It wasn't that long ago hubby and I were out looking for a place to buy chocolate because it was a holiday. Trying to be on a low carb diet we were opting for the sugar-free kind. It's really not possible to have sugar-free in the same sentence as chocolate. The FDA requires that this confection cannot be called chocolate if it's sugar-free.
Driving around we came to a fine looking Chocolatier's house (which will remain unnamed) and went inside but there were no sugar-free chocolates to be had. Hard to believe, really. We bought a few wonderful looking coconut pieces. Our server lazily plopped the beauties in a small brown unmarked boring lunch sack and barely talked to us much less say thank you. I say! What happened to wrapping them up very prettily and delicately with a smile and hand them over as if they were a precious gift? We paid a high enough price for them and were so excited for this treat. She didn't seem to care. The chocolate tasted fine although I prefer the toasted coconut haystacks which I thought I was getting. You'd think I was such an expert on these delights.
As we left the store I commented to hubby dearest how things at this Chocolate house are so different compared to our French experience. The patisseries have the most beautiful displays and the chocolate confections are not only a delight to taste but the chocolatier takes her time to wrap this tasty with tissue, shining clear celophane and lovely ribbon. Many even put them in a gorgeous box. They are something to behold. Doing things with excellence seems to be par for the course in Paris.
Going back to our recent holiday, we decided to try a different location for sugar-free chocolate and found gold when we went to Sees Candies. I have been partial to RussellStovers since we're from the Kansas City area where this delectable chocolate is produced but Sees in California is right up there with other forms of delicious dark wonderfulness. And they had sugar-free, but as I said before they couldn't call it chocolate because chocolate has to have sugar in it.
We decided to take some home anyway (which by the way was very yummy and didn't taste like sugar-free). The store was packed with customers lined up in two lines and cutely decorated. The employees were decked out in their See's corporate finery. Everyone matched. They handed out free samples to us and I was delighted that they cared, truly cared about the customer. It gave me some hope that there are still some in America who also strive for excellence.
It didn't help my diet though.
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