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Diversity & Inclusion

July 26, 2020 by Todd

I’ve been reflecting a lot lately on how we can make Dandelion a more inclusive and welcoming company. We’ve always tried to do right, whether it be with the farms we work with, or in our community, or with our staff. We’ve always cared deeply and believed that trust is given, second chances matter, and that we should be thoughtful in all of our interactions.

But really, that’s just the start. We need to do more here: recognize our privilege, identify how that affects our company and team members, make sure that everyone feels welcome at Dandelion, support paths to advancement for BIPOC, and do our part to fight against systemic racism.

With that in mind, I wanted to set in writing some of the actions we are taking to increase our inclusiveness. We see this as a living document that we’ll update as we adapt, and make changes. We hope you will follow along and provide feedback with ways that we can continue to listen, learn, and grow.

What we’re doing:

Creating an employee-led steering committee to help us listen and understand the issues important to the team and provide feedback as we make these changes.
[Update as of 6/30: the steering committee has been formed and is meeting regularly]

Hiring a diversity consultant to help us make these changes as well as survey the team to understand how we can do better. This consultant is being chosen by the steering committee, with input from the entire company.
[Update as of 7/15: the steering committee reviewed multiple proposals and has chosen Liberation Consulting.]

[Update as of 10/5: Liberation Consulting has conducted interviews / surveys with team members.]

Starting additional mandatory diversity training. Currently we do online training (and have 90%+ participation) and are going to add more sessions and depth, again taking the lead from our consultant and steering committee.
[Update as of 10/5: Liberation Consulting is starting diversity training this week, with sessions through late November.]

[Update as of 11/30: Initial rounds of diversity training have been completed; vast majority of staff has participated so far.]

Reevaluating how we handle reconciliation, investigations, and mediation. Formal HR practices are heavy on the documentation for what happened but not necessarily on how people felt about the situation 3, 6, 12 months later and don’t give visibility into the actions taken or why. We would like to find a way to increase communication about these processes while staying legal and reflecting team member privacy. This will take some time to further develop in partnership with the steering committee and our consultant.
[Update as of 11/30: Subcommittee has formed to address this and is in the process of examining our processes and handbook. ]

Integrating more implicit bias and inclusion training into our on-boarding and professional development.
[Update as of 11/30: Added inclusion training into on-boarding. First rolled out to seasonal employees, currently evaluating feedback. ]

Forming a board of advisors to help us steer the company with outside voices.

As we’ve embarked on these changes, I’ve had a chance to talk to many team and community members and I’ve been heartened to see how deeply everyone cares about doing right here. These deep questions speak to our core values: how much do we value second chances versus zero tolerance? How do we treat employee privacy versus the need for justice? I’m looking forward to working through these issues in a thoughtful way.

We know that actions speak louder than words, so please watch this space for updates as we continue to implement these changes.

Best,
Todd

The Curious Incident of the Dog

March 18, 2016 by Todd

It’s widely known that chocolate and dogs don’t mix, but it doesn’t seem all that important until it happens to you. This past Thanksgiving, I had a close call with my dog that I wanted to share in hopes that it can help others in my situation.

To set the context, this is my dog Samson:

Samson looking sneaky.

We got him about two years ago from English Springer Rescue America of Salt Lake City. Samson had been found in the woods with a bite on his neck and had been stitched back to health. Genetic testing revealed that he’s not actually an English Springer (he’s 75% Brittany, 25% pointer) but he’s pretty sneaky. So we’re happy he snuck in to the rescue group.

This past Thanksgiving-eve happened to be my birthday. As per Dandelion tradition, everyone gets a birthday treat on their special day. In my case, I had requested a recreation of the tunnel of fudge bundt cake — one of my childhood favorites — but reimagined with good chocolate. This was particularly challenging because the cake of my childhood came from a box, and included a full-on fudge tunnel. In the original version, the molten tunnel was created by a soufflé-like baking effect that left the middle gooey.

Annie and Dana slaved away secretly for days to create the Dandelion version of this cake — and it was not light on the chocolate. They actually made two cakes, and by my calculations, each had about 10 bars worth of chocolate in it.

That day, we gathered around the table and sang Happy Birthday. The cakes were so decadent that we only got through one. I packed up the second cake to bring home as a bonus Thanksgiving treat for our guests.

