On a cool, late fall afternoon, people are wandering through Heavenly Village in South Lake Tahoe shopping, eating, listening to live music and ice skating. On the edge of the village across from the cinema, Champagne & Chocolate welcomes people into its inviting interior.
In my opinion, there is no better food pairing than chocolate and champagne, two of my favorite things. The shop itself offers a perfect complement to its delectable treats with the black-and-white checked floor, pink flocked Christmas tree in the corner and wall of pink roses accenting the cases of decadent candies. One of those cases holds truffles and jellies, another holds champagne. Owner Cesar Acosta opened Champagne & Chocolate on Dec. 22, 2021.
“I want to make it a memorable experience coming here; I want people to remember that this is the place where they had the best chocolate or best caramel apple.”
–Cesar Acosta
“I’ve always been obsessed with champagne and my original idea was to open an all-day brunch spot, but we didn’t have enough space. So I thought that the next best thing would be to offer chocolate and dessert,” he says.
Acosta says that it took him close to a year to find the right high-end chocolate; he put on at least five pounds taste testing. He went to Chocolate Nugget Candy Factory in Carson City and watched their process of making truffles and caramel apples. He used what he learned to open Champagne & Chocolate.
His chocolate truffles and caramel apples are the most popular food items in the shop; Acosta buys Granny Smith apples from a local food supplier in small batches and the chocolate is made with real cream, real butter — only the freshest ingredients.
“I liked chocolate but not as much as I do now. Now that I’ve tried tempered and small-batch versions, it’s a whole different experience. It’s like getting a fresh cupcake right out of the oven,” Acosta says.
Even for the hot, drinkable chocolate, Champagne & Chocolate uses its own tempered chocolate syrup made in house with the customer’s choice of milk.
Personally, his favorite candy is the raspberry truffle consisting of a raspberry jelly encased in a dark chocolate coating. I have my eyes on the signature champagne chocolate truffle with Veuve Clicquot poured into the batch.
It tasted unbelievable, its smooth texture and flavor being the perfect combination of melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Or maybe it’s the Veuve that gives that feeling of luxury on the palate.
“I want to make it a memorable experience coming here; I want people to remember that this is the place where they had the best chocolate or best caramel apple,” he says.
Enjoying my treats while sipping on an Emerald Bay-colored Tahoe Mimosa on the shop’s front patio, close to heat lamps with snow on the ground made me feel like I was exactly where I needed to be. | champagnechoco.com
