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12 Nights of Chocolate 2015

November 3, 2015 by

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This December, we’re excited to bring you the third annual 12 Nights of Chocolate—our yearly sweet and savory celebration of all things chocolate. Each year, we team up with or lend our space to chefs and pastry luminaries who take our chocolate and run with it to create a series of small plates, pairings, or tastings. We provide no guidelines or restrictions (other than using our chocolate), and each group of chefs is given free reign to do as they please. All proceeds go to benefit the SF-Marin Food Bank, which distributes three meals for every dollar raised. Last year, we were able to raise enough for 45,000 meals, and we’re hoping to raise even more this year.

A donation bin will be located just inside our cafe for the duration of the series.  Stop by to drop off cans and non-perishable food anytime during this holiday series. More details on the food bank’s most needed items here.

 Wednesday, December 2nd at 7pm

A Partridge and a Pear…

Dominique Crenn (Atelier Crenn, Petit Crenn), Traci Des Jardins (Jardinière), Belinda Leong (b. patisserie) with Alan Murray (Jardinière)

To kick off our series, three stellar chefs bring their own unique approaches to a multi-course sweet and savory evening inspired by the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Wines paired by Master Sommelier Alan Murray.

Price:$95

Sold Out
Thursday, December 3rd at 7pm

Dimensions

Francis Ang  (Dirty Habit), Ramon Perez (Puur Chocolat), Matt Siciliano (Michael Mina) with Almanac Beer Co.

A team of three draw on their diverse expertise to explore the possibilities of chocolate across the spectrum from savory to sweet.

Beer pairing provided by Almanac Beer Co.

Price:$95

Sold Out
Friday, December 4th at 7pm

Movie Night: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

For one night only, the Dandelion Chocolate café will be set up as a small movie theater to screen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. There will be homemade caramel popcorn and hot chocolate, of course. Treats begin at 7pm, movie starts at 7:15pm.

Price: $20

Tickets Here

 
Saturday, December 5th All Day

Food Drive

For the duration of this event series, we’ll have donation bins set up inside of our café. We welcome nonperishables of all kinds to benefit families in need this holiday season, and if you donate today, receive a hot chocolate gift card.
 Sunday, December 6th at 7pm

Black Swans a-Swimming

Maya Erickson (Lazy Bear) and Richie Nakano, with Nicolas Torres (Lazy Bear) & Brandon Presbury (Sous Beurre Kitchen).

Maya and Richie team up to create a night of inventive, unexpected chocolate dishes, augmented by drink pairings by Brandon and Nicolas.

Price:$95

Sold Out
 Monday, December 7th  at 7pm

Old School is New School

Stephanie Prida (Manresa), Shawn Gawle (Quince), Nick Muney (Coi)

What happens when three Michelin-starred chefs get together to create a three-course dessert menu? What’s old becomes new again, and it’s nothing like you remember.

Pairing TBD

Price:$95

Sold Out
Tuesday, December 8th at 7pm

Holiday Ice Cream Bar

Anne Walker and Kris Hoogerhyde (Bi-Rite Creamery) with Bi-Rite wine

Our friends and neighbors at Bi-Rite Creamery create an evening of holiday sundaes, hot fudge, and cookies. Cava will be served courtesy of Bi-Rite.

Price:$50

Sold Out
Wednesday, December 9 th at 7pm

Nine Neighbors Dancing

Thomas McNaughton (Ne Timeas Restaurant Group), Lisa Vega (Dandelion Chocolate), and  The Bon Vivants (Trick Dog, Cafe du Nord, Aatxe)

For one night, three restaurants take over our café to bring you a selection of sweet and savory chocolate dishes designed by Lisa and Thomas, alongside three cocktails by the clever and notorious Bon Vivants.

Price:$95

Tickets Here
Thursday, December 10th at 7pm

A Chocolate Feast

Sean Ehland (Aster), Amy Brown (Marla Bakery), Omri Aflalo (Wayfare Tavern). Wines by Bartholomew Park Winery.

Three diverse approaches to dessert braided into a single night. Sean, Amy, and Omri make six courses for a single evening of sweet, surprising, desserts.

Wine courtesy of Bartholomew Park Winery

Price:$95

Tickets Here
Friday, December 11th at 7pm

Pipers Piping: Chocolate & Cocktails

Bill Corbett and Borys Saciuk (The Bon Vivants)

An inventive chef and an infamous mixologist team up to create a three-course dessert and cocktail menu, built around the specific flavor profiles of Dandelion’s single origin chocolate.

Price:$95

Tickets Here
 Saturday, December 12th at 7pm

An Evening with Art in the Age Craft Spirits & Dandelion Chocolate

Chris Cardillo  (Art in The Age)

Please join us on December 12th as Art in the Age takes over our mezzanine for an evening of spirits and sweets. Art in the Age will share their line of California-distilled USDA organic spirits, and Dandelion Chocolate will be sampling their handcrafted, single origin chocolate. There may even be a spiked hot chocolate or two, just in time for winter.

