Truffle, Wine, and Cheese Threeway

Back in June, myself and my sexy staff here at Eclipse expanded the defintions and terms of our employments and indulged in a Threeway. Much fun was had by all, bellies were filled, and everyone walked away a bit tipsy. Wait.. what?... get your mind out of the gutter! No... of course not! We hosted a Threeway Tasting of truffles, cheeses, and wines.

Ok, ok... eyes up here, folks. Are you with me now? Good...

If you missed it, you missed out. Luckly for you we're doing a repeat performance next Wednesday, August 5th from 7-8pm. For just $20, guests will enjoy three lovely cheeses paired with three tasty drinks paired with three exotic truffles. The whole experience is an hour-long guided tasting and discussion on the anatomy and construction of chocolate complete with my undivided attention. What more could you ask for?


Still confused? Take a look at the food porn shot below showing one of the Threeways at our next tasting: Maui Brewing Coconut Porter with Double Coconut Caramel Truffle with Cahill Porter Cheese.

Yes, I know this is a beer, but its delicious and unusual... and as such is everything I hold near and dear to my little foodie heart.

Space is limited to just 24 people, and we've already got 16 RSVPs so call us already to save your space: 619.578.2984

What a Gem!

A fellow Chocolate Nerd just asked what one should eat while avoiding refined sugars. Xan Confections Wholly Cacao Caramel collection is an exciting option. Made with agave nectar, they're completely delicious without compromising decadence. Flavors include espresso almond, coconut pecan and banana foster. Best of all, they're completely fabulous in their gorgeous jewel tones.

Fly Me To The Moon!
It's been 40 years since the Apollo 11 crew landed on the moon in the Lunar Lander. To commemorate, Los Angeles based ChoclatiQue has created a special edition collection of Moon Rocks with flavors like Apollo Almond and Mission Control Fig. I'm completely excited about Nasa's Orion Spacecraft which is set to shuttle a new generation of explorers to the moon. Infact, we may live to see space colonies and moon tourism in our lifetime. Nasa's Constellation Program hopes to establish a human outpost on the moon by 2020! Check this out.

New England Seafood Dinner

With summer in full swing, we've decided that it's high time to celebrate with a feast of delectable seafood, so the theme for our next dinner is New England cuisine. And the thing that comes to mind first when I consider all the tasty vittles from the North Atlantic Coast is the delectable crab cake.

Ah... crab cakes. One of my personal favorite meals. There's just something deliciously enticing about the subtle oceanic tones of crab meat: buttery and rich with a hint of the sea. Plus they're also pan-fried in butter and when has that ever gone wrong?

It's actually been quite some time since our last dinner (four weeks already!), and there are a few minor changes to the upcoming menu since I first announced it weeks ago. All improvements, of course. Take a look:

Exclusively for Saturday, July 25th, with seatings at 4, 6, and 8pm, for just $25 our guests will enjoy:

Roasted Corn & Sweet Onion Chowder with Cocoa-glazed Bacon

Pan-fried Crab Cakes (or Roasted Vegi & Quinoa Cakes) over Mixed Greens with Poached Egg and Chile-burnt Caramel Hollendaise

served with Herbed Hasty Pudding

Chile-Burnt Caramel & Apple Pocket Pie with White Chocolate Semifreddo

We will also feature:

Steamed Mussels with Crispy Salumi and Herbs (optional starter for just $12)

Call ahead to RSVP as space is limited! 619.578.2984

Pittsburgh to New York: Pickled Chocolate

I was almost inadvertently in New York this past weekend, and though Amy Rosenfield of the local-to-me-now-in-Pittsburgh shop Mon Aimee Chocolat had some good Brooklyn chocolate suggestions (Nunu, Liddabit, Fine and Raw, the Mast Brothers) and I stumbled upon the West Village headquarters of the smoke-and-mirrors operation Pure Dark (with overstuffed chairs, products of unnecessarily mysterious provenance, and meaningless slogans like "Chocolate Harvested from Nature"), I found myself eating many more pickles (pickled peppers at the Spuyten Duyvil, horseradish pickles at the DUMBO farmers market) than chocolate bars, so it seems only fitting to run this leftover interview with Rick Field of New York-based Rick's Picks about pickles and Pittsburgh. (I have little recollection of how or why Rick and I got into this conversation and whether or not any of it is true, but, then, I'm interested in the themes of truth and memory in nonfiction writing.)

