{"id":7443,"date":"2015-06-16T13:37:30","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T20:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/?p=7443"},"modified":"2023-01-31T16:49:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T00:49:50","slug":"get-the-value-pack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/local-chocolate\/get-the-value-pack\/","title":{"rendered":"Get the value pack"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"catamaran\"
Oracle Team USA\u2019s America\u2019s Cup winning catamaran is parked on the man-made lake at Oracle\u2019s campus. You can see it from the caf\u00e9.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UPDATE: This location no longer has a chocolate counter onsite.<\/p>\n

When you think of artisan chocolates, you probably never thought of Oracle Corporation, the multi-national software company headed by Larry Ellison, but you should. On the Oracle campus in Redwood City is a great SFBA chocolate find.<\/p>\n

Farrell Confections<\/a><\/strong> is located in Oracle Caf\u00e9 300, and not only does it make artisan chocolates on site, but it sells them for half the price of other local chocolates. They don\u2019t skimp on the quality of the ingredients, but because they are part of the food service Oracle provides for its employees, the cost is partly subsidized by Oracle.<\/p>\n

Like BOGO for chocolate<\/h2>\n

The subsidy makes for a great deal for local artisan-chocolate lovers. You don\u2019t need to work at Oracle to visit the caf\u00e9. You can get a freshly made, reasonably priced lunch or snack if you\u2019re hungry, then buy some inexpensive truffles for the road \u2014 or as a gift.<\/p>\n

They have pretty box options, and the truffles are well-made and tasty, so no one will know you paid less than $1.10 per chocolate.<\/strong> (The boxes cost extra, but even with the extra box charge, they\u2019re a great deal.)<\/p>\n

\"Farrell
Fresh house-made chocolates in the Farrell Confections case in the Oracle\u2019s Caf\u00e9 300.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They have a nice variety of flavors. When we visited, the barista\/chocolatier recommended the fresh mint, saying it was his current favorite. The name is the ultimate truth in advertising: The first impression is fresh!!!, with a very vegetal mint flavor. The shell was a bit thicker than expected, but I think that since most people probably buy these truffles loose, it\u2019s better to have a sturdy truffle that survives a walk back to the office.<\/p>\n

The chocolatier told us that while some flavors are always available, they change flavors depending on what\u2019s popular and what\u2019s not, and what ingredients are in season. For late spring, that included the fresh mint, plus ginger, rose geranium caramel, and lavender. We also tried the blood orange & cinnamon, which has a light orange flavor ending in the cinnamon; a nice raspberry white chocolate; and a distinctive chai.<\/p>\n

TGIF<\/h2>\n

His tip was to come on Fridays, because that\u2019s when they put out the new batch of chocolates, which would include any new flavors they made that week.<\/p>\n

Usually there is no one manning the chocolate case. Instead, go to the coffee bar\/pastry case and ask for help. Or if you\u2019re in a hurry, they have a limited selection of the truffles in the pastry case to buy by the piece.<\/p>\n

Either way you are in for a treat. These are competent truffle makers working at Oracle. The chocolates are flavorful, not overly sweet, and well made. The price is truly no indicator of quality.<\/p>\n

Alas, there is no key or menu to go with the chocolates, so it helps to take photos of the case or make notes of what you are buying. But I think that\u2019s a small inconvenience to suffer for this deal.<\/p>\n

More than chocolate<\/h2>\n

Farrell Confections is headed by Ian Farrell, who is the Executive Pastry Chef for Bon Appetit, the company that provides food-service management at Oracle. So in addition to providing chocolates to the caf\u00e9, Ian is also in charge of the caf\u00e9\u2019s bakery.<\/p>\n

The bakery not only supplies the pastry case with sweet and savory pastries, they also make custom cakes for special occasions. Again, you do not need to work there, just make an appointment to meet with someone to discuss what you want.<\/p>\n

So next time you\u2019re cruising through Redwood City, make a detour to the Oracle campus and pick up some chocolates. Get some to share too \u2014 you can afford to be generous!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you think of artisan chocolates, you probably never think of Oracle Corporation, but you should<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,222,169],"tags":[30,795,796,736],"class_list":["post-7443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-chocolate","category-peninsula-chocolate","category-reviews","tag-artisan","tag-farrell-confections","tag-redwood-city","tag-sf-peninsula"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7443","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=7443"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35796,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7443\/revisions\/35796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}