HOT: Shocolate, 3/296 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

It appears that Melbourne’s appetite for artisan chocolate just keeps expanding – Shocolate is a shiny new chocolatier that has just opened in my hood, near the corner of Brunswick and Johnston Streets.
On a steaming hot Saturday the outdoor tables in the teeny front area where all occupied, but anyway we wanted to escape the [...]

HOT: Monsieur Truffe, 90 Smith St, Collingwood

Today it felt like a big bad wolf was trying to blow my house down. I literally felt myself being lifted off my feet as I struggled my way up gusty Smith Street, so it was a relief to duck mid-trip into the haven of Monsieur Truffe.
As soon as I stepped inside this chocolate shop [...]

HOT: Cacao Fine Chocolates and Patisserie, 52 Fitzroy St, St Kilda

St Kilda’s favourite artisan chocolate shop Cacao has sprouted more branches since I was last in town, which is a happy indicator of Melbourne’s ever-expanding appetite for beautiful handmade chocolate treats – even at $1.95 a mouthful.
Cacao’s chocolates are made with the finest Belgium couverture (naturelement) and I like their brightly decorated avant-garde designs. The [...]

HOT: Koko Black, Shop 4 Royal Arcade, 335 Bourke St, Melbourne

In need of a chocolate boost, I ducked into the artisan chocolatier Koko Black and discovered that they’ve developed a product which taps into a lucrative market – students.
I remember that as a uni student, I would regularly take a Fruit ‘n’ Nut into lectures, as it helped me to stay awake under a lecturer’s [...]

HOT: Ganache Chocolate Lounge, 250 Toorak Rd, South Yarra

The master chocolatier from Koko Black has defected to South Yarra to open his own chocolate store and cafe, Ganache Chocolate Lounge. The cafe tables and leather sofa make a cosy retreat from the South Yarra shopping strips and the selection of handmade chocolates and gelatos are a nice alternative to a restaurant dessert.

For summer [...]

HOT: Brunetti, 194 – 204 Faraday Street, Carlton 3053

The original Carlton Brunetti is bustling at all times of the day – it seems that Melbournians just can’t get enough of their coffee, cakes, breads….and for me, the Italian hot chocolate ($4.40). The properly bitter and thick hot chocolate simply does not compare to the insipid powdered mudwater that is trotted out at a [...]

HOT: Max Brenner, Level 2, QV Square, 210 Lonsdale St, Melbourne

Is this the beginning of an outrageous new trend in Australia – charging extra for eating and drinking on a weekend?
The 10% surchage that Max Brenner slap onto your bill on the weekends didn’t seem to deter the hoards of people, mostly young and Asian, queueing up for their dose of chocolate as they perched [...]

HOT: Chocolateria San Churro, 277b Brunswick St, Fitzroy

The aroma of chocolate hits you before you even reach the door of Chocolateria San Churro, a specialist Spanish chocolate cafe which does fantastic long strips of churros with your choice of white, milk or dark dipping chocolate ($12). Although J found a hair stuck to one of her churros (the waiter responded with ‘cool’), [...]