{"id":3214,"date":"2013-02-05T13:52:58","date_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/?p=3214"},"modified":"2023-03-24T14:39:30","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T21:39:30","slug":"fun-chocolate-hunting-in-d-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/outsidechocolate\/fun-chocolate-hunting-in-d-c\/","title":{"rendered":"Dressing up in chocolate"},"content":{"rendered":"

UPDATE 2\/2018: Co Co. Sala has closed.<\/p>\n

On our recent visit to D.C., Cacaopod and I had two different but equally fun chocolate experiences: One, a swanky chocolate-themed lounge, and the other, an up-and-coming chocolatier<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chocolate-themed evening<\/h2>\n

Co Co. Sala in downtown D.C., combines a high-end lounge with a tasteful chocolate boutique. We had already tried chocolates from their boutique, which are very good, so we were keen on checking out the lounge. We met a pal there for dinner and dessert (of course!) one brisk winter evening.<\/p>\n

\"Co<\/a>
The Co Cojito\u2014 beautiful, right?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The lounge is a great-looking space with a chocolate and red color theme. The tables and chairs are low, very lounge-y. The lighting makes everybody look beautiful.<\/p>\n

Drinks set the stage<\/h2>\n

We started with their chocolate-based drinks. Cacaopod had the Chocolate Safari Rooibos tea, which he declared a nice mix of tea and a strong chocolate flavor, and our friend had the Allure, a lychee & sparkling wine drink served in a tall glass\u00a0with a white chocolate curl that was very pretty and festive looking.<\/p>\n

I had the Co Cojito, which substitutes chocolate-infused vodka for rum and adds dark chocolate shavings to the traditional\u00a0lime and mint. I thought it was not entirely successful. The 3 flavors seemed equally balanced so they fought for attention.<\/p>\n

I would\u2019ve liked it better if one flavor was dialed back (but not the chocolate!) so it\u2019s either a chocolate\/lime drink with an undertone of mint or chocolate\/mint with a taste of lime. And maybe serve it with a spoon because all those chocolate shavings don\u2019t dissolve; instead they settle frustratingly to the bottom.<\/p>\n

Lucky for me there was more chocolate to come.<\/p>\n

Main-course chocolate<\/h2>\n

Co Co. Sala is all about the chocolate, so a lot of the menu items include chocolate in some way. In fact, the only non-chocolate item we tried was the only one we didn\u2019t finish: garlic fries. Maybe they should try dusting them with cocoa powder?<\/p>\n

The menu was a little complicated \u2014 still not sure the logic behind listing items in 3 different places when they all came to the table together \u2014 but the waitress was very helpful and fun in guiding us through it.<\/p>\n

We splurged on the Lobster Crostini: Maine\u00a0lobster topped with sliced salted grapes and mozzarella, sitting on a bead of chocolate-themed sauce (I forget what now). Nice enough, but I think switching in crab for the lobster would be tastier.<\/p>\n

\"coco<\/a>
Portions are tiny, but easy to share and satisfying. Plus, they leave room for dessert!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The jerk chicken sliders came topped with cheese and a chipotle, white chocolate & mango ganache. They were very hot and spicy, which was good, but we couldn\u2019t taste the chocolate. At this point, I was thinking this is more about the concept of chocolate in savory dishes than actual chocolate-ly foods.<\/p>\n

The third dish saved it for me: scallops with a seared cocoa nib crust did have a noticeable cocoa taste. They also came topped best-Sunday-hat-style with what looked like lotus root chips. The waitress called it cacao nib, but we all know that\u2019s not what cacao nibs look like.<\/p>\n

Other chocolate-themed dinner options included a cocoa-nib cheese-stuffed jalapeno beignet, a crabcake with chipotle-chocolate-tomato glaze (that\u2019s what I\u2019ll get next time instead of the lobster), and beef sliders with a mole sauce.<\/p>\n

Portions are small \u2014 just a taste for everybody \u2014 so there\u2019s room for dessert!<\/p>\n

We ♥ Co Co. Sala dessert<\/h2>\n

Since portions are small, we saw no problem in ordering three desserts, although we felt a little silly saying our order \u2014 A Raspberry Affair, A Sticky Situation, and\u00a0Chocolate Onyx.<\/p>\n