Price:$45

Sold Out
Sunday, December, 13th at 7pm

Chocolate Cheer: Sweet & Savory Snacks

Nicole Krasinski (State Bird Provisions),  Mikiko Yui  (State Bird Provisions) and Leah Rosenberg

Nicole, Mikiko, and artist/chef Leah Rosenberg are bringing the style of State Bird Provisions to our cafe for an unforgettable night of savory and sweet bites, matcha, a spirited shake, bubbles and more. And you won’t even have to stand in line.

Price: $95

Sold Out

Our Tours are Changing!

July 2, 2015 by

Every Monday morning when I open the door to the chocolate factory to start my work week, that heavy, roasty, and sweet chocolate smell overwhelms my senses. By Friday I will have gotten used to it, but it only takes a weekend before it knocks me off my feet again on Monday.

I love that smell, but what I love more is how it represents the myriad things that go on under our roof at 740 Valencia Street. It’s the aroma of everything that we do. It comes from the production team roasting cocoa beans or grinding nibs to start a new batch in a melanger; from the cafe team, steaming up a hot chocolate; the kitchen crew baking off the next round of nutella cookies; the flavor team starting an experimental test batch to ensure quality in our chocolate; someone upstairs breaking up chocolate bars for our next Chocolate 101 class.
Dandelion-cafe-214Our wide open factory is built on the basis that we love to share what we do. One of our favorite ways to introduce what we do is by showing you our process through a tour of our factory floor. Every time we  give a tour, we get the chance to stop and really think through what we do and why we do it. The tour gives us a platform to engage regularly about the process, the local food community, the chocolate community, our relationships with the farms we work with, and the folks that visit us.

When we first established our tour program two years ago, we meant to build a clear look inside our process and how we do what we do. We wanted to make it easy and free, and the feedback has been more encouraging than we could have imagined.

Lately, we are finding that because the tours are free and easy to sign up for, it is also very easy to not attend. Of course, we totally understand that things come up, and anyone who signs up for a tour truly intends to come. However, lately, we have also been amazed by a recent influx of tour requests! Because we are truly trying to share our process with everyone who is interested, we are really hoping to make sure the opportunity to tour is really available for those who will definitely participate. So what to do? We decided to make some tour changes and improvements to our current system!

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Sign up will now be available through our website with a calendar that’s easier to use. We are increasing the size of our tours to be able to accommodate eight people. Tours will be held Wednesdays-Saturdays from 6:10-6:50pm, and we have hopes of adding new days of the week in the coming months. We’re extending our tours so we can start with a guided tasting of our single origin bars before taking you on a tour of our factory floor and explaining our process. We are also going to start charging a $5 fee for the tour to encourage those who do sign up to attend. But at the end of the tour we will be giving all attendees who do come a free hot chocolate gift card to use in our cafe! We are hoping this system ensures that everybody who signs up really does participate and ends their tour on an extra chocolate-y note.

We hope to explore our factory and all of its toasty aromas, noises, sights, and tastes with you soon! To reserve a spot, head to our Tours page.

Dandelion Pre-Valentine’s Party is Almost Here!

February 9, 2015 by

hot chocThis Thursday, join us for an after hours party in the chocolate factory to celebrate everything we love: the partners we collaborate with, treats, and sharing our chocolate and factory with you! One of our favorite things about making chocolate in San Francisco is all of the amazing people we get to work with and learn from—not to mention the delicious and beautiful things they make. Come welcome in a holiday all about appreciation with Dandelion and the makers and mongers we couldn’t live without. The party will feature raclette from Vagabond Cheese, bitters-focused beverages from Workhorse Rye (non-alcoholic), letterpressed cards from Shotwell Paper Mill, as well as pastries and hot chocolates from the Dandelion kitchen. Look out for nib-infused panna cotta with a passion fruit cream, mini dulce de leche bites, and mini s’mores! Dandelion staff will lead three tours throughout the evening of the chocolate factory and, as always, there will be tastes available of our single origin chocolate bars.

A bit about our friends:

Vagabond Cheese
Alex Ourieff, founder of Vagabond cheese will be here with his new raclette machine! He’ll be serving up warm cheese, complete with a chocolate-y twist for the occasion.

He’ll be around to chat about and sample his current selection of favorite cheeses, and answer any questions you may have. If you want to take some home some for the upcoming holiday, cheese will available for purchase with a selection of recommended chocolate pairings.

Rob Easter (right) doing what he does best.

Rob Easter (right) doing what he does best.

Workhorse Rye
Our own Maverick Watson will be shaking up some bitters-based beverages, with recipes created specifically for the celebration, on behalf of local organic whiskey and bitters maker Workhorse Rye. The drinks will highlight two Workhorse Rye bitters especially dear to us: the Salted Cacao bitters made with our Camino Verde, Ecuador beans, as well as Coffee Rye Bitters, a WHR & Four Barrel collaboration!

Shotwell Paper Mill
This is the 3rd year we’ll be celebrating Valentines Day with our friends from Shotwell Paper Mill! On paper, made locally one sheet at a time, Pam will help you hand letterpress cards and Valentines for your friends and loved ones.

And, the details:
Thursday February 12th
Start time: 9pm
End time: 10:30pm
tickets: $35 (available here)

Dandelion Chocolate
740 Valencia Street SF CA 94110