Andelman

Hey all. If anyone is interested, we still have some spots available in our chocolate class on Wednesday, March 16th from 7-9 PM in our Arlington shop. It's a whole lot of fun and you go home with a bunch of chocolates that you'll decorate yourself (along with other goodies). We discuss how chocolate is made (bean-to-bar), how we make our bonbons, a bunch of tasting of Valrhona chocolate, hands-on decorating, etc, etc... In any case, the class is normally $85/pp, but would be $75/pp for anyone on DR.com. If interested, please PM me here to make the reservation, or email me at jason@artisanconfections.com . Don't call the shop, as it will result in confusion. Hope we can get a few more to sign up, it always makes the class more lively! Cheers, Jason Note: Please feel free to post this on the events page or grab a couple of friends. Spots are limited, so please let me know ASAP.

Last I heard Wilhelm took a job doing R&D at King Arthur Flour up in VT. I think they moved up there in 2011 or 2012. Rural Vermont sounded like a nice change of pace from the DC Metro area. Yeah, running a chocolate business in general is pretty tough. I think you'd have to rely on a lot of wholesale business if you were in an industrial park in Manassas. Lower margins which would need to be made up with large volume. Retail isn't much easier, as the margins are higher, but my overhead is much, much more. Sometimes I wish I had stayed in the ski travel business.

Yeah, sorry. I got carried away.. Sounds like you need to get some friends that know how to share! Next time you're in Arlington, introduce yourself. (I'll hook you up)

Speaking from my experience (both in retail and restaurant), i think looks can be deceiving. For restaurants, I am sure that bodies in seats is probably the best way to gauge how a restaurant is doing. Weekends are key. For retail, it is a lot different. Regarding Mosaic, the traffic is pretty slow at certain times of the day (and this holds true at most places). On the weekdays, we seems to be busiest from noon-2 PM and then 5 PM-7PM. O the weekends we see much more traffic (mainly Fri and Saturday) and we stay open a hour later on those days. However, for us at least, so much is dependent on how much people are spending. This has been our biggest issue at Mosaic, as we will see a fair amount of customers come into the shop, but I'd say only about 70% of them actually make a purchase. Of those that make a purchase, the average sales ticket at Mosaic is about half as what it is in Arlington. At Mosaic, we get a lot of browsers, people buying single pieces, maybe something under $10, etc...At the end of the day, it can very good, just ok, or downright bad in regards to total sales. A couple of larger purchases can make a big difference in the daily sales total. In Arlington, we are much more of a 'destination' location, so we see fewer retail customers, but they tend to spend a lot more money. Very, very rarely does someone come into the Arlington shop and not buy anything. I say our conversion rate there is well over 95%. However, and this is going to paraphrase a PM I had with Don. We can't rely on just retail to make it. We are in the gift-giving business, not so much the "immediate consumption/food business". I sort of equate our situation to be very much like a florist. Retail is part of it, but the florist survives on events/weddings/etc.. The majority of our sales come from corporate gifts, events, caterers, weddings, online purchases, some hotels, etc... --big orders that nobody would really know about by just walking by our retail shops. The holidays are HUGE for us (about 30% of our annual gross sales in about 4 weeks).Valentines Day is very good as well for the retail side. We are very seasonal and generally take a loss in the summer months. It becomes a big money management thing as most of our income comes in from Nov-May. We then have to make those funds last through the slow period. This time of year (as we gear up for the holidays), it is a lot of spending on packaging , raw ingredients, labor. I max out my credit cards and use a bank line of credit to make it through until the end of the year. Then I pay everything off on Dec 31st and we start the cycle over again. Needless to say, this is a stressful time for me, as we rely so much on the holidays, that if we were to lose a couple of big accounts, or there was a massive snowstorm on December 20th, we'd be screwed. (I'm looking at you, El Nino ). Anyway, probably more info then you wanted, but I just want to explain my situation and how just because we may not be busy on the retail front, doesn't mean we aren't doing okay as a business. The thought behind the Mosaic shop was to have another brick and mortar presence in an area which is growing and may contain some of our core customers. We hope that all those folks coming in to buy (one f*cking piece of chocolate and then handing me a credit card---sorry big pet peeve of mine. ) will then come back and buy gifts throughout the year and holidays. Or they will tell the company about us which would turn into corporate business. We've gotten a little of that so far, but not as much as I had anticipated (and need). Our hope is that as Mosaic continues to grow, we will just attract more customers, which in turn SHOULD turn into more sales. Just FYI, we are celebrating our 10-Year Anniversary this month, and starting on Monday, 10/19 until Saturday, 10/31, we are offering a 20% off promotion for al purchases over $30. This is valid in both stores and online. So come out and see us at Mosaic (or Arlington, thats where I'll most likely be)!! ETA: I think you'd get a lot of the same sentiments from the other retailers out in Mosaic...I think it is no fault of Edens (the developer) that things have not thrived as much as everyone had hoped, but I think a lot of factors have combined to make it a challenging place to run a retail shop or restaurant.

