Cafe Paesan

We are ecstatic about the recent arrival of Cafe Paesan. If you haven’t heard of it, you need to get to know them. They are located at 69 S. State Street, and make some of the most delicious Italian food we’ve ever tasted. Cafe Paesan is the latest genius creation from the founders of Cafe Rio, who have brought fresh-made Italian food to casual dining, with very affordable pricing.

Click here to download their menu. Ange’s favorite dish so far is the Pasta Fresca, with balsamic chicken and rosa sauce.  In fact, she is hard pressed to try anything else. I (Craig) have tried the Tuscan Style flatbread sandwich, and the margarita pizza. Both were outstanding.

After you enjoy this delicious fresh Italian dinner, stop by The Chocolate for dessert and let us know what you thought.

You can “like” them on Facebook, at www.facebook.com/cafepaesan

Kara Chocolates

That’s right.  Kara Chocolates of University Mall will now be carrying 2 flavors from The Chocolate’s cupcake lineup, as well as our Turtle Tarts. So when you are craving one of these:

Lemon Curd Cupcake--Photo by Jonathan Canlas

Or maybe one of these….

The Chocolate Caramel--Photo by Jonathan Canlas

Or perhaps one of these….

The Turtle Tart--Photo by Limelight Food Photography

Then stop by Kara Chocolates in University Mall!

Click here for more information about Jonathan Canlas Photography, and here for more information about Limelight Food Photography.

We had a raucous bunch of Sassies join us for Ladies Night on Wednesday, who came to do a review of The Chocolate. They laughed (a lot…they are a lot of fun), took pictures, shot some video of us being interviewed, and enjoyed plenty of desserts.  If you haven’t seen their blog already, check it out here–they recently did a review of friend of The Chocolate, Cupcake Chic–and another friend of The Chocolate–and by that I mean, friend of Craig, Smashburger. They have a passion for discovering “fabulous finds” and supporting local businesses. We’re excited for their review!

The dessert shots turned out flawless…  (and food is a tough thing to shoot…I’m told)  The shots of our cafe are mind-blowing (do you see how chic and hip our  bookshelf looks?) . He truly tells the story and conveys the feeling of the cafe through pictures.

But as amazing as these shots are, you really need to see his work with people. Go to his blog, and look at his shots of bridals, births, travel, and commercial work.

Every once in a while, you get to witness  a true ARTIST at work–who does what he does because he LOVES it, AND because he’s talented. Just being around them as they work inspires you… Jon Canlas is one of those artists. So I highly recommend… FOLLOW HIS BLOG. It’ll inspire you in many ways. I know it has for me.

Here is his post, and his photos of the Cafe… Thanks Jon!

“I went with my class I teach @ UVU to go do a “story-telling through details” shoot. This is of an AMAZING bakery in Orem, UT called The Chocolate. Their space is absolutely amazing. Old, old house that has been restored and redecorated. They have SO much space. They have engagement parties, birthdays, and I just found out someone actually just proposed there.

If you are looking for an amazing alternative to a wedding cake and want all your guests to be over the moon with their sweets @ your wedding, seriously, drop them a line. I HEART their pineapple coconut cupcake. HEART.

Go check them out. And if you remember, I shot them before as well when the bakery was in their home basement :).”

The details are as follows:

Saturday, April 17th, from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

Salt Lake City location-at Dan’s Market (1360 S Foothill Blvd) hosted by Maria, from Two Peas And Their Pod.
Utah County/Orem location- at Shirley J (15 East 400 South) hosted by Becky, from Utah Loves Cupcakes.

Thanks to Dan’s and Shirley J for hosting these bake sales. We really appreciate your support!

**If you are a Utah food blogger and would like to help, please email at: utahlovescupcakes@gmail.com
**If you would like to get involved in your state, click here to find out who to contact. **

For additional information, visit Utah Loves Cupcakes here for more information.

The Chocolate

That being said, we are making a commitment that we are going to be much better bloggers from this point going forward.

We have reached some serious milestones in this fantastic ride of cafe ownership, and now have some time freed up where we can blog on and on and on till the breaka’ breaka’ dawn.

Craig and Ange

For those of you who joined us last night for our maiden voyage, we appreciate you. We hoped the response would be fantastic and it surely was.We hope you had a laughy time with your girlfriends. And we can’t wait to see you next Wednesday. Same time, same place. Rock it.

How long have you guys been around? Well, the official corporation, The Chocolate, was founded in January 2008.  But the venture began about a year before that.  In fact, I remember a specific incident when she was tinkering with her “Brooklyn Blackout” recipe and brought it into my work so some of my coworkers could sample and give feedback. A British co-worker kept taking savory little bites and remarking “that’s good sponge”, in his thick British accent. We still to this day try to mimic that accent when we’re eating “good sponge”.

Where were you guys before you had the cafe? Weren’t you in the mall? Ange started production in early 2007 in our home kitchen, using a good ol’ General Electric gas oven, and a Kitchenaid mixer. As demand started to pick up, we outgrew the kitchen and had to build a commercial kitchen as an addition to our house. That happened in November, 2008. It had its own separate entrance, all stainless-steel appliances, and we jumped through all the hoops to get it commercially licensed and everything.

We were then ready to handle a much greater level of production, so instead of opening a storefront (which we wanted to and were inches from inking a deal in Draper), we decided to build the business more conservatively and rent a Kiosk at University Mall. This opened up all kinds of doors, and is really when our brand started to become  recognizable. Our brand manager has done a fantastic job of this. Good thing we’ve had great consultants along the way. From there, Nordstrom started carrying our items and then we did the Thanksgiving Point Farmer’s Market. After that, we set our sites on our storefront.

Whose idea was  The Chocolate? The Chocolate is 100% Ange’s idea.  About 3 years ago, after we had been married for just a few months, Ange and I had what we now view as a life-changing conversation. She felt like she didn’t have “her thing” that she was passionate about. She had to give up going back to work in Washington DC in order to stay here and marry me (I’ve met some of those boring DC guys, she got the better end of the deal :P), her friends were all up in Salt Lake County, or California, or Arizona. So here she is, married to this guy in Lehi, Utah, who is from Highland, Utah, and who has no intention of ever living anywhere else.  I had my great sales job I was passionate about, but she didn’t have “her thing.”

So we sat down and discussed it, and I asked what she’d do if she could do anything? It took only moments for her to respond with “I’d bake.” For her whole life, she has wanted to be a baker. After a few more days, she shared her vision with what The Chocolate would be named and the type of experience it would be. So my reaction was, “Let’s do it!” and the process began.

I then watched Ange study magazines, books, and everything she could find about chocolate desserts, pastries, and other fine desserts.  She was on fire. She got a job at a bakery to refine her skills, she took classes in Utah and New York, and was instructed by some of the finest instructors in the country. We did cross country trips for research.

We have faced more than a few setbacks or roadblocks along the way, but she has remained focused and determined to fulfill this dream and see the cafe become a reality. Now, here we are, the cafe