Category Archives: News

Intrigue Full-tilt in February

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Smile for Chocolate!

We are running at full-tilt at Intrigue, and lovin’ every minute of it! Thank you’s to all of you fine chocolate lovers (and lovers of all stripes, especially during February) for keeping us so busy.

We’ve been out and about for the last few weeks, so many places, and so many new faces. Soon we want to catch you up on our travels to Woodinville for Weddings, the Sanctuary Art Center Grand Opening , and the annual Enumclaw Wine and Chocolate Festival.

Intrigue truffles have been competing in Issaquah, walking around with wine in Woodinville (hosts: Davenport Cellars), and being created in a truffle class at Woodhouse Family Cellars.

Isn’t that enough action for ya’? Not quite. This weekend we are at Davenport Cellars again for a red wine and chocolate pairing that’ll win your heart! When we catch our breath we’ll give you lots of fun details of our exploits, but in the meanwhile check out this mention from a “neighbor’s” blog (The Dessert Tray) about our debut at Portland’s ChocolateFest.

“Nothing Better Than Great Chocolate…”

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Sutton Entertainment Truffle-Wine Pairing

Intrigue Hits Boston! We’ve recently teamed up with Craig Sutton Entertainment Services of the Boston, MA area, to provide chocolate-wine pairing experiences with Intrigue Chocolates. Our truffles are also being featured in an event called “Chocolate Tasting 101″, where attendees are given an interactive chocolate experience. Learning, enjoying, and socializing are highly encouraged!

“Discover and Achieve Chocolate Satisfaction.” Craig brings in a “chocolate sommelier” to give a mini-chocolate education using preimum and artisanal chocolates, usually with high cacao content. Chocolate loving students are tutored in how chocolate is made, how to use all their senses to experience chocolate, and how to detect its many nuances.

We hope to be satisfying Craig’s customers in Boston for a long time! And we love what Craig Sutton Entertainment has to say in chocolate-summation: “Tasting chocolate is completely different than eating chocolate…and there is nothing better than great chocolate and great conversation!”

Intrigue Chocolates Has a New Shop!

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"Come on in!" -Aaron, Chocolatier

Hey, Intrigue Chocolates has a new home! We’ve actually been the happy occupants since November (2010), but just haven’t had time to make a big splash about it. Cleaning, painting, organizing all the bazillion details that come with moving in have been taking up our time. Then we’ve had our hands full with the revving up of the busy holiday season, and, well, you know how it is! We aren’t complaining. Busy is Good. But we’ve been remiss in getting out the news of our awesome new location. We had our first full day of work in our new digs on November 1st, but last week is when folks really started to track us down for their holiday gifting.

Here’s the skinny on how to find us:

  • Walk in the door at 76 S. Washington St., #M104, Seattle, WA 98104 (the “M” stands for Mezzanine Level, just one floor up from the street)
  • Hours of Business are Noon to 6:00pm, Monday through Friday
  • Call us at (206)829-8810 if you have trouble finding us, or if you need a lift in our cool historic freight elevator.

We are loving filling in our new space, and have had the great fortune to meet some of you face-to-face as your happy hosts. Can’t wait to see more of you soon!

A World of Wine…and Chocolate

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Ready, Set, Go! to the Wine World Warehouse Grand Opening

Wowza!, what a place. The brand-new Wine World Warehouse of Seattle is the largest store of its kind in the Northwest. With over 23,000 square feet of wine, you can imagine the variety is vast. Wines for the conoisseuer, wines for the wine-clubber, and wines for the college student. Born from the enthusiasm of sommelier David LeClaire, Wine World holds adventures in wine for enthusiasts of all stripes.

It was down to the wire with permitting and plans, but LeClaire’s dream of opening by December 1st, 2010 was realized. And we were there to see it happen. At the VIP Grand Opening on December 1st there was a buzz of excitement in the place. And while there is a plethora of shelvage going on, don’t imagine that the word warehouse in the name relegates this venue to the cheap and common. LeClaire knows his wine, and his staff are following suit. Not only are they educated about the wines of the world (including over 500 Washingtonian wines), but the space allows for privacy and intimacy in its layout as well.

We loved being at the VIP Grand Opening of Wine World, along with many other vendors. Sampling was happening all around, ranging from wineries, a brewery, food caterers (the black bean hummus was our fav), and Intrigue Chocolate’s truffles for a well-rounded presentation!

Most exciting? Wine World is going to be carrying our truffles in their chocolate case. Intrigue Chocolate and wine, on side-by-side shelves. Now that is a thing of beauty.

Turkey and Cream?

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Spud.com is passionate about locavorism!

Turkey and cream, a strange recipe perhaps, yet oddly intriguing. In this case it just so happens that it’s turkey-day, and we want to tell you about a great new source we are using for the cream in our truffles. Spud.com is now providing the heavy whipping cream (with all its glorious 40% fat content!) for our chocolate truffles.

Spud.com is an excellent grocer that has taken “green grocer” to a new level of sustainability, 21st century-style. The cream we buy from them is rated Grade A, and has no antibiotics, no pesticides and no synthetic hormones.

Calling themselves dedicated to “the local food movement”, these grocery-store activists are concerned with the sustainability of our food systems, and see buying locally as a primary solution. Even though they are fairly large (after over a decade of business) they appear to be relatively decentralized, and espouse a commitment to hire, buy and deliver locally. That’s right: deliver. Free. Home delivery for free. Is that not cool? Without huge stores to manage, home delivery becomes part of the eco-friendly plan.

About 50% of their products are organic, with their emphasis on working with independent farmers and artisan producers whenever possible. With service in Seattle, San Fransisco, Portland, Los Angeles, Vancouver B.C, Vancouver Island, and Calgary, Spud.com publishes the distance each product has traveled from where it was grown to their warehouse (for real, check it out!).

Happy Thanksgiving, Spud, and all our friendly chocolate-loving customers! We are thankful for businesses (like Spud.com) that are environment-advocates and socially responsible!