\u201cWe\u2019ve got 3 dollies, so I named them,\u201d Wendy explained, \u201cThe Dolly Lama, Salvador Dolly, and of course, Dolly Parton.\u201d<\/p>\n If you know anything at all about Socola, silly names are just part of the company\u2019s culture. From \u201cGive It To Me Guava\u201d and \u201cBurnt Baby Burnt\u201d truffles to the Soco-latte coffee drink, you are going to have to get in the mood just to order something at the caf\u00e9\/shop. Don\u2019t worry, it isn\u2019t hard to do: This is an enjoyable space full of tasty chocolates, drinks and pastries, served by a friendly, knowledgeable staff.<\/p>\n \u201cIt took a long time to open a store,\u201d Wendy told us. \u201cThirteen years.<\/p>\n \u201cI used rent space in a commissary kitchen with a few other small businesses in South San Francisco, but I couldn\u2019t have all my equipment there. Plus they were baking there, so I couldn\u2019t use my tempering machine [because of heat issues]. I had to temper everything by hand.<\/p>\n \u201cNow I have everything here. And we can control the temperature and humidity ourselves, so I can use my own tempering machine.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the perfect space,\u201d Wendy explained, \u201cwith just a little bit of a storage issue. The 2nd\u00a0level is all storage; but my office is the size of a closet. I call it my \u2018cloffice.\u2019 But I can walk to work, or bike in 3 minutes, and I have everything in one place for the 1st time.\u201d<\/p>\n The location is also pretty perfect: Next to Rincon Hill in SOMA, it\u2019s in a brand-new building in an up-and-coming area. On Google Maps,<\/em> it\u2019s still a hole in the ground. When they were in lease negotiations, Wendy said her lawyer asked, \u201cAre you sure that\u2019s the address?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re pioneering in this space,\u201d Wendy said. \u201cThey\u2019re building a park and a 50-story condo building across the street. And the new Transbay Terminal is being built a few blocks away.<\/p>\n \u201cOur current customers include the consulate staff across the street. Plus there are a lot of law firms & start-ups in the area. We\u2019re planning to be here 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a fairly convenient location to downtown, just 4 blocks from the Montgomery BART station. And I recommend it as a 1st stop if you do a DIY chocolate tour downtown<\/a> because they open early for breakfast.<\/p>\n They\u2019re open 7-6 M\u2013F and 9-3 Saturday, because the caf\u00e9 \u201cdoubles as chocolate production space,\u201d Wendy explained, \u201cso we\u2019re here anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n Patisserie Philippe provides the baked goods, which include the only-at-Socola \u2018Guassant\u2019: a croissant with a lightly sweet guava paste filling. Recommended! Get there early enough, or they\u2019re gone.<\/p>\n Coffee and chocolate drinks feature the same truffle ganache\u00a0and caramel that they use in their candies (but in liquid forms), making for some seriously decadent cupfuls. Ask for a\u00a0Truffogato (#3 in\u00a0\u00a0Zagat\u2019s Top 10 coffee drinks of SF and recommended by Eater SF in The Coffee Heatmap: 15 New Spots For A Killer Cup<\/a>) to experience what I\u2019m talking about: super thick, super intense \u2014 it\u2019s a double shot of Four Barrel espresso over their \u201cliquid truffle\u201d (essentially their candy truffle melted) with a house-made chocolate marshmallow on top! Good thing it comes in a small cup, or I\u2019d still be racing around.<\/p>\n Their entire line of candies, many with Southeast Asian flavors and using local ingredients (like Guittard chocolate & Straus Family Creamery dairy ingredients), are available for purchase at the counter. Their more unusual offerings include Vietnamese coffee, Flying Rooster Sriracha, lychee, and durian truffles, as well as passion fruit, macha green tea, masala chai, and guava truffles.<\/p>\n They also have crunchy almond dragees, which are roasted almonds triple coated in caramel, then triple coated in chocolate. And \u201cMouthful Caramels,\u201d so called because they fill your mouth with a soft caramel that is smoky, salty and sweet.<\/p>\n The caf\u00e9 is a pretty little space to wake yourself up in. While the space is small (720 sq. ft.), it doesn\u2019t feel cramped. Kudos to the architect, Syncopated Architecture of SF, who kept the high ceiling in the front of the shop, which with the wall of windows, keeps the space feeling light and airy. (Be sure to look up: The ceiling looks like a giant chocolate mold.)<\/p>\n The interior design is very attractive too, with a window counter for watching the neighborhood rise around you, and a couple of West Elm dinette sets and comfy chairs if you\u2019re with friends. No Wi-Fi, so you\u2019re there for the food, drinks, people, ambiance and chocolate. It\u2019s a spot to enjoy in itself.<\/p>\n It opened for business just in time for Valentine\u2019s Day, which they celebrated with chocolate-dipped strawberries. \u201cValentine\u2019s Day was crazy,\u201d Wendy said. \u201cWe did 8 flats of chocolate-dipped strawberries \u2014 and they sold out fast.\u201d<\/p>\n Wendy had hoped to be open in January 2014, but there were some delays in the permitting over the end-of-year holidays. Still, the construction process took only 3-1\/2 months, which for a food service business in San Francisco sounds miraculous. She credits her architect and contractor for working so well together.<\/p>\n They don\u2019t serve sandwiches here, so lunch hour is the caf\u00e9\u2019s slow time. \u201cWe might do a pop-up for lunch,\u201d Wendy said, \u201cBut we don\u2019t want to stray from our model too much: \u2018undiluted chocolate.\u2019 Besides, the corner space in our building will be Vietnamese sandwich shop soon.