It was Friday. I was trying to process the afternoon paper, which had just arrived. I knew my boss had an editorial in it, and needed to get it to our DC staff before they called asking where it was. The phone rang, again, I reached over and picked it up, and was several moments into the conversation when the door opened. I only saw him out of the corner of my eye, and as Joanne rushed up to take care of them, I saw him motion that he was waiting for me. I had my back to him, but tried to think which constituents I had talked to that might be coming in for a meeting. He put a beautifully wrapped box on top of the paper I was trying to process. At only a brief glimpse, the person looked familiar, but I was trying to get off the phone as I wracked my brain for cases that had been successfully resolved that might prompt something like that. The guy grinned at me as I hung up and turned around, and I realized in shock that it was my brother, Roo, who had grown a fairly thick beard. I was supposed to pick him up at the train station on my way home from work, but being a nice day, he had decided to walk to my office about a mile from the station and just wait for me to finish. Not only was that a great surprise, but the box was a box of chocolates made by a new cafe in Center City Philadelphia, the Naked Chocolate Cafe.

Roo had recently discovered it with friends who raved about their hot chocolate. The chocolate was like a very fine, liquid chocolate bar, served in a cup with loads of whipped cream, and a cigar cookie to dip into it.

My box of chocolates were to die for. I am not normally a huge chocolate candy fan. I love chocolate, but would rather have it in decadent desserts. This chocolate is rich and smooth. Very high quality. Like fine European chocolate. Worlds better than Godiva. I greedily bit into a caramel, and realizing how fine it was then tried to savor what was left. I have had another, but to keep from consuming the whole box have had to flee from temptation. Having discovered it, I decided to look for a website where more could be ordered and discovered this fitting quote from a Philadelphia Inquirer review of their hot chocolate.

"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Indeed, I drank hot chocolate as a child - from a packet of dry powder stirred into scalded milk, with the occasional small white dehydrated cube reputed to be a marshmallow.
And I was happy.
But now that I am grown, I have put away (some) childish things, and chief among them is inferior hot chocolate.
Apparently, I am not alone.
There's a whole new world of drinking chocolates out there - made with shavings, chunks and nibs of high-end, intense dark chocolate, not cocoa powder - and aimed at adult women, says Pam Williams of Ecole Chocolat, an online school for chocolatiers.
When did hot chocolate grow up?
"While no one was looking, hot chocolate went from Nestle's Quik to a rich, sensual pleasure," says Tom Block, who started Naked Chocolate Cafe, a boutique and dessert lounge on Walnut Street offering a thick and luscious chocolate drink that's like a melted chocolate bar in a cup. The shop opened in August and already has a loyal following.
"For many years, this kind of drink has been available in some of the really nice cafes of Paris, Belgium and Madrid," Block says.
"Just as the American palate became educated to the nuances of wine, the same is happening with chocolates... . It's a natural progression, I think, to go from delicious eating chocolates to delicious drinking chocolates."
That explains why there's so much conversation about mouth feel. Luxury chocolate should be full and velvety, smooth and never gritty, Williams says, leaving only the flavor behind. And if that flavor lingers for a while in your mouth, the chocolate is said to have a long finish." ~Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/30/2006

For a video tour:
http://www.nakedchocolatecafe.com/visitvid_big.html