Later that night, Elaine took me out to dinner and we left the cake in the middle of the kitchen table, packaged up neatly on its cake stand. We had already set up for Thanksgiving with an extra, double-wide table, which means the cake was in the middle of an 8 x 8-foot table. There was no reason to think that our (normally super sweet) dog would, or even could, climb on the table to eat the cake.

Two hours later we arrived home and something was amiss. Nothing was out of place except a tiny section of wrapping missing from the cake stand. The paper dome covering the pedestal still retained its bundt shape, but the cake itself had disappeared. We searched high and low and came to the conclusion that our dog — who was looking a tad bit fatter — had pilfered the cake.

Thoughts of betrayal and sadness were immediately pushed aside when we realized, that that was one super chocolatey cake! Made from 70%, beans-and-sugar-only, super pure chocolate, this was something for us to worry about.

I did some quick research and we called the 24-hour pet hospital who told us they would pump his stomach if we brought him in right away. We rushed Samson over — luckily it was right down the street. Samson was shaking and vomited a few times along the way. The receptionist checked us in, took Samson, and then we waited. And waited. About an hour later, the vet called us in. She told us that Samson was perfectly fine and things were all clear.

“Great!” we exclaimed and then started to ask — “how much came out when you pumped his stomach? What was the treatment?” Umm… She confessed that they hadn’t pumped his stomach — in fact they hadn’t done anything at all. She had done a quick search online, found some general rules, and since Samson didn’t look too distressed, she proclaimed him to be just fine.

We realized that Samson wasn’t showing symptoms because the cake had been eaten fairly recently, but the hour that had just passed by was not making things better. I explained to the vet that 1) I am an owner of a chocolate factory, 2) that was a super chocolate-y cake, and 3) our chocolate is not like normal industrial chocolate (that often has very little cacao in it).

Luckily I had the lab report and calculated that he had consumed something like 4,000mg of Theobromine. For his weight, that worked out to about 150mg/kg. Sources online seemed to indicate that at around 300 mg/kg, 50% of dogs will die, though other sites indicated it was closer to 100mg/kg. Either way we didn’t want to take the risk. Happily, we were pretty sure the cake was made mostly with Maya Mountain chocolate which has a relatively low percentage of theobromine. If it had been Camino Verde, Ecuador (CV in the chart), it would have had double the dosage.

The vet quickly decided a new round of treatment was in order. Over the next hour, they pumped his stomach. She showed me the giant garbage bag of food that came out. “Yeah, he really did eat a lot of chocolate cake!” They also gave him activated charcoal which slowed down the absorption of the chocolate still in his system.

The charcoal made him very thirsty, but he was forbidden to drink for the rest of the night for fear he might vomit it up. So the poor dog was so thirsty he howled through the night and pawed at the bathroom door. We wished we could have explained to him that this was for his own good.

Needless to say, we were a bit exhausted come Thanksgiving morning, but thankful that we still had Samson with us.

How to calculate if your dog has eaten too much chocolate:
* You can see for our type of chocolate, there is about 10-24mg of theobromine for each gram of cocoa liquor (ground nibs).
* Since we are making 70% chocolate, you can discount this to 7-17mg of theobromine per gram.
* Therefore, a 56g bar of our chocolate has about 392-952mg of Theobromine.
* At 300mg/kg of the dog’s weight, 50% of dogs will die.
* So one bar of Dandelion Chocolate will put dogs who weigh around 2-7 lbs at severe risk.
* Certainly there is more risk the more chocolate a dog eats or the less it weighs.
* And keep in mind, these numbers are for fatal doses; you probably want to be concerned at much lower levels.

Closed for the Holidays

December 24, 2015 by Todd

See you all next year!

Advent Calendar!

November 10, 2015 by Todd

For information about our 12 Nights of Chocolate, including tickets, click here.

Since the earliest days of Dandelion, we’ve always dreamed of having an advent Calendar to count down the days until Christmas. Opening up the small doors and finding a little treat was a special part of our childhoods. This year, we were finally able to make this dream a reality with the help of our friends. Designed by the talented Yvonne Mouser and featuring confections made by our very own chef, Lisa Vega, and our friends at Poco Dolce, Le Dix-Sept, Kika’s Treats, Nosh This, and Feve, we are proud to announce the first ever San Francisco Pop-up Advent Calendar.

