Sunday, February 07, 2010

vizio virtu, max brenner & nagatechoeido

This past Wednesday since I had some time on my hands, I went to check out the Valentine's chocolate fair.

The thing I like about Umeda is that there are 3 department stores within walking distance of each other.

I went to Hanshin department store and picked up these orangette by Nagatechoeido....1050 yen (about US$10.50)

This shop is located on Awaji Island and uses their local Naruto oranges. They candy their peels, then cover them with Belgian dark chocolate.

The peel is on the soft and bitter side but matches the dark chocolate perfectly.

At Daimaru, I picked up a gianduja bon-bon by Vizio Virtu. This chocolatier is from Venice....483 yen (about US$4.83)

It was a little bloomed but still creamy and delicious. They also let me taste their tiramisu bon-bon, made with marscapone cheese, coffee and milk chocolate.

I was surprised that they gave me the whole bon-bon to try, since most places cut their bon-bons up to give as samples.

I also bought some dark chocolate covered waffles from Max Brenner....1890 yen (about US$18.90)

When Satoshi used to go for business to Australia, he would often pick up Australian food magazines for me.

I heard about Max Brenner from one of those magazines and was jealous when I found out that they have shops on the mainland (US).

The waffle is actually a crispy cookie covered with what seemed more like a semi-sweet chocolate rather than dark chocolate.

I'm glad I was able to try these, I hope when I share, Satoshi will like the waffles and orangettes too.

Nagatechoeido (in Japanese only)
1-4-8 Honmachi
Sumoto, Hyogo (Awaji Island)
Phone: 0120.24.1050

Max Brenner
Many locations--check out his site to find a location close to you.

Vizio Virtu Cioccolateria
Sestiere San Polo 2898/A
30125 Venezia, Italy

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Soooo jealous! My all time favourite - orange/chocolate. Max Brenner? I have never heard of him. It seems he must be big on the East Coast. We miss out on so much here in the West. His chocolates are in Japan before they are in Western Australia. Enjoy your Valentine's Day!

Unknown said...

Kat - The orange chocolate looks interesting. I had made reservations for Kelli & I at Du Vin's Chocolate Tasting this Tuesday, but gave my reservations to a fellow Realtor because Kelli won the Vacations Hawaii Las Vegas trip on the KHON2 morning news. So I guess we'll have to miss out on the chocolate tasting...

jalna said...

Yummmm. I love how your first pictures came out. The colors and the lighting are sooo pleasing . . . plus it looks ono!

Dave -nibbleanibble said...

The orangette looks delightfully good.

K and S said...

hmm that is strange Momijimitsukoshi, you would think he would be all over Australia before he set out about the rest of the world, hope you guys get a shop soon!

Have fun in Vegas Rick!

Thanks Jalna, if you saw how I took those photos to get the right lighting, you may have laughed.

Thanks Dave, they were :)

Take care everyone!
Kat

Rona Y said...

No Salon du Chocolat this year? I vowed I would finally make it to the one in Kyoto (going on right now), but I forgot about it again! I still have a week to get there, though! Maybe on the 11th!

K and S said...

Actually Rona, I did check out Salon du Chocolat on Friday (post coming soon!), it was great, hope you get a chance to get out there!

Take care.
Kat

Hannah said...

I wish I liked orange + chocolate, because those peel treats do look pretty!

And talking of the Max B. availability situation... in Australia he's in Sydney and Melbourne but bypassed thenational capital, as so many do. Sigh!

K and S said...

sorry to hear you don't like orange/chocolate Hannah, and I wonder why most places by pass their nation's capital in Australia? :(

Take care.
Kat

Deb said...

i've never seen the waffles - but i'll be on the lookout now! the tiramisu bon-bon sounds sooooo ono!

K and S said...

I think I saw a milk chocolate version on their site, hopefully if you see them they'll have dark chocolate Deb :)

Take care.
Kat

Barbara said...

I love the range in chocolate combo. I haven't made any in ages. I resolve to make some soon.

K and S said...

Can't wait to see what you make Barbara :)

Take care.
Kat

Deb in Hawaii said...

You are sharing?! ;-) Those orangettes look beautiful and so fresh too.

K and S said...

I know right? nah, I should share Deb :)

Take care.
Kat

Rowena said...

So I'm looking at these chocolates and also looking at the other goodies (in my feeds) and all I can say is....you ADORE chocolate! Wondering what you'll find for Easter chocolates. ^-^

K and S said...

Adore is an understatement Rowena...probably not much as Easter is not a big thing over here... :(

Take care.
Kat