The Food of the Gods

One of my favourite reads comes from celebrated American pastry chef David Lebovitz, whose Living the Sweet Life in Paris is a personal collection of humorous anecdotes inspired by his years of living as an expatriate in Paris. For those feeling nostalgic or yearning for a taste of France, you'll find several cultural references mixed in with his signature tongue-in-cheek humour, along with a number of tempting recipes sprinkled throughout this well written memoir that are sure to keep the pages turning and have you coming back for more.

And ... if jetting off to Paris isn't in your immediate flight plans, there is, of course, another option of living the sweet life closer to home, thanks to an artisan chocolaterie tucked away in Toronto's Distillery Historic District. Yes, indeed, Soma Chocolatemaker is where you'll frequently find me wandering off to on a lazy Sunday afternoon (or just about whenever the urge arises) to indulge in its exquisite assortment of dark-chocolate truffles, scrumptious nuts and biscuits, refreshing gelato, or Mayan hot chocolate.

At Soma, you'd be remiss if you left without a bag full of goodies. Some of my all-time favourites include the wild cherries and slow-roasted almonds tumbled in dark Peruvian chocolate (64%); the light, crispy, wafer-thin almond chips; and the heavenly (read: orgasmic) crunchy spiced pecans. These handcrafted treats are such a pure delight that it's no wonder that an entire package is easily (and very often) consumed in just one sitting. Best of all, they're produced from high-quality, organic Fair Trade cacao beans, they're preservative- and junk-free, and they're made right before your eyes through the viewing windows of Soma's micro chocolate factory.

Now that the holiday season is upon us, there's also a variety of gift baskets and limited-edition X'mas 2010 collections for family, friends, and loved ones. There's the Ultimate Bowl of Plenty for the serious addicts in your life, there's also the Dark Chocolate Lover's Basket for those who prefer the darker side of indulgences (or are simply too posh for milk), and then there's the boxed triumvirate: the Revo(lution) Box, the Exploration Box, and the Elixir Box.

Yes, this is Huxley's Brave New World of chocolate, where "there is always soma, delicious soma, half a gramme for a half-holiday, a gram for a week-end, two grammes for a trip to the gorgeous East, three for a dark eternity on the moon ... "

Soma Chocolatemaker is located in Building 48 of the Distillery Historic District at: 55 Mill Street (between Parliament and Cherry Streets)