SOMA
Today's post is all about my favourite chocolate shop in Toronto. It is located in the distillery district and we were sure to stop in on Saturday when we were visiting the area. My mother had never been before and yesterday she was still raving about it!
The shop had moved into a much larger space since we had last been, obviously a sign of good things going on. Another sign is that it is consistently rated as the top chocolate shop in Toronto on a regular basis.
The new shop is about 30 feet from where the old one used to be located by the Blue Dot Gallery (we discovered that the former space is now occupied by a smallish restaurant serving fascinating looking crepes - next time!). The picture on the right shows the entrance to the new space.
Soma makes some of the finest chocolates in Toronto (and, at $2 per truffle, some of the priciest too). The signature collection contains about 15 creative varieties, including balsamic vinegar, chai spice, or salted caramel. The cube collection contains 6 varieties: each truffle (both couverture and ganache filling) is made from a single origin chocolate (Tanzania, Venezuela, Madagascar...), with no other flavour added. All the chocolates are very smooth and very well balanced.
I decided that this was just the thing for a Valentine's gift.The only difficulty was deciding upon which ones to buy! Just looking at this picture of the display case will tell you why!
In addition to these treats, there are amazing packaged chocolates. ONe of my favourites was sadly not in stock on Saturday - the lightly salted toasted corn tumbled in creamy milk chocolate rolled in Mayan spice. Happily a good number of their tum,bled not collection was in stock so I get to try others. They also have a conderful selection of pre-packaged baked goods but these works or art aren't anything like Entemanns! I picked up some chocolate shortbread and a few of their Italian themed cookies which i can't wiat to try.
Soma is also the only chocolatier in Toronto to make chocolate straight from the beans; small batches are available from time to time. The chocolate making area is in a large space in the back of the shop with a wide expanse of glass wall, allowing you to watch the magic process. Obviously this must be a popular pastime because SOMA has set up bleacher type seating in front of the machine the grinds the cacao beans!
The joy of the single origin chocolate is that you can buy an assortment of the chocolates and have a tasting at home. On Saturday we purchased single-origin chocolate from Cuba, Venezuela, Tanzania, Santo Domingo, and Madagascar. It is fascinating to taste the difference that terroir 
makes (not unlike with wine)!
In addition to their own chocolate, Soma also offers a good selection of the finest chocolate bars from around the world, with an emphasis on single-origin and estate chocolate. A number of the high-end Toronto restaurants have begun selling desserts made with SOMA chocolates at outrageous prices. I purchased a number of the solid bars at the shop and will make my own desserts, thank you very much :-)
Their hot chocolate shots are an explosion of taste -- not to be missed when you visit. I had never tried it before (even though the Toronto Star recently rated it the best hot chocolate in the city) and likely wouldn't have tried it on Saturday but mom was cold so she ordered one. After listening to her rave about it Paul and I knew that we needed one too. The hot chocolate was rich and thick, the flavour was intense with a hint of spicy heat. I've been told that it is similar to the flavour of good hot chocolate in Mexico.
Finally, a small selection of delicious homemade ice-cream is available. Chocolate and vanilla ice creams are always there, and 4 other flavours revolve (rhubarb can sometimes be spotted!). The chocolate sorbet is itself a very special treat.
Here is what the local media is saying about this amazing shop:
Owhhh, that looks wonderful! Thanks for sharing~ I have enjoyed my tour of town!
Posted by:sandi @ the whistlestop cafe | January 29, 2007 at 02:39 PM
Great find. I will definitely have to pay them a visit.
Posted by:Kevin | January 03, 2008 at 10:36 PM
Kevin - you really should check them out. I love the 'single source' chocolates. I often use their 'bulk' chocolate (large bars) in my baking with great results.
Posted by:Jerry | January 04, 2008 at 08:14 AM