Pre-sales start today for shipping on November 23rd. We’ve made a limited set of 300 and they are available for $150 in our online store.

12 Nights Begin!

December 3, 2014 by Todd

Last night we had the first of our 12 Nights of Chocolate — a series of events we are running to raise money for the SF Marin Food Bank. Each dollar spent on these events goes on to fund 3 meals for the hungry, so it’s a great way to enjoy desserts from amazing guest chefs and help those in need!

Last night we had an amazing 4+ course dessert tasting from Ramon Perez of Puur Chocolat and Matt Sicilliano from Michael Mina, paired with amazing drinks by Rob Easter of Workhorse Rye. We were all blown away by the flavor creations they came up with:

We are also very excited about some more events we have coming up later this week that still have tickets available. This Thursday night, Alice Medrich will be hosting a dessert flight set in a small intimate setting where she will also talk about her new book and her adventures in chocolate. In case you don’t know about Alice, she is considered the “first lady of chocolate”:

Alice Medrich’s honors include two James Beard Foundation Awards for Cookbook of the Year and IACP’s 2011 Best Baking Book award for Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies. She received her formal training at the prestigious Ecole Lenôtre in France and is widely credited with being the first to introduce Americans to the chocolate truffle and to cake sold by the slice. She shares her latest culinary breakthrough in her new book, Flavor Flours, which Artisan will publish on November 4, 2014. Medrich writes Food52’s Rogue Baking Tips column and teaches online baking courses at Craftsy.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter: @AliceMedrich.

This is a great opportunity to hear more from Alice in a small, intimate setting. Alice will also have copies of her new book available to purchase / for her to sign.

*******

Also not to be missed, our own Lisa Vega, formerly of Gary Danko, is pairing up with her former instructor, Stephen Durfee, and classmate, Sharon Wang, to put on a “Chocolate Wonderland” night with many dessert creations.

Stephen has won numerous awards, including:

Third Place, U.S. Finals, 2010 World Chocolate Masters Competition. Two Second Place Awards and Overall Fifth Place Award, U.S. Pastry Competition, 2009. Team Third Place, National Pastry Team Championship, 2007. One of the “10 Best Pastry Chefs,” Pastry Art & Design and Chocolatier, 1999. Pastry Chef of the Year, James Beard Foundation, 1998

Sharon Wang recently started the acclaimed Sugarbloom Bakery in LA. More about Sharon:

A native Angeleno (by way of Taiwan), chef/owner Sharon Wang grew up in Arcadia and attended UCLA. She started her career in interactive design, co-founding Media Revolution in Santa Monica. In 2003, after 10 years as a senior art director/creative manager, she followed her sweet tooth to the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley and while training in pastry there began working for chef Thomas Keller. Sharon quickly rose through the ranks of the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group in Napa Valley and then New York City, baking breads and pastries for The French Laundry, Per Se, Ad Hoc, and Bouchon Bistro and Bakery. She was promoted to head pastry chef of Bouchon in Yountville, and then, returning home to Los Angeles,Bouchon in Beverly Hills. After nine years with chef Keller, Sharon struck out on her own, first consulting for restaurants, including n/naka, and later opening Sugarbloom Bakery in 2012. Sharon’s classic French training and LA upbringing are reflected in Sugarbloom’s viennoiserie, desserts, and custom cakes.

You can find out about all of our events and tickets here: http://dande.li/12nights2014

This Friday — Chloe and Maria

September 24, 2014 by Todd

This Friday (9/26) at 5-7pm in the cafe, our good friend and chocolate expert Chloe Doutre-Roussel will be doing a book signing and talk. Chloe will be bringing the last few copies still available of her book, the Chocolate Connoisseur. Chloe is considered one of the top chocolate experts / tasters in the world and we are excited to have her here for a few hours. As Chloe only gets to SF every few years, this is not to be missed!

Along with Chloe, we have another special treat — starting at 7pm, Maria Fernanda Di Giacobbe will discuss her recent and exciting work in Venezuela: Cacao de Origen, a Project to enhance and promote the Venezuelan cacao tradition alongside cacao producers, chocolatiers and chocolate makers. She’ll share a chocolate-y presentation from her unique perspective as a chef, entrepreneur, artist, chocolatier, researcher and author of Cacao and Chocolate in Venezuela and Venezuelan Bombons: 25 Recipes.