\"raspberry<\/a>
Raspberries & chocolate: More to love with tiny tastes on a plate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a<\/a>
Chocolate Onyx satisfies darker tastes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0Raspberry Affair, pictured above, included a heart-shaped white chocolate\/raspberry mousse, a scoop of pomegranate champagne sorbet sitting on \u201ccrispy chocolate pearls\u201d (like chocolate-covered\u00a0Rice Krispies<\/em>) and topped with a white chocolate curl,\u00a0 and a goji berry bonbon. If your taste in chocolate leans toward fruit and chocolate combos, get this one.<\/p>\n

The Chocolate Onyx is aimed at dark chocolate lovers. At the bottom right of the plate is a brownie encasing a salted caramel, above it a scoop of dark chocolate mousse atop a cr\u00e8me br\u00fbl\u00e9e and topped itself with a dark chocolate curl,\u00a0 hidden behind that is a cinnamon toffee bonbon. A long streak of caramel and chocolate finishes the plate. If you came to Co Co. Sala for a serious chocolate fix, get this.<\/p>\n

The Sticky Situation is chocolate comfort food. The warm sticky toffee pudding cake was topped with cream and chocolate shavings, surrounded by a brown butter toffee sauce. It was accompanied by a scoop of ginger caramel ice cream sitting on more of those chocolate pearls and wearing its own chocolate curl topper.<\/p>\n

Worth a repeat visit<\/h2>\n

We enjoyed Co Co. Sala. The space feels very special, and the drinks are generous and interesting. It\u2019s a little pricy, the food was not amazing, but it was fun and tasty. This is not a place for gorging yourself, which I liked because the small portions made the delicious chocolate desserts guilt free. Just a wonderful way to spend an evening.<\/p>\n

\"chocolate<\/a>
A sticky situation for toffee lovers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here\u2019s looking at you, kid<\/h2>\n

I have to comment on one aspect of Co Co. Sala\u2019s interior design: the bathrooms. They are down a narrow hall, and you know you\u2019ve arrived when you look through a large, round window to your left and see bathroom sinks. No need for signs in this place.<\/p>\n

When you enter the space, it is divided into men on the left (next to the window) and women on the right, but a word of caution, ladies: What looks like 2 stalls is actually one, perfectly aligned next to a full-length mirror to fool you into thinking there are two. I was surprised not to see the mirror smudged with handprints or maybe a full-body print left by someone carelessly headed toward the second stall.<\/p>\n

As I said, the sinks are in full view of anyone walking down the hall, and they are co-ed, so they have the potential to take some of the sexy out of the evening depending on your sink-side manner.<\/p>\n

Perfect for special occasions in the nation\u2019s capitol<\/h2>\n

I\u2019d recommend Co Co. Sala if you\u2019re looking for a dress-up chocolate experience. The place feels great, and I can see working my way through their creative drinks list (a malted milk martini!), although not so quickly that I forget about that \u201csecond stall.\u201d And the desserts are super-fun chocolate collages. They also have weekend brunch that sounds good \u2014 more chocolate-themed menu choices and drinks.<\/p>\n

And if you get there at a reasonable hour, you can pick up some of their bars and bonbons at their pretty chocolate boutique next door.<\/p>\n

Co Co. Sala, A Chocolate Lounge & Boutique, 929 F Street NW, Washington, DC. You can also buy their chocolates online.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A different kind of chocolate bar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,13,169],"tags":[542,254,541,514,93,415,531,1526,540,534,532,364,535,537,417,538,536,539,196,221,543,533],"class_list":["post-3214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-chocolate","category-outsidechocolate","category-reviews","tag-brownie","tag-cacao-nibs","tag-champagne","tag-chipotle","tag-chocolate-dessert","tag-cinnamon","tag-co-co-sala","tag-creme-brulee","tag-goji-berry","tag-lime","tag-lychee","tag-mango","tag-mint","tag-mole-sauce","tag-pomegranate","tag-raspberry","tag-restaurant","tag-rice-krispies","tag-salted-caramel","tag-tea","tag-toffee","tag-vodka"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3214"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37924,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3214\/revisions\/37924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}