Ambrosius Chocolatier

In a word: Delicious art.

The specs: #0108
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp; Chef Sabi interviews Gail; official web site.

JM and John each ate a French Vanilla chocolate.
Nichole ate a raspberry chocolate from the sample tray, and over the next two days savored the caramel and grey salt, chai, and Earl Grey varieties.
We bought three 4-piece boxes (gifts, you know) for just over $20.
Nichole gave Ambrosius Choclatier an A+; JM gave Ambrosius Choclatier a B+; John gave Ambrosius Choclatier a B (see our grading rubric).

Ambrosius Choclatier shares a building with the Willy St. Co-op off-site kitchen and Jim Manos' yoga studio, to which we made a sortie (Nichole would now say pilgrimage) one lunchtime.

In a pleasantly bright second-floor room, Gail Ambrosius crafts her exquisite chocolates. The fragrance alone is enough to make your day - or distract you, if you're trying to focus on your asanas in yoga class.

Though we were only able to sample a small fraction of the offerings, Nichole is confident that every truffle there is worth trying. Her favorite so far is the caramel with grey salt, a take on what could be, in less expert hands, just a pedestrian lump of sugar. Ambrosius' version is laced with crystals of gourmet fleur de sel which serve to break up the sweetness with bursts of delicate saltiness.

The men were less impressed, the heathens. John and JM both opined that "dark chocolate isn't our thing." Their loss.

We can't wait until Christmas, when we can justify going back to buy large boxes for our chocolate-appreciating friends and relatives, who, we can only hope, will share.

Comments

[Kyle]

Too bad Candinas isn't on The List.

[Deb]

Time for an update -- Ambrosius is now in a great little shop next to the Barrymore. Same great chocolates, better location!

[JoAnne]

'John and JM both opined that "dark chocolate isn't our thing."'

So, basically, John and JM don't actually like chocolate. Sort of sad. Fortunately for them there's plenty of that American more-sugar-than-chocolate crap out there.

[nichole]

Wow, harsh.

[Kyle]

Now that I live in the neighborhood and therefore have more time to get to Ambrosius, let me recommend both the hot chocolate powder and the gold-bellied Buddhas. The Buddhas in particular make great gifts for those occasions when you just need something small on top.