Chocolatine serves serious buzz
Authentic hot chocolate “C’est Magnifique!”
By D.K. Crawford 04/03/2008
Chocolatine French Pastry and Tea Room
2955 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.
www.chocolatine.net
805.557.0561
$1.50-8
Sandwiched in a strip mall in the bustling heart of Thousand Oaks Boulevard., rests Chocolatine, a French Pastry and Tea Room.
The interior of Chocolatine is warm and rustic. Round wooden tables bracketed by black and white wicker chairs sit on a whitewashed wooden planked floor. Display cases of truffles, tarts, heart-shaped meringues and cookies greet you. There are bowls of house-made jams and small pieces of orange-filled dark chocolate to sample.
We went for lunch to try the crêpes and sandwiches one might find in a European café, but the underlying agenda was to sip their hot chocolate made with real melted Belgium chocolate.
The specials for the day consisted of a savory chicken crêpe, creamy tomato soup, warm goat cheese, caprese or Chinese Chicken salad, onion or bacon quiche and three sweet crêpes filled with lemon and sugar, homemade jam or Nutella.
We ordered what turned out to be the last bowl of tomato soup, much to the envy of the neighboring table of young girls, but they quickly recovered when they discovered the male waiter had a French accent. “Say something in French!” they squealed as he took their order.
“Wow, this tastes like wine!” said my companion who first tasted the salmon colored liquid in the white, lattice-hatched bowl. My take on the “tomato wine” soup was that it was very thin (which he termed “rather dribbly”) and very acidic. I thought it might be the perfect accompaniment to my sandwich and put it aside.
Next came the Croque Monsieur (“Crunchy Mister” — French melted ham and cheese), one of my favorite sandwiches in the entire world, and the chicken crêpe. My sandwich sported grill-marked bread in the shape of a heart — a lovely detail.
The sandwich was sadly just OK. The ingredients are what make a Croque Monsieur, and the ham was average rather than rustic, the cheese didn’t have that sharp tang of Gruyère, but more the mellow neutral flavor of Swiss, and it lacked béchamel sauce on top.
The crêpe I found thicker than I prefer. In it was shredded chicken, mushrooms and a white sauce. Once we added salt it took on more flavor, but it still lacked that airy delicacy that makes crêpes so delightful. My companion referred to our crêpe as “doughy.” It was served with a side of mixed greens in vinaigrette.
We moved on to desserts, starting with the hot chocolate – served hot or cold. It arrived steaming with coco powder and a dollop of whipped cream on top. On the saucer was a small teaspoon with a tiny raspberry meringue that quickly melted in our mouths.
The hot chocolate was the best I’ve had, and I’d drive the 33 minutes from Ventura to have it again. Its smooth, creamy melted consistency was just sweet enough and truly addictive.
We also sampled an amazing crunchy-edged coconut macaroon, (also the best macaroon either of us had ever tasted), a small flourless chocolate cake in a moat of overheated English cream that had unfortunately separated, a dark chocolate nougatine and an almond paste and apple tart.
The flourless cake was spongy and rich, the nougatine dark, sweet and nutty, and the tart had that lightly sweet essence many European desserts have as opposed to the more sugary confections one finds in the U.S.
All in all, our visit to Chocolatine was pleasant and the small touches charming, but it lacked a certain “je ne sais quoi.” We agreed that the lunch we shared would earn a solid B. The highlight was the hot chocolate that we decided to put on ice in a cup to go so we could try it cold, and yes, it was absolutely fantastic cold, too! Had the little dog in our car not knocked it over onto my leather seats right after we’d each had a sip, we’d probably still be buzzing from our chocolate high!
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