Calling all chocolate lovers - the cocoa lounge is here
In terms of chocolate, Easter is a more gluttonous time than Christmas. At yule, people exchange presents - including some chocolate - but the main gifts that people exchange at Easter are confectionery-based ones. And although I don’t like the commercialism and true meaning of the festival being watered down, I love it, because I love chocolate.
Because of this, a visit to Cocoa chocolate boutique on Ecclesall Road was long overdue. I don’t really remember noticing the shop much, but recently it has attracted attention in the local press, partly due to the story behind the present owners taking over. Apparently, the previous owner was selling up and two students that worked there decided to buy the business.
While the front of the premises continues to sell all the chocolate products you could wish for, the rear has been transformed into the Cocoa lounge, and it is this room, combined with the delightful staff, that make the shop something special.
A scrapbook tells the story of how the lounge was created. The room was stripped, a handyman came to fix it up, the walls were painted (blue then after second thoughts, turquoise), some quaint old furniture was moved in and then the girls set about filling the old dresser and walls with every item of chocolate-related memorabilia they could find. It all works together amazingly well.
One of the owners, Kate, gave us a warm welcome; her bubbly personality and enthusiasm making up for the bad news that the hot chocolate machine was unfortunately broken – and apparently hot chocolate machine engineers don’t work holiday weekends. So instead we ordered specialty teas (and by specialty I don’t just mean peppermint, but black forest gateau flavour), hot Guatemalan coffee and fair trade chocolate cookies.
And as a small consolation, Kate threw in a saucer of the chocolate drops that are used to make the hot chocolate. Yum!
If you’ve got a sweet tooth and enjoy quaint and quirky then pay Cocoa a visit, you won’t be disappointed.
Next time I’ll be having the hot chocolate…
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