The "Discovery of the Americas" was a gruesome campaign of Colonial greed but it did also lead to the discovery of chocolate so I guess the whole ordeal was kind of bittersweet (at least for us). On the other hand, my Yelp Discovery of Utopick was anything but bitter; yes some of the dark chocolate has bitter notes but it's of the good kind. If it wasn't for Yelp, I probably wouldn't have discovered this establishment because even if I had known of its existence, I have been so let down by other chocolatiers in Valencia that I wouldn't have expected much. How wrong would I have been?
I was lucky enough to be included in a Yelp Chocolate Tasting Event at Utopick; we tried an array of different chocolates ranging from bean-to-bar dark chocolate, to milk chocolate and white chocolate. The dark chocolate was so delectable that it even managed to convince my friend who is a self-confessed dark chocolate hater, or what I prefer to call "not a real chocolate person". Dark chocolate when made properly is amazeballs; dark chocolate made on the cheap at a commercial level for a multinational company tends to be rather dismal.
To say that I love chocolate would be an understatement; I'd happily munch on relatively decent commercial crap (except Hershey's, the worst chocolate in the whole wide world) but when faced with a sexy bar of artisan chocolate made with the finest beans and tender loving care then step aside; my precious (think Gollum)!
Last but not least, the customer service in their tiny shop is impeccable. You can tell that the manager really loves his craft, that was obvious during the event, and that gives one greater pleasure when purchasing his chocolate because you know it has been made with love (and chocolate). I do also have to point out that I went last minute during Christmas to buy a personalised chocolate bar. It would have typically taken a few days to complete the order but as I was leaving the country before that date, he kindly made an extra effort and managed to complete it before I had to leave. Now that's what I call amazing service. read more