Bittersweet

San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area are loaded with specialty chocolate shops. They pop up as I am innocently strolling through a neighborhood when chocolate the last thing on my mind. Not really, chocolate is always on my mind. My first stop on my chocolate journey is one of my favorites - Bittersweet. They did have several locations in the Bay Area and learned sadly today they now have only one location in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland. I first discovered Bittersweet when I was strolling along Fillmore Street in San Francisco. I stopped in for a hot chocolate and have been a fan ever since. When I was dating my husband, we would frequent Rockridge for dinner and discovering a Bittersweet in the neighborhood definitely helped in my decision to move to the East Bay. They have a spicy hot chocolate brownie that I crave. We love stopping by here after dinner for my much needed chocolate fix. It has the atmosphere of a local coffee shop with rustic wooden floors and chunky wooden tables and chairs. The difference is the smell when you enter. It has a wonderful chocolate smell that wraps around you like a favorite warm blanket. Their website states their mission is “to bring the best the world of chocolate has to offer home to you”. They not only have hot chocolate, but SEVEN types on their regular menu and several specialty hot chocolate drinks for the holidays. They also have coffee and many other delicious pastries. There is a wall of chocolate with chocolates from around the world with exotic flavor combinations. Yes, I am extra bitter that I can't have this everyday.