This event is free — please RSVP here.

Our New Spot!

May 23, 2014 by Todd

When we first moved into our Valencia St factory, it felt so roomy. It was a major upgrade from working in our friend’s garage. I can still remember when almost all of our chocolate-making equipment could fit on one folding table.

But we’ve been growing fast, and if you’ve stopped by the factory recently, you’ve probably seen that we are completely maxed out on space. We’ve squeezed every inch to make room for more production than ever, but also twice-weekly classes, daily tours, and special events. We’ve been humbled to watch as our demand has grown and we’ve had to put over 300 stores on our ever-growing waitlist. We would love to make more chocolate and have ideas for how to make it taste even better, but it’s become increasingly clear that that we need more space.

While we hope to never close our Valencia Street Factory, we’ve been on the hunt for a larger, second production facility. And now we have some exciting news to share: we’ve found a new spot to expand into! Our new space is located at 16th and Alabama, the former home of the Howard Quinn printing company.

It was very important to us that not only did we stay in San Francisco as we grew, but also the Mission. So we were thrilled when the awesome team at CBRE (many thanks to Matt Kroger, Gary Arabian, and Mike Iino) found us this amazing opportunity just a few blocks away. It’s brick, it’s beautiful, we couldn’t be more thrilled, and it’ll last us years and years. However, it may also take a few years to fully build out and most likely, it will take even longer than anticipated. Our hope is that we can make room for more production and chocolate education and become a bigger part of the San Francisco chocolate story.

Next Saturday — David Lebovitz!

April 28, 2014 by Todd

Next Saturday from 11am-12:30pm, David Lebovitz will be signing copies of his new book, My Paris Kitchen in the café. Lisa will also be making one of his signature desserts (made with Dandelion Chocolate of course!) for sale during the signing, or until sold out.

Anyone would be honored to host David. Chocolate lovers have long followed his Great Book of Chocolate, his blog detailing his food adventures in Paris, and his impressive collection of dessert and ice cream books.

However, there’s actually a much bigger backstory that connects David to Dandelion Chocolate.

To set the context, in the mid-2000s, my wife, Elaine, and I started making chocolate in our home kitchen. At the time, there wasn’t much information for making chocolate outside a factory. However, we found the chocoaltealchemy forum, ordered a few unroasted cocoa beans, and did our best to approximate winnowers and roasters with hair dryers and popcorn poppers. We roasted the beans in our oven. We peeled the beans, one by one. But the next step was tough. We needed to crush the beans and sugar into a smooth liquid. Our mortar and pestle wasn’t up for the task and determined to finish our first batch before the weekend closed, we followed a forum recommendation to try a juicer. We called every kitchen store nearby to see who was still open late on a Sunday night with a juicer in stock. Finally armed with our shiny new juicer, we dropped the nibs in and – voila – we were horrified to see all of the nibs spew out the other end, untouched. Apparently we had the wrong type of juicer – an expensive mistake!

The following weekend we researched and located juicer #2. Again, we dropped all of efforts into the feeder and from our first bag of beans, out popped about one tiny Hershey kiss-sized drop of chocolate. It wasn’t much and it didn’t taste great, but it showed that it was possible. We split the little drop into two and made two cups of very diluted hot chocolate. Looking back at our weekends, we could see a thousand things we could improve. We didn’t realize it at the time, but that was the start of a multi-year chocolate adventure. (By the way, if you want to learn how to make chocolate at home, consider our chocolate 201 class — it will save you some trouble!)

A while later, David posted a blog offering a small group a personalized week-long food tour around Paris. We were lucky to secure two spots before it instantly sold out. One plane trip later, we were tasting our way through Paris. There were the farmer’s markets, the cheese shops, the cooking classes, the confectioner’s factory — this tour is a foodie’s dream.

The vision of a small-batch American bean-to-bar factory started to take shape. As we went from chocolate shop to chocolate shop, we were charmed by the French chocolate tea salons, the delicate chocolatiers, and the hot chocolates always served with a little cookie on the side. We met the incredible Mort Rosenblum, author of the book Chocolate, and discussed the New American Chocolate Movement, then in its infancy.

