espresso based drinks are available, along with drip or cold brew, and chai.

Decaf Americano. $3.

I ordered my test of a coffee shop: a decaf americano (decaf drip is not available), as it was later in the day, and I cut myself off of regular.

Decaf is particularly temperamental, and often has a "funk" or strange sweetness to it.  It rarely has much complexity.

This isn't my first time having Four Barrel decaf, but, I know from experience that how old the beans are, and how well the shot is pulled can greatly effect the outcome.  And sans milk, an americano really needs the quality to be there, or, you get nasty decaf (and, don't get me started on the truly undrinkable decaf blend we have from Four Barrel at my office).

I was very pleasantly surprised.  While not particularly complex, it had no funk, no sweetness, and was just very smooth, pure, and quite drinkable.  Nicely done Red Door!

$3 is pretty standard for a basic coffee drink.  Only one size drink is available, and I would have preferred a bigger one, as this was gone in a flash.  The person behind me did order at 12 ounce Americano, which I didn't realize was an option, so, I'd certainly do that myself next time.

****.

Finishing Station.

The finishing station is no frills.  No line up of assorted dairy products, just regular sugar, honey, and simple syrup available.  Luckily, my drink didn't need anything.

Baked Goods

While I was there for coffee, you know me, I was also interested in the baked goods, particularly as I knew how well curated they were.

Happy Hour and Baked Goods Menu.

On the other side of the ordering window was the Happy Hour menu (beer and wine), plus self serve water (very appreciated), and a rather vague menu of the baked goods, e.g. it just said "Neighbor Pastries" or "Authentic Scone".

Prices were given in ranges, and no actual varieties were listed.  The baked goods, laid out in a display case under the window, were not labelled.  So, annoying as it is, I asked what they all were, because it was not obvious.  I somehow didn't get a photo.

The top row was assorted donuts from Dynamo Donuts.  Since I actually haven't loved Dynamo in the past, it was easy to move past these, even though, OMG, donuts. 

They also had seasonal scones, cookies (chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin), and bagels from Authentic Bagel Company in Oakland, and savory pastries from Neighbor Bakehouse in the Dogpatch.

My Box Of Goodies!

I wasn't familiar with Authentic Bagel Co, as the retail store is in Oakland, but they also are a wholesale bakery, so I've likely seen their goods in other places around town, perhaps just not attributed.  They also sell their bagels and cream cheese online via Good Eggs.

Bagels are their forte, a company started in order to try to solve the ever-ending problem of lack of good bagels in the Bay Area.  I wasn't really seeking out a bagel though, so I grabbed several of each of the seasonal scones instead.

I also wasn't familiar with Neighbor Bakehouse at that time.  They had a fairly new retail store in the Dogpatch, but were also starting to be distributed around the city, and started as a wholesale bakery.  Since this visit, I had the opportunity to try more of their goodies, and, zomg, recommend.

Neighbor Bakehouse
Smoked Ham & Gruyere Morning Bun. $5.

I really wish I had taken a photo of the cross-section inside this thing!  Or a side view.  Sorry my dearest readers, I have failed you.  I know this looks like just a morning bun or croissant roll.  Which, it was, but wow, it was so much more.

The pedigree of the croissant element is not to be underestimated though.  I really should have heard of Neighbor before, as I now see that they are regularly featured in "best croissant in SF" lists.  The pastry chef taught croissant making, worked at Tartine, etc, etc.  And it shows.  The croissant was crazy flaky, crispy on the outside, moist inside.

It was coated in seeds (sesame, poppy, and sunflower).  Flaky dough and tons of seeds?  Yup, it made a ridiculous mess.  Note to self: eat this outside, not over your keyboard in the future.  Doh.

Inside was the ham (Fra'mani smoked ham) and cheese (gruyere), plus ... mustard!  I wasn't expecting mustard at all, but it made it even more savory, went perfectly with ham and cheese, and added quite the zing to it.

It was great at room temperature, but even better once I stuck it in the toaster oven for a few minutes, to make the cheese ooey gooey.

At $5 it was pricey, but, it really was a little meal in itself.  Carbs, fats, and protein?  Legit meal to me!

****+.

Authentic Bagel Co.
Apple Raisin Scone. $3.50.

These were strange looking scones.  They weren’t a shape that I’ve ever seen before for a scone.  They looked sorta more like oblong cookies (particularly given the huge sugar crystals on top).  Not triangular, not round, but, oval shaped.  Rather huge for a single person too.

They were also a strange texture, like the shape, not something I’ve had before.  Rather soft.  This style was actually nice, I appreciated the scone not being hard, but it also wasn’t cakey as often happens with softer scones.  This was was still a scone.

I wasn't particularly interested in the apple raisin scone, but I tried just a bite.  As expected it had chunks of apple and raisins.  I got it in October, and it was clearly very fall inspired, nicely seasonal, however these not my favorite ingredients.  It sorta reminded me of oatmeal.

A fine scone, just, not for me.  ***.

Authentic Bagel Co. 
Blueberry Scone. $3.50.

I moved on to the blueberry scone.

This one was much better.  I again liked the soft, but not cakey texture.  The blueberries weren’t particularly plentiful, nor juicy, so they didn’t add a ton of flavor, but the base scone was really quite good.  A bit more tang and it would have been even better.

The size was just too big to eat in one sitting though.  Perfect to split with a friend, or to have half for breakfast, and half with afternoon tea ...

***+.

Restaurante L'Arca D'En Peter, Alcudia

Remember back when I went to Mallorca?  Kinda as part of a business trip?  Yeah, that happened, and it was filled with adventures such as 12 course dining at the Michelin starred Jardín (because, yes, they have Michelin starred restaurants there, and yes we sought them out!), an epic trek to Restaurant Club de Golf Alcanada, and casual beachside dining at Playero.  It also included a visit to old town, on our very last day, and the discovery of a phenomenal piña colada. 

Somehow, during that last afternoon, we wound up all together in the middle of old town, in the market area, in a courtyard, at Restaurante L'Arca D'En Peter.  Not for a meal, but for one last island appropriate drink before heading to the airport.  It was hot, and we had been treking around the market and taking in our last of the sights before leaving, and, wow, these drinks hit the spot.

Mojito, Piña Colada.

The mojito was for Emil, who didn't normally drink these kind of drinks, but on islands, his drinking rules all changed.

The piña colada was mine.  All mine.  Even if someone else had wanted a sip, I wouldn't have given it to them (Ok, fine, I probably would have, but I wouldn't have been happy about it!).

This was, hands down, the best piña colada that I've ever had.  It was perfectly frothy, particularly on top.  The pineapple flavor was strong and refreshing. The coconut was equally as strong, and indulgent.  The rim was sugar lined, and then covered in I think raspberry syrup (perhaps cherry?).

I adored this.  Literally, best piña colada that I've ever had.  Nothing about it that I would change.

*****.