Designer chocolates from Barcelona
It’s true. Xavier Mor’s packaging does look a bit like cough drops. But Ricola’s got nothing on these chocolate beauties. Hailing from Barcelona, this ‘designer chocolate‘ is the quintessential marriage of superb chocolate making meets graphic arts.
The packaging – especially the cough drop-like ‘blister’ collection – is a fun way to eat these sweets, which plays on the chocolatier’s aim to experiment with new flavor combinations, textures, and colors. Take their dark chocolate covered raspberries. Here, tiny, tart dried raspberries are dipped in creamy, almost bitter dark chocolate. The result is a tangy meets sweet bite that, while sort of resembling a chocolate covered raisin, is infinitely more interesting. Almonds covered in dark and white chocolate too are not overly saccharine – or salty, as can be the case with some nut and coco combinations – but a nice match of artisanal chocolate and tasty Marcona almonds. Fruits and nuts find their way into most of this Spanish chocolatier’s collections, considered by many to be among the best in the world. Having lived in Switzerland for 6 years, I can’t say I agree, but the delightful sweets plus packaging makes Xavier Mor an ultimate treat.
Tagged: Barcelona, Beta chocolate, chocolate, cool chocolate, cool chocolate packaging
Also by THE URBAN GROCER
Marou, Faiseurs de Chocolat: a chocolatier in Vietnam
There’s a lot to be said about Marou, Faiseurs de Chocolat, the first single-origin, artisanal chocolatier in Vietnam. Based in Ho Chi Minh City, Marou, Faiseurs de Chocolat is one of the only bean-to-bar chocolatiers in the world to produce chocolate at its place of origin. Read more
The Dutch Baby: oven-baked pancake from Ottawa’s Edgar’s
An oven-baked pancake with soufflé tendencies drizzled with lemon juice and dusted with sugar. Ah, the dutch baby. Thanks to an inspired brunch from Ottawa’s tiny but potent Edgar’s, this old school favorite is making a modern-day coming back. Here, chef/owner Marysol reinvents this classic, turning it into a masterpiece of the sweet and salty persuasion. First, the dutch baby is baked in a skillet greased with duck fat, then filled with tender, salty pork belly, nestled beside chunky apple compote and dotted with knobs of aged cheddar. It’s topped off with a splatter of maple syrup (this is Canada, after all) making it the best new brunch in town. Here’s hoping this is a trend that takes off.
SnoBAr: a shaved ice shop in West Hollywood
Though I’ve yet to visit SnoBar – a natural “shaved ice” spot that’s opened shop in West Hollywood, – one look at that paper-thin texture makes me want to hop on a flight direct to California. Based on a traditional Taiwanese dessert, SnoBar’s shaved ice claims to have the creaminess of ice cream in a ‘feathery, cotton candy-like texture’. (Yes please!) In flavors like green tea, taro, honeydew, and rose, it’s gaining rave reviews from Los Angelinos, hailing it the next big trend. To quote one local blogger, ‘If ice cream could whisper, this is what it would say’. I think a little on-hands research is definitely in order.
YOU'RE SAYING (0)
No comments yet.
HAVE YOUR SAY
I gotta say, the Occupy movement has much better art and design skills than the Tea Party. Check out these posters by Occuprint. Print them out, and distribute widely. Read more
Nashville artist Tim Hooper, aka Mr. Hooper, loves pipe smoking robots, black bears that look a little tweaky blowing bubbles, and brooding solitary rabbits. Many of his pieces are done on vintage postcards and wood. Gene Autry and Elvis lurk on his psyche, too. Read more
The Hatton hotel epitomises Melbourne cool. Those who value design, location, and luxury will find The Hatton the perfect Melbourne base. Read more
Perhaps you already have a drink named after you. Maybe your favorite band is tantamount to a few ounces of hot mountain swill. Maybe your ex is an 8 oz. glass of rot-gut bathtub gin. If not, you let your fantasies run wild at Drinkify.
Given the amount of talent he has, it’s a mystery why German producer Pantha Du Prince not received more attention than he has. His minimal tech soundscapes are surprisingly melodic and moody, as reflected on his epic track, Asha, as good a starting point to the music of this German electro whiz as any.
Ed Janssen is famed in Melbourne for his jewellery designs, sold through cult Morrissey-friendly label This Charming Man. ‘The Knuckle Sandwich’ charm necklace (two pieces of bread on either side of a tiny set of brass knuckles, as pictured above) exudes an oddly amusing menace. More recently ‘The Bear Trap’ has been dangling from every second neck, wiping out hope for Melbourne’s unsuspecting tiny forest animals. Janssen is about to launch a new range inspired by the iconography of various secret societies. Melburnians can check out their old and new favourites at the first This Charming Man exhibition launching this week at Alice Euphemia’s new store. Flex those tiny knuckles and watch those tiny feet. Read more
Want to win a whole boatload of awesomeness from our online store? OK, then. Enter our giveaway and you could be the lucky winner of a grab bag featuring some real shop favorites. Read more
FOLLOW US
Send us cool stuff!
If you're in PR, you run a fashion label, or you just have an awesome product for us to feature, send it to us! We'll check it out. Heck, we may even introduce it to our 510,000 unique monthly visitors. Score. Right?
Sometime in 2010, the folks behind Dirty Dishes had the slightly silly idea of using cheeky vintage photos and putting them on dinner plates. After doing lots of research, talking to lots of people, and receiving loads of positive feedback, they wondered if this idea was so silly after all. And thus Dirty Dishes was born. Read more
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it's not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.
