Mystery Solved

I am a hot chocolate snob. It's absolutely true. The regular old watery hot chocolate that most places serve up just does not cut it for me. If it came from a powder at any time, it's just not good enough for me to pay $4.00 a glass. Not even Stephens or Starbucks could compete. Am I speaking blasphemy?

Hot cocoa consumption should be an experience. It doesn't just consist of a good cut of hot chocolate, it is so much more. It should be a comfortable environment and thick chocolatey goodness with the real whip cream.

I'm sure I've written about the Cocoa Cafe before. It was perfection. A charming Salt Lake City cafe that had deliciously thick cocoa and real whip cream. The ambiance was so comfortable with mismatched mugs, big arm chairs, a fireplace and lots of wood. I can't tell you how many times I went to the cafe. It was discovered accidentally one night (bless you Adam Sagers, wherever you are) and became one of my favorite places to visit. It became the place that Heb and I would often stop in. We would meet our families for a cocoa that drank like a meal, good conversation and occasionally a board game. One day, it suddenly shut it's doors. A victim of the terrible economy, it was gone and I was sad.

Since then, I have been looking for hot cocoa like that, for a place like that. After searching and searching, I lowered my expectations to finding a place that served cocoa like that - not even the comfortable environment. For years, I have been unsuccessful....until tonight.

We had passed the Pitangelo Gelato on a recent trip to the Eastern Market. They had a sign out for hot chocolate that looked like it might fit the bill. This evening, we made our way into the city to try it out (see the post right before: distraction). It was exactly what I have been looking for, the technical name for it is Italian Hot Chocolate. Thick, creamy goodness. Now the ambiance could stand some improvement but I can finally enjoy cocoa again. Yay!


If you're out that way, stop and give it a try.