Fern St Bistro! Blast from the past. I grew up near Burke Lake Park/Fairfax Station. My buddy used to work as a server at Fern St. (he now owns a restaurant and wine shop in PW County). Yeah, it's a shame that area can't support more restaurants like that. Four Sisters was super popular before they moved, so they had that going for them. Also, like you said, ethnic food thrives in FFX County. I think the problem at Mosaic (and I agree on the lack of a cohesive community there) is that the lunch time customers are looking for quick, inexpensive bite to eat. The Cava Grill is always packed at lunch. Sweetgreen and Taylor seem to pretty much rely on weekday lunch business. I seriously doubt the majority of the lunch crowd is looking for a sit-down meal with drinks, 3 courses, etc... It's the same here in Clarendon. Lunch business seems to be strictly the less expensive-type joints. Not enough expense account/offices for the 3 martini lunch.

This is really what it comes down to. The Mosaic demographic certainly has disposable income, I just think they choose to spend it in different ways. I don't think it has anything to do with real estate prices or being 'house poor'. I grew up in Fairfax County (and own a store at Mosaic), so I have a pretty good idea of the type of shopper that we are seeing over there. Places like Matchbox, Ted's, maybe True Foods Kitchen are the right fit. I mean, look at Sweetwater Tavern (yes, technically not Mosaic, but close enough). Packed every night. Someone should do a study on this. It is quite amazing the difference in buying habits between Fairfax County and Arlington. On paper, the demographics are pretty similar. Of course, I am generalizing and not saying ALL customers in Fairfax County and ALL customers in Arlington, etc. etc... Just an observation. PS: please feel free to move this post into another thread, as it really has nothing to do with Brine (well, maybe a little..)

That sounds like something I might have said. Yes, Edens did initially pursue small, local businesses for Mosaic. I think that trend is changing, as more nationals have opened and I assume will continue to open. I will readily admit, it has been a struggle out there. No fault of the developer (yes, my rent is high, but nobody put a gun to my head and made me sign a lease, it was a calculated risk). I could write ad nauseam about my Mosaic experience, both the good and the bad, but I don't really see the point in doing it in an online forum. I'd be happy to share in person if anyone is interested.

I don't think they are opening until April, 2016.

Yes, Gaffneys. Thank you. We were trying to remember as my wife went into labor right after she ate a big ass hamburger from there about 12 years ago.

Bummer. My wife works in that building...she's sad to see it go. BTW, does anyone out there recall the restaurant that was there before Willow?

Yes. Yes it does.

I think you hit the nail on the head right there. I don't have the problem with the $8 tzatzki, as I feel like restaurant prices reflect the whole experience. You'll drive yourself crazy if you look solely at the food cost. However, I do agree that "it's still Fairfax County"

Sorry, over my head.

That being said, I would be a little concerned about opening a Kapnos in that location.

Well said.

Ha, I was just about to post about the canele I had at Bread Furst last weekend. Textbook perfect. Great crunch on the outside and really nicely caramelized (but not too thick). The interior was super moist and creamy with a great flavor of vanilla and rum. So f*cking good. People really need to buy more of my expensive chocolates so I can buy more of those expensive caneles. The baguette from BF was also superb. Great place.

It's always nice to have dedicated and knowledgeable employees--makes such an impact. Will definitely bring chocolates next time!

I never really write reviews of places I've eaten, but I just gotta give 2 big thumbs to our meal last night. We've only been here once before (for happy hour) and had great pizza and cocktails, and I'm glad we came back last night for a full-on meal. We sat in the 6-top right by the pass, so my daughters got to watch the food coming out which is always a bonus. We had a great server, very attentive and informative (blond hair, can't recall her name). Anyway, everything we ate was simple, yet well made and well seasoned. Pizzas were excellent, but the dish of the night (for me) was the white beans with pumpkin and almonds---well balance and quite tasty. Anchovies were great as well. It was the perfect spot to take the visiting mother-in-law, as it was a great mix of the 14th St vibe with just really great food and service. We'll be back sooner than later! Thanks again.

