About 10 minutes from us, is the cute bohemian town of Sebastopol. Sebastopol is friendly and very community minded. I kept noticing a little chocolate shop called La Dolce V, but hadn’t gone in until this weekend. La Dolce V, I suppose, is a shortening of the term “la dolce vita” meaning the sweet life.
Turns out, they serve a full afternoon high tea Wednesday thru Saturday. I would love to try that out. In high school, my friends and I had high tea in San Francisco, at the St Francis Hotel, and Sheraton Palace Hotel a few times with my friend’s gourmet mom. So, if we try out the afternoon tea service at La Dolce V, I’ll write about that too.
In the meantime, we did try a few items when we stopped in. They feature an impressive case of chocolates that have wonderfully original ingredients. I was most attracted to three: Raspberry Rose, Banana Flambé, and Citron Oolong. I wanted to be able to take photos of the chocolates, and when we got home, there wasn’t time for a photo shoot before we lost the light. So, for my audience, I suffered 24 hours of waiting, being called by the confections.
Boy, were they worth the wait. I was most drawn to the raspberry rose that had bittersweet ganache infused with rose petal and fresh raspberry puree. It was molded into the shape of a raspberry.
It’s obvious they use very high quality chocolate, but the rose was almost too subtle to notice. It was a delicious flavor, and the raspberry came through a bit more strongly than the rose. If I wasn’t expecting the rose, I would have enjoyed it more.
The banana flambe is the heart shape and was a concoction of ripe organic bananas, caramel and dark rum in ganache. That was a delicious flavor. The rum wasn’t too strong, just a nice hint, and the bananas came through very clearly.
Last, but in our opinion, the best of the three, was the citron oolong in the fluted round shape. The description of the citron oolong was, bittersweet ganache infused with organic citrus oolong tea. Totally amazing citrusy, slightly herby flavor.
All the chocolates had beautiful shiny tempered chocolate on the outside and silky creamy, flavored ganache on the inside. I would definitely go back and try more of their chocolates. I love their originality in flavors, the use of premium chocolate and silky texture.
La Dolce V also bakes their own pastries and cookies, and serves Ciao Bella Gelato. They have a web site that isn’t up and running yet, but here’s how to find them:
La Dolce V
110 North Main St.
Sebastopol, CA 95472
707-829-2178
10 thoughts on “La Dolce V Fine Chocolates”
These are lovely. If you are ever in NYC, try Kee’s Chocolates on Thompson and Spring in Soho.
hey bri (how lucky your name is 😉 )
sarah here from the delicious life and tastespotting. thanks for your submission. i’ve been on a renewed chocolate kick lately and these were too pretty to not come and comment about!
What a beautiful blog you have! You have some very nice recipes. I can’t wait to try them. I’m always looking for good vegetarian ideas. Do you know if La Dolce V mail orders any of their chocolates? I have quite the penchant for artisan chocolates these days and they sound fantastic. Thanks for such a nice blog.
Sarah, Thanks for stopping by. I love tastespotting and plan on checking out your site. Believe me, the chocolates were as delicious as they were pretty.
Jules-thanks! I will put Kee’s Chocolates on my list for the next time I got to NYC.
Patrick – Thanks so much. I’m glad you like the recipes. I’m trying to put up as many as I can. I seem to remember the girl behind the counter at La Dolce V saying that when the weather cools, they mail order their chocolates. You should give them a call. Well worth the wait and what a great gift for someone too (especially if they like to share).
Bri, I think I’ve gained 5 pounds just by looking at these – they look decadently delicious. 🙂
Roadside scholar – thanks for linking to my site! glad you enjoyed the photo.
Patricia – they are decadent, but petite, so a little bite goes a long way in flavor, without making it to one’s hips 🙂
mmmmmm….you know i can’t resist these! If we head north this fall like we hope to, maybe we can do a high tea here???
The blog is looking so good and so tasty. I love drooling over all of the entries!
xoxo
EJ – Yes we must! I know, I keep looking at the picture and thinking I may need to go back to La Dolce V soon and get me some more chocolates. Thanks for the compliments! xoxo