San Francisco is home to four of the nation's 11 major chocolate manufacturers. There, you can visit chocolate factories. In the cities of Healdsburg, Napa, Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz and Sonoma county, you can be transported to chocolate heaven.
Every Wednesday, the Camellia Inn offers Chocolate Indulgence with Chocolate Cherry Bath Salts, soaps, candles, lotion, plus chocolate candies and cookies. A French bakery called Costeaux on Healdsburg Avenue offers divine desserts including three chocolate truffle cake. Sweet Memories (a chocolate shop that makes handmade chocolates) offers dark chocolates filled with ginger and chocolate covered peanut brittle. Simply bliss.
Napa Valley's Oak Knoll Inn is a chocolate destination, par excellence. Where else can you have chocolate for breakfast every day? Chocolate connoisseur and innkeeper Barbara Passino is renowned for her sinfully decadent breakfasts and she's written a book about them with over 100 recipes including chocolate tacos.
Past Pescadero and Pigeon Point, just south of the town of Half Moon Bay, there is a really great Italian restaurant, Joe's, that has the BEST chocolate dessert (death by chocolate cake) that I've EVER tasted.
Run don't walk to Richard Donnelly's chocolate shop on Mission Street. These chocolates are crazy good with an array of fillings that set the mouth to watering (tea, spices and more). Graceful chocolate champagne bottles, hosting a bevy of fragile truffles, just perfect for V-day. Gotta join the Chocolate a Month Club.
The award-winning Farmhouse Inn and Restaurant is the culmination of a dream. Located in the heart of Sonoma County's world-famous Russian River Valley wine region, this luxurious six acre property is just minutes from Hwy 101. You won't have room for dessert after you dine on a farm fresh gourmet dinner but you have to indulge in the chocolate souffle dessert, so light, it will whisk you away.
If you are a chocoholic, these five chocolate destinations are a MUST on your northern California itinerary.
select one here...