Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge

Last week I went to Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge, one of my favorite places to get chocolate in Anchorage. They have some extremely innovative chocolatiers working there, and they have a wide range of chocolates to satisfy anyone, from those who like plain milk or dark chocolate, to those who would like their chocolate combined with some beer, salmon, or wasabi.

Modern Dwellers has two locations, a small one downtown on G Street between 4th and 5th Avenues, and in midtown on the Old Seward Highway and 36th, about two blocks south of the Moose’s Tooth. I go to both, but prefer the midtown location- it has a bigger selection of packaged chocolates and other gifts, more seating, and of course better parking than the heart of downtown.

One of my favorite things to get is the drinking chocolate. This is not hot chocolate, although you can get that. This is like melted chocolate. It is thick and dense and filling and served in a tiny ceramic cup with whipped cream, and is best sipped with the tiny spoon they give you. You might also want to ask them for a glass of water to accompany it. It is rich. This is nearer to what the colonial Spanish thought of as hot chocolate or drinking chocolate. There are two kinds of drinking chocolate to chose from – the silky dark and the spicy Mayan. The more traditional chocolate lover should probably pick the silky, but if you like Mexican chocolate or a kind with a little kick, try the spicy Mayan. They will also dilute either with steamed milk into a more traditional hot chocolate. They also have espresso drinks, but I’ve never tried them- why get a latte when you can get the drinking chocolate?

The other chocolate you shouldn’t miss are their truffles. These are gourmet, handmade truffles with fun names, and they are expensive, close to $3 each (a package of 6 is about $16). But they are soooooo good. Just remember these are not the kind of truffles that you eat a giant box of at a time, and you will be satisfied. One way you can tell they are handmade is that they vary a lot in size; you can watch this in action as they try to fill your truffle box. Modern Dwellers has some more traditional types of truffles, like dark chocolate, hazelnut, and espresso, which are all really delicious, and then they also have some that you initially think are strange, but then you taste them and the flavors really work  in an unexpected way. There is a goat cheese and chocolate truffle that is great – the goat cheese adds a nice tang to the chocolate. There is also a smoked salmon truffle- the deep smoked flavor adds a really rich note. Last week I got the bleu cheese, wasabi, mint julep, and beer truffles. I know, right? And these are all chocolate truffles, with these foods added to the chocolate ganache filling. It’s like what adding coffee or espresso adds to the chocolate flavor. I liked the mint julep truffle ("julep jive") a lot, but that's not surprising; both liquor and mint go very well with chocolate. The beer truffle (named the "midnight mambo" because the beer used is from the Midnight Sun Brewing Company) is one of their newest. The flavor was pretty subtle, and didn't really taste like beer. You got a little of the barley/grain flavor, but not much. The bleu cheese was good and tangy, like the goat cheese one, but I think the goat cheese works a little better with the chocolate. My favorite of the new ones I tried this week was the wasabi truffle ("tokyo tango"). It comes with a piece of seaweed and crystalized ginger on top. I'm telling you, wasabi flavored chocolate ganache is a spectacular thing. And don't worry, because it's not super spicy, although there is quite a kick.

Modern Dwellers, especially the midtown location, also has a wide variety of packaged chocolates. Most are from small companies, and are organic and/or fair trade. They range from plain or milk chocolate bars, to more interesting flavors like smoked sea salt. I tried a bar from Taza chocolate, which was 60% cacao, organic, and was made with "direct trade" chocolate from the Dominican Republic. There were two things that made this bar interesting. First, it is dairy free- so cacao, cocoa butter, sugar, and vanilla, and that's it. Second, it's "stone ground," so it isn't very smooth- it's actually kind of gritty. It's an interesting texture, but I'm not sure I'm a fan. I think it's that the grittiness makes the lack of milk or cream seems more pronounced, but I'm not sure. If you like experimenting with texture, though, give it a try. I also got a milk chocolate bar for my husband from Michael Mischer Chocolates out of Oakland. This was a traditional milk chocolate bar, and it was very rich and creamy. Definitely good if you want high quality, but traditional chocolate. I think they carried some other flavors, like toffee, from this company as well.

If you get the hot chocolate instead of the drinking chocolate, you might be able to handle a delicious, handmade baked dessert. They usually have at least one kind of biscotti, a chocolate chip, oatmeal, or shortbread cookie, and sometimes they have muffins. I’ve had a good pumpkin muffin in the past, and I really wanted to try the banana and cacao nib muffin on this last visit, but there are only so many things a girl can try at once.

Modern Dwellers also has other things to buy besides chocolate. They have a lot of art by local artists on the walls that is for sale, and they also have good cards and jewelry; some of the cards are by local artists, too. You can also sign up for their email newsletter, the “Chocolate News,” which tells you about new (beer truffle!) and seasonal (lavender flavored chocolate Easter eggs!) chocolates, and about new artists and First Friday art events.

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