After a morning of downtime while Phyllis and Alec packed and got ready for their weekend camping trip, we said our goodbyes and headed down to the factory. We got there right on time (15 min before our 2:30 pm tour started). As we entered the gift shop area, the wonderful smell of premium chocolate in the air made me giddy with good feelings. Instant aromatherapy! The store was full of various products from this fine factory, and I already knew I was going to spend some serious money on our way out.
When the tour started, we sat in a classroom for an hour while the guide explained all the steps from bean to bar. Turns out that cacao is just the seed part of the fruit and tastes a lot like an aspirin in its raw, unprocessed state. It needs to be processed, aged, and roasted before that familiar chocolate scent and flavor as we know it comes out. We got to sample a delicious milk chocolate (42% cacoa, much higher than most), a 62% bar, an 82% bar (a little too dark even for me), and nibs, which are pieces of the roasted bean covered in dark chocolate.
Next (the fun part) we got to don hair nets (some of us needed beard nets as well!) and bright red protective earphones and walk right into the factory.
Now, if I had to have a factory job, this is definitely the one I'd pick. I was always concious of (and never sick of) the heavenly smell. Here is some chocolate being mixed with extra cocoa butter to give it smoothness.
Here are some ladies packaging the bars as they come off the conveyor belt.
Paul and I went a little wild in the store, even buying a box of 4 truffles for private anniversary celebrations later. There was a cafe on the other side of the building, where the 4 of us stopped in for hot chocolate and/or coffee. Mom said she was chocolated out afterwards. Such a state is an impossibility for me!
When we went home, the folks napped, Paul played his horn for a while and I went out for a 3.5 mile walk. It was a brilliantly sunny day with a foggy view of the bay from the high hills. I got to enjoy the chocolate smell all over again as it sweated out of my pores!
Evening saw us on another adventure, this time to Oakland to meet a connection of Paul's and see a zen monastery where she is a Buddhist nun. Pam is the founder of the dojo where Paul teaches on weekends. Years ago she left her sister Debbie in charge and moved out to the Bay Area. She has been out here for visits and always says to Paul, "Hey, if you're ever in San Fransisco, come out and visit me." We took her up on it. She is a delightful person, down to earth and full of joy. Her tea ceremony teacher, Yoshi, is also a shrewd businesswoman and founder of the famed Yoshi's Restaurant and Jazz Club, a fixture for some 30 years that features an unlikely combination of excellent Japanese cuisine and top-name jazz acts.
After seeing the monastery, which is austerely beautiful, we took Pam with us to Yoshi's as previously arranged. Yoshi herself was behind the counter, and greeted us and showed us around a little before seating us. The place is huge--about the size of a city block--and hopping. Pam knew just about everybody who worked there and it was fun listening to their banter. The food was absolutely first rate--at least as enjoyable as the Culinary Institute! Paul & I shared a dinner for two that had a little of everything--sashimi, tempura, vegetables, grilled fish on a stick--and was a delight of flavors, colors and textures.
We opted not to stay for a show as we were all feeling the need to get to bed at a decent hour. I'm really glad in retrospect because we got lost twice on the way home and didn't get back until after 11!
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