I mentioned last week that Gearharts Chocolate recently opened.  You’ll be hearing a lot about them in the coming weeks from other media — but  you heard it hear first. This place is incredible and is taking Richmond by storm.  The just opened a very small store on Libbie Avenue, roughly behind the Starbucks there.  This place is all about the chocolate.  At the opening party, we sampled pinapple dipped in chocolate with macadamia nuts, fig and almond/dates dipped in chocolate, but the most memorable tastes of the evening where the boxed chocolates, including the  Maya truffle (orange oil, cinnamon, ancho chili and cocoa) and the pistachio toffee (in photo).

I found my self back at the store, less than 24 hours later buying gifts for friends, oh and a little treat for myself as well.  There is just something so special about these chocolates. The are so wonderful, you’ll want to share them with friends. They have a legendary status in Charlottesville, and I can tell it won’t be long before Richmond claims them as our own.

On a side note, I also learned that Sticks Kabob Shop, near Willow Lawn, also shares an owning partner with Gearharts.  I found this out when inquiring about the food Gearharts had  provided for the opening. The lemon-garlic shrimp kabobs and hummus are good enough for me to put it on my list of places to go when I just don’t feel like cooking. It’s considered fast food, but certainly didn’t taste like it to me. If you look at the menu, you can see relatively healthy food and affordable prices.