Out & About #225 | Cacao 70 (Queen St. W)

It's been some time since the Montreal-based dessert chain opened up in the Distillery District, though I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to try it out during my visit to the Toronto Christmas Market last year.

Strolling along Queen West earlier in the year, a "Coming Soon" sign had been witnessed plastered behind glass walls. It was at that moment that I vowed to stop in for my own dose of chocolatey goodness should Cacao 70's Fashion District location open for business before the conclusion of my Toronto term.

It officially opened mid-month on April 14th - quite the blessing if you ask me.

The quaint interior instills a sense of peace from the bustle of the streets outside, yet the glass exterior enables customers to enjoy the liveliness of downtown Toronto without the chaos and cigarette smoke. For those less concerned about the amount of natural light accompanying their meal, a dimmer dining area - complete with the yellow-tinted ambiance detested by photographers alike - can be found towards the back of the restaurant.

A wooden podium-like structure acted as the landing area for customers to order takeout smoothies, as this location offers brunch from 10 AM to 4 PM on all seven days of the week, or provided them with the option of choosing from the many available tables and booths for dining in. We opted for the two small tables situated near the front of the restaurant and were promptly provided menus: a large laminated sheet listing their breakfast and brunch options, a smaller laminated sheet featuring the various types of drinking chocolate offered, and a thicker Sweets booklet bound with a pink hardcover backing that solely listed their dessert items.

The All-Day Breakfast items were undeniably appealing, but a tad pricey in my opinion. A small section  of the menu managed to catch my eye during a quick scanning: Pressed Crepe Sandwiches were unheard of, and instantly became something of interest to me.

We ordered a Feel Good About Yourself and The Roast Beef, with the former containing a no-fail combination of turkey (deli slice-style), mushrooms, thinly-sliced tomatoes, and Swiss cheese and the latter a series of roast beef and Cheddar cheese layers. Both were accompanied with a side salad of baby greens dressed in some sort of poppyseed vinaigrette.

View the full album HERE !

The Pressed Crepe Sandwiches were basically savoury crepes that had been placed onto a panini press almost immediately after cooking. It was a distinctive take to traditional crepes, but were slightly disappointing in that they were not as crisp as they had appeared. The somewhat sweet, eggy characteristics were still present though; fillings were tasty and didn't exhibit signs of over-seasoning, but were nothing to write home about.
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At just over fourteen dollars, I suppose the dish could have packed in a stronger wow factor.

The crepe sandwiches had been delivered in a short period of time, so we were able to check out the other areas of the restaurant while deciding whether we wished to opt for dessert in the meantime.
It was noticed that the kitchen was mainly open concept, with two large crepe griddles, an espresso machine, and numerous airtight containers of chocolate lining the perimeter.

Situated in the depths of the second, darker seating area were the single stall washrooms.

It was relatively pristine, with sufficient lighting for makeup checks and a condiment bottle instead of a traditional soap dispenser. The mismatching patterned floor tiles were another interesting touch.

We eventually settled on a single serving of the Triple Chocolate Fondue to seal the meal off on a sweet note.

The presentation was quite stunning, if not extravagant for an early afternoon dessert. Served atop a rectangular monogrammed wooden slab was a stout pot of swirled, tri-toned chocolate fondue dip, two small containers of freshly-cut strawberries, bananas, and pineapple, and several pieces of brownie and waffle bites gently dusted in powdered sugar.

The Triple Chocolate Fondue was impressive in appearance, but was revealed to be even more indulgent once we began to munch away at it.

Equipped with slim yet sturdy fondue forks, we proceeded to stab the components on the board. Each item was carefully dipped into the fondue to ensure a glorious coat of chocolate upon removal. Absolutely blissful to consume, each and every chew possessed a little taste of heaven.

The fondue container was rather misleading, actually. Despite measuring a solid four inches in height, its chocolate-containing capacity was merely one quarter of that.
We were out of chocolate before we knew, only to be told that refills were additional two dollars (or five dollars for a large refill). With no other options to thoroughly enjoy the remainder of the dessert, an order for Dark Chocolate refill was reluctantly placed and processed.

It was agreed that the Dark Chocolate fondue was less viscous and retained reduced depth of flavour than the tri-toned dip originally ordered, leading to a slightly less pleasurable experience than before.

Nonetheless, the fondue had been an astoundingly choice (on our parts, anyway) and truly proves Cacao 70's dominance in the realm of chocolate. While not exactly economical in nature, I'm already looking forward to trying their ever-Instagrammed Marshmallow Pizza. (Let the sugar high begin!)

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