The highlight of our trip was a day trip to Lyon where we saw the small Bernachon chocolate factory. A petit cafe and pastry shop upfront belied a cozy bean-to-bar factory in the back with small batch roasters and artisan chocolate makers. We learned that it was this factory that had initially inspired Scharffen Berger too. With clumsy high school French and a long list of questions, we interrogated their staff about roasts and beans, conching and winnowing, and making great chocolate.

Bernachon Factory; Their roaster looking tired after being asked a lot of questions.

It was on this trip that I confided to David that there could be another chapter to this chocolate making hobby. Back in the states, we started experimenting and working towards the vision. My friend and business partner, Cam, caught the chocolate bug and together we started a mini factory in a friend’s garage. We dreamed of someday opening a cozy café with hot chocolates made from our personal small-batch chocolate. In the meantime, we started roast after roast, making tiny test batches, learning how to make great chocolate — and finally — a few years later we launched and opened our doors.

It’s such an honor to host David whose books, blogs, and tours have inspired us. And it’s exciting to see him inspire a new line of chocolate artisans who are just as excited and passionate about chocolate as we are.

We hope to see you next Saturday!

The 12 Nights of Chocolate

December 4, 2013 by Todd

We’re very excited to announce a new holiday tradition that we are starting at our chocolate factory on Valencia Street: the 12 Nights of Chocolate!

Starting next Tuesday the 10th for 12 whole nights, we will be hosting a series of festive events celebrating our love of chocolate. The highlight of this series are the pastry chef nights where local pastry luminaries Emily Luchetti, Janet Dalton, Jessica Sullivan, Lincoln Carson, Angela Salvatore, and Terri Wu will host intimate dessert evenings made with our chocolate. The profits from these pastry chef nights will go to benefit the San Francisco and Marin Food Banks, which seeks to end hunger in San Francisco.

We’ll be posting more details as the month progresses, but here’s a quick overview of what we have planned:

#1 – Guatemala Sourcing Talk – Tuesday December, 10th

Greg, our resident Bean Sourcer-er, will give a talk about his recent sourcing trip to Guatemala at 7:30PM in the cafe. FREE

#2 – Book signing and demo – Wednesday December, 11th

Local Mission author Andrea Lawson Grey will be doing a book signing and demo for her new cookbook: CELEBRACIONES MEXICANAS – History, Traditions, and Recipes. Andrea will show us how to make Mexican Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Dipping Sauce for Churros starting at 7:00PM in the cafe. FREE

#3 – Food drive – Thursday December, 12th

We’re kicking off our food-drive, by giving a free, special treat to anyone who brings in a food item for the San Francisco and Marin Food Banks this day. The most needed items are: tuna, canned meat, peanut butter, soup, chili, beans, cereal, canned fruit and vegetables, and granola bars. Food collection bins will be available through the 21st. PLEASE NOTE: Cafe will be closing at 7 for our staff holiday party.

#4 – Dolce Delfina – with Pastry Chef, Jessica Sullivan – Friday December, 13th

Hailing from our fellow neighborhood restaurant, Delfina, Pastry Chef Jessica Sullivan is taking over Dandelion for a night to showcase the decadent side of Delfina. She will present a wintery 3-course Italian dessert tasting including a Warm Panettone with Dandelion Chocolate Gelato. To complete the evening, a special selection of wines and spirits from Locanda will be available as pairing for the desserts. 8:30PM $50 – PLEASE NOTE: the cafe will be closing at 8PM this night. More info and tickets here.

All profits from this night are donated in support of the San Francisco and Marin Food Banks

#5 – Wine and Chocolate – Saturday December, 14th

An intimate evening with a wine and chocolate pairing in our upstairs mezzanine. Wines by Sonoma / San Francisco based Wattle Creek Winery. Limited to 14 people. More details and tickets here. 7PM. $75

#6 – Holiday Cookie Popup – Sunday December, 15th

All day Sunday our pastry chef, Lisa Vega, will be exclusively making holiday cookies in the cafe. Come try her creations or bring some home. ALL DAY

#7 – Movie Night – Monday December, 16th

We’re setting up the cafe as a small movie theater and screening Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory. There will be (chocolate-covered) popcorn and golden tickets of course. Popcorn and treats at 7:45, movie starts at 8:15 sharp. $15 Tickets here. PLEASE NOTE: the cafe will be closing at 7:30PM this night.