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to chocolate, coffee and pastries, they also sell Socola T-shirts, aprons and necklaces which have a laser cut-out of their mascot, Harriet, made by [un]possible cuts<\/a> of Oakland.<\/p>\n Not a lot of chocolatiers have a mascot, but Socola does: Harriet the flying alpaca. How she came to be goes something like this:<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we [Wendy and her sister Susan] started our company in Santa Rosa [when they were teenagers], I would make chocolate in the summer, and we\u2019d sell it at the Santa Rosa farmers market. Then we moved to Oakland, and I would make chocolate on weekends and holidays to order.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter graduating from Harvard, Susan worked in Vietnam for almost a year on sustainable cocoa development<\/a>. When she came back, we restarted the company.<\/p>\n \u201cWe decided we needed a mascot to show our rebirth, but most animals were already taken. We searched \u2014 even mountain goats and ladies on horses were taken. We found only alpacas weren\u2019t taken.<\/p>\n \u201cIt fits us: It\u2019s a funny, unique animal; it\u2019s cute, and has a personality. I named her Harriet because she\u2019s hairy. And we added wings because we both love to travel.\u201d<\/p>\n Susan was at Yale for the past 2 years earning her MBA, so Wendy handled the move herself and has been running the business solo too. Initially, it seemed daunting, but she grew into it, and now: \u201cI enjoy every single aspect of it,\u201d\u00a0 she said, \u201cBut there\u2019s always a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI used to hate doing projections, business plans, etc, but now I love it. It\u2019s exciting to compare how we are doing with our goals. So I do projections, etc. \u2014 but not bookkeeping.\u00a0 I figured out what I really don\u2019t enjoy doing and hired someone else to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Although she has always been the company\u2019s head chocolatier, running the business too isn\u2019t that much of a stretch. As Wendy explained, \u201cI\u2019ve been enterprising since I was 8. At 8, I would call people to remind them of their appointments at our family\u2019s nail salon.\u201d<\/p>\n And she\u2019s always been in business with her sister. \u201cWe started out as kids selling friendship bracelets out of the nail salon, and we were top sellers of girl scout cookies every year. In fact, we got so busy, we outsourced the bracelet-making to friends.\u201d<\/p>\n Wendy is definitely coming into her own. She was honored as a rising star chef<\/a>, this past March along with Martin Yan and Chef Roy at CAAMFeast, an event honoring the achievements of Asian American chefs and foodmakers.<\/p>\n And to promote the event, she appeared on Bay Area People, where she made ganache live on air in a 2-minute demonstration:<\/p>\n She\u2019s even been profiled in Forbes<\/a>!<\/p>\n One sure sign of her success: Socola no longer fills wholesale orders. With experience (and now all the business planning and analysis she does), Wendy found that \u201cwe can\u2019t make it on wholesale only \u2014 dipping takes too much time. So we haven\u2019t done wholesale for the past year and a half.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m trying to work full-time, not round-the-clock,\u201d she explained. \u201cI have one full-time chocolatier and some part timers working with me. We have the retail shop and the caf\u00e9, plus corporate orders. Corporate orders are our bread & butter: we do custom images, and we do bridal chocolates.\u201d<\/p>\n And by eliminating wholesale, \u201cWe don\u2019t have to store for wholesale,\u201d which is a big plus for their small space.<\/p>\n Instead, Wendy plans to hold special events at the caf\u00e9, including wine & chocolate tastings and private classes in making ganache.<\/p>\n In addition to their unique Southeast Asian-inspired flavors, another way Socola stands out is in their charitable work, which is focused on Asian American and Vietnamese issues, especially children and hunger. They work with Plate by Plate<\/a>, volunteering at their gala for the past 3 years.<\/p>\n Wendy works with CAAM Fest, an annual film festival put on by the Center for Asian American Media that promotes independent Asian American and Asian films. And both Wendy and Susan volunteer at Catalyst Foundation\u2019s culture camps for adopted Vietnamese kids.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do it every year,\u201d Wendy explained. \u201cWe show them how to make chocolate and talk about being entrepreneurs.\u201d<\/p>\n You can get some of the same info yourself. Visit Socola Chocolatier + Barista and you can watch them making candies in their open kitchen while you enjoy a coffee drink and pastry in their super-cute caf\u00e9. Ask questions; if they\u2019re not too busy, they\u2019re happy to chat. And don\u2019t forget to buy some of their chocolates before you leave to enjoy later.<\/p>\n![\"Socola](\"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/flavors.jpg\")
Good things come to those who wait<\/h2>\n
![\"Socola](\"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/exterior.jpg\")
![\"truffogato\"](\"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/truffogato.jpg\")
Start your day with Socola<\/h2>\n
Exotic flavors, local sources<\/h2>\n
![\"me](\"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/meandHarriet.jpg\")
Wi-Fi free, not free Wi-Fi<\/h2>\n
Chocolate for lunch, anyone?<\/h2>\n
![\"Wendy](\"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/WendyandIli.jpg\")
Harriet Who?<\/h2>\n
Wendy spreads her own wings<\/h2>\n
![\"Wendy](\"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Screen-Shot-2014-06-17-at-11.14.50-AM.png\")
<\/a>Taking a step up<\/h2>\n
Extending a helping hand<\/h2>\n
![\"Socola](\"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/SocolaLamps.jpg\")
<\/a>