The city of Seattle just got a whole lot sweeter thanks to Michel and Valerie Brotman, owners of The Chocolate Box [0]. This month, the Brotmans launch Tour de Chocolat [0], a two-and-a-half to three-hour tour of the best chocolate that Seattle has to offer.
The tour begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Brotmans' shop near Pike Place Market, with an introduction to chocolate by local chocolatier Lee Johnson of Fiori Chocolatiers [1]. Trained at Le Cordon Bleu, Johnson draws on his international experience to create some of the city's most exciting chocolates. Coffee and savory pastries will be available at The Chocolate Box for an additional charge.
After Johnson's introduction, participants will board a bus for a tour of Seattle's small-batch, boutique chocolate factories, beginning with Theo Chocolate [1]. Attendees will tour the Fremont factory and learn about Theo's commitment to 100-percent Fair Trade-certified cacao beans, and enjoy samples of their exquisite chocolates and single-origin chocolate bars.
The next stop is Oh! Chocolate in Madison Park, where tour-goers will roll up their sleeves and learn how to make the French-inspired chocolates that Oh! Chocolate [1]'s Krautheim family has been making for 40 years.
Next up is a trip through the Arboretum to University Village and the flagship store of Fran's Chocolates [1], a Seattle company that has been in operation for more than 25 years. Participants will have the opportunity to sample Fran's salted caramels, delicious truffles or whatever confection the shop is making fresh that morning, before heading back to The Chocolate Box for decadent hot sipping chocolate or chocolate-infused teas from Chocolat Vitale [2].
A gift bag filled with samples from the chocolatiers on the tour is included in the price of the mouth-watering tour, as is a souvenir from The Chocolate Box (cost is $65; ages 10 and older only, ages 10-16 must be accompanied by an adult). Tours run every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday during the month of March (with the intention of going to five days a week once the tour catches on). For tickets call The Chocolate Box at 206-443-3900 or order online at http://www.tourofseattle.com/ [3].
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