#8 – Crunchy Creamy All Chocolate Pop Up Party with Emily Luchetti and Janet Dalton – Tuesday December, 17th

Executive Chef, Author, and James Beard Board Member Emily Luchetti is teaming up with Janet Dalton, former pastry chef of Postrio to a host a night of desserts! Buy tickets in advance (some available at the door) and drop in between 7-9PM to try hot chocolate milk shakes, desserts, and other treats made by these amazing chefs. Lots and lots of treats.

The chefs wanted us to warn you to eat something savory before you come. Not responsible for overdosing on chocolate.

Drop in any time between 7-9PM. $35 – PLEASE NOTE: the cafe will be closing at 7PM this night. More info and tickets here (or at the door).

All profits from this night are donated in support of the San Francisco and Marin Food Banks

#9 – Wine and Chocolate II – Wednesday December, 18th

An intimate evening with a wine and chocolate pairing in our upstairs mezzanine. Wines by Sonoma / San Francisco based Wattle Creek Winery. Limited to 14 people. More details and tickets here. 7PM. $75

#10 – Lincoln Carson – Thursday December, 19th

Join Lincoln Carson, corporate pastry chef for the Michael Mina restaurants and Neyah White, brand ambassador for Suntory Whiskey in an evening of chocolate creations and whiskey which will include The Hibiki served ceremoniously Oyu-Wari style, as well as some unblended individual barrel samples to compare and contrast with each chocolate. 8:30PM $50 – PLEASE NOTE: the cafe will be closing at 8PM this night. More info and tickets here.

All profits from this night are donated in support of the San Francisco and Marin Food Banks

#11 – Angela Salvatore and Terri Wu – Friday December, 20th

Angela Salvatore of Waterbar and Terri Wu of Farallon will be hosting a sweet and savory prix fixe chocolate menu with spirit pairings by Craig Lane of Bar Agricole. 8:30PM $50 – PLEASE NOTE: the cafe will be closing at 8PM this night. More info and tickets here.

All profits from this night are donated in support of the San Francisco and Marin Food Banks

#12 – Fondue Night – Saturday December, 21th

We’re ending the 12 nights with Fondue! Starting at 6pm we will be offering fondue with a series of toppings in the cafe until close. 6PM until close (or until sold out).

New Pastry Chef!

September 17, 2013 by Todd

We’ve had an amazing summer hosting weekly pop-ups with our favorite local pastry chefs. It’s been so much fun seeing all the different styles, flavors, and textures that can be made with our chocolate. Now that the summer is winding down, we have some exciting news to announce: we’ve found our new pastry chef!

So meet Lisa Vega, the newest member of our team, most recently the pastry chef at Gary Danko. Here’s a little she wrote about herself:

I was born and raised in Los Angeles and grew up cooking with both my grandmothers. Everyday after school I’d sit at the kitchen pull out cutting board and help anyway I could. I mostly made jello but the romance of a group of people coming together to share a meal and their stories started to define my love for food. After graduating from Loyola Marymount (with a BA in English Literature) I decided that culinary school would be my next step, I did my externship in Napa and decided to enroll in the CIA’s Greystone Campus and completed the baking and pastry program. After graduation I worked at Bouchon Bakery in Yountville as a bread baker and still practice the discipline of excellence I learned there as a young cook.

After Bouchon I moved back to Southern California and began working in restaurants as I wanted to learn all aspects of the baking and pastry world. I worked at Craft LA, Providence and Thyme Cafe and Market. I carefully chose these places because of who I’d get to work for, and value the kitchen lessons I learned and apply them in my work everyday.

However, I was drawn to the thriving food scene in San Francisco and moved back North to work for the Mina Group and most currently I was the pastry chef at Restaurant Gary Danko. I like to see myself as responsible for someone’s experience with desserts like being someone’s fairy godmother, it’s special to create that seamless moment where someone falls in love with a dessert. It makes all the details worth the while.

Lisa is hard at work on a new menu, so you will still get to try a few more awesome pop-ups for the next two weeks: Sweet Pistachio this week and Bicyclette next week.