The wife and I spent a week in Slovenia last year (in May). We really enjoyed it. Much less expensive than the neighboring countries and really beautiful scenery. I don't have much in the way of notes as to where we ate, but we did have some very good wine. Did the Skocjan caves, which are definitely worth a visit. Stayed for 3 nights/days in an apartment in Bohinj. Excellent hiking around there, as it is nestled right up against the Julian Alps. Did the mandatory trip to Bled and rowed in the lake to the small chapel. There is great short hike (about 2 miles) that has amazing views of the lake. As far as food goes, the best things we ate were all the different types of charcuterie. The make a great prosciutto-like ham and we some really excellent dry sausages. Did that for lunch a bunch of days. Also did a day trip to Istria. Spent the afternoon in Rovinj, which was nice, but a bit touristy. Also drove and walked up to the hilltop village of Motovun. The area around there is quite nice. However, the highlight of our entire trip was probably to 2 nights we spent at Domacija Novak, which was near the Krka River, about 45 minutes SE of Ljubljana. Really nice couple runs the place, and we ate there both nights. Great breakfast in the morning, and pretty much everything the cook comes from their farm. The owner, Boris, is a wine guy (apparently he is some sort of expert on orange wine) and he has a great wine cellar. Also, if you at all into fly fishing, this is the place to go, Definitely worth checking out and staying there if you have the chance. I think our room was like 60 Euros/night, and dinner was like 20 Euros/pp. There is no menu, she just serves whatever she is making that day (at least that is how it was midweek, could be different on the weekends) Have a great time. We really enjoyed our time there. People were very friendly, great scenery, and not a ton of tourists (though that could be different in the summer). Oh, one other thing, I would avoid Hot Horse in Ljubljana (look it up)

Funny about Hardee's. One of my food memories growing up was stopping for early breakfast at the Hardee's in Annapolis before going sailing with my dad. We always got the "steak" biscuit, with was some sort of breaded/country fried steak-type thing. I used to put ketchup on it. So, so good...

Bakeshop in Clarendon does a good job with baked goods. They are going to be more "homey" and rustic in style, not super fancy, but most of the items I've had from there have been tasty. Full Disclosure: Bakeshop is my retail neighbor in Clarendon, I'm friendly with the owner, we borrow stuff from each other, etc, etc....

Thanks for all the info. Jake, I am sure that the Barolo Chinato would be a great complement to the chocolate. I'll have to get my hands on some of it ( I assume Ace carries it?) I am really more concerned about pairing with dry wines and need to look at things in more generic terms. I mean, could you pair say a flavored milk or dark chocolate centered bonbon (i.e. truffle) with say a Merlot or a Chardonnay, or is that just complete nonsense? We have certainly done plenty of pairings of our bonbons with different wines at wine shop events, and I just wonder if the pairings are really working, or if it marketing hype in order to sell wine and chocolates. We have the ability to produce bonbons with a multitude of different flavor profiles, both starting with the base Valrhona chocolate and then adding different infusions, nuts, etc...The idea is to pair these different bonbons with different wine varietals. For example, the Raspberry bonbon (made with fresh raspberry puree and Manjari, a very fruity chocolate) would match perfectly with a fruity Merlot, or something along those lines. I just wonder if it can be done with tannic reds and whites (Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling)??

I am just trying to get an idea from the resident wine experts regarding the pairing of chocolate and wine. We are working on a project involving the pairing of different wines with our chocolates.We are hoping to develop new flavors of bonbons that might be paired with certain varietals. I have done a fair amount of online research on the subject, along with the obvious tasting on my own. There seems to be mixed opinions regarding what goes with what, and whether you can pair chocolate with dry wines (red and white). Pairing with sweet wines is a no-brainer, and I know that can work on various levels and flavor profiles. I am more concerned about the drier wines. I would just be interested in what others might have to add regarding the topic based on their past experiences. Thanks in advance! -jason

Hey, good to see you today. Sorry my hands were full when you came in.... Next time you are here, just ask and I can sell you some of the Caramelia. We don't have it on the shelves. Cheers, Jason

Just thought I'd chime in. Pretty much any manufacturer of chocolate is technically "bean-to-bar". From companies as large as Hersheys and Callebaut, down to places like Potomac Chocolate, all of these manufacturers are making chocolate from cacao beans. The level of quality is going to derive from many things, mainly the type and quality of beans being used, amount of added sugar, and whether or not the are using other fats to substitute for the cacao butter. I honestly wouldn't quantify a small, local bean-to bar manufacturer (like Ben at Potomac Chocolate) as particularly "locavore", as those beans are all coming from relatively far away. I guess on what you think the definition of locavore is. Regardless, he is making some great stuff in essentially a small basement workshop. One of his bars won an award at the Fancy Food Show in SF last year. Definitely worth tracking down. If you all are looking for a great selection of bars from around the world, definitely go to Cocova (formally known as Biagio Fine Chocolate) at 18th and T St., NW. Great, knowledgeable staff and they definitely have the best selection of fine chocolate bars produced in the US and abroad.