Emily: Let’s go, tell me about the pickle hat.

Rick: It’s not covered in chocolate, though.

It’s alright, give it a try.

Alright, so I went to a wedding in Pittsburgh. It was an interesting weekend. There was a convention of muscle, um, body builders there, all covered with cocoa butter.

Mm.

So every time we went down in the elevator, we experienced these enormously overdefined people with gross cappuccino-colored skin, all greasy and basically naked. We needed some relief, and we went to Pittsburgh’s noteworthy vintage and used clothing arena and I was fortunate enough to find a beautiful large green felt hat, which was a good thing for me to find because I am in the pickle business...

A pickle impresario, some might say…

Yes, and I thought that this hat could be something that I could really become known for. So I wore the hat for the balance of the weekend and received many compliments and enjoyed wearing it. Sunday, I returned to the Pittsburgh airport after the wedding was over in a cab, and was somewhere between consciousness and sleep for most of the cab ride, and got out of the cab, paid the guy, went to check in, got to security, and realized I’d left my hat in the cab.

Aaaah!

So, of course, since it wasn’t a business trip, I didn’t have a receipt, so I called the cab company—I believe it was Ace Cab of Pittsburgh—and asked them if they knew where my hat was. They said, “well, did you get a receipt? Do you know what cab it was?” And I said “no, I don’t.” I said, “good god, man, you must put out an APB to all cabs! Find the green hat.” And about two minutes later somebody called back and said that they did have my hat in their cab and they would return it, but the hat had to come back to the airport at human pricing. So I agreed that the driver would turn the meter on and my hat was brought back to the airport for twenty-eight dollars, thirty with tip. And I recovered my hat and it was a very happy ending. And that’s the story of how a thirty-dollar-wedding-weekend-hat became a sixty-dollar-wedding-weekend-hat.

Sea Salt Nib Icecream Sammies and the New Dessert Tasting Platter.

Look at it. You know you can't resist the siren call of the Sea-salt Nib. You want it in your mouth. It's ok. It can be our secret. I won't tell anyone...

"Sea Salt Nib???" I see you all looking around. "All I see is a deliciously amazing ice cream cookie sandwich". To which I respond: Can't it be both? You are, in fact, looking at the first Sea-Salt Nib Ice Cream Sandwich complete with chewy Cyprus sea salt and cocoa nib-flecked cookies between a gooey layer of banana-brown sugar gelato. And it's all part of the current Seasonal Dessert Tasting Platter.

But that's not the only exciting addition around here. After all, it is getting hot outside. The temps here in Sunny San Diego have been climbing for a few weeks and what's more refreshing than a frozen treat to cool the palate? Well wait no more cocoa-kiddies, I've got brand new temptations for everyone.

If you've been to the cafe recently, you will have noticed a change in our Dessert Tasting Platter. I know its a shocker, but Will Gustwiller, owner of Eclipse Chocolat and over opinionated/stubborn chocolatier extradinaire, has finally given in to popular demand. Previously, our platters have been oriented to be "collections" of four little desserts perfectly sized for two to share with each collection changing every eight weeks to reflect seasonal ingredients, but the continued interest in making substitutions and omissions has finally worn away at my cold, chocolate-dipped heart. Take a look now!

Wha... what's this? Is it the Apocalypse already? I haven't even BEGUN my Bucket List! Are those SIX offerings on the dessert platter sign?

Yes, tis true. From here on out, guests enjoying our dessert platter experience will have their choice of four of the six available desserts. Love our bread puddings? Well get a whole platter of them; we've got at least two different flavors at a time! Or double-up (or triple or more!) on your favorite item. There's more where those came from... and it'll be the tastiest Apocalypse ever.

A Girl's Best Friend? Not So Much
I just received this email from Mervis Diamond. Apparently their attempt is to use 2 tbs. of chocolate mousse and 1 organic blackberry to peddle a 2 carat diamond. It can all be yours for just $18,000. Considering that in this economy chocolate is one of our last affordable luxuries I find this strategy completely preposterous. Not to mention that that is the most unappetizing chocolate looking thing I've ever seen.