Chocolaterie Stam
In a word: Lost in the truffle shuffle.
The specs: #00821
1651 Deming Way, Middleton 53562
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JM, John, Nichole and Rose ate some truffles, marzipan, and gelato.
John gave Chocolaterie Stam an A-; JM, Nichole and Rose gave Chocolaterie Stam a B- (see our grading rubric).
Middleton's Chocolaterie Stam is in a small slot in Greenway Station, where the upscale sweets chain fits in well with the rest of the businesses on the mock up of 'main street'. Holiday time was an especially nice time to go, as the store was all bedecked for Christmas. It was like walking into a Subway crossed with a children's book version of the Nutcracker.
We hardly sampled a fraction of what's on offer. Half of the store was full of shelves with a selection of packaged products like the chocolate bars, hard candies, marzipan and cocoa mixes available on their web site. The other half was a counter where we could pick out dark and milk versions of dozens of filled chocolates, two of the most memorable being the unbelievably light cream-filled hedgehog, and one with a mellow cinnamon filling. As chocolates go, we figure they're better than Candinas but not as good as Gail Ambrosius or David Bacco.
The store also serves coffee and gelato, so we tried a dish before we left. While it was very smooth, it was not the creamiest or richest-flavored gelato ever.
It is nice that they offer both milk and dark chocolate versions of their truffles (the dark chocolate mantras being one of JM's least-favorite things about local chocolatiers). But there still feels like less craft going on in a place like this, even if the truffles are made on location. We probably have better places to spend our money, even on this kind of decadance.
You might want to consider the fact that the store profits entirely go to the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps.
Posted by: Robert Strohmayer | June 19, 2013 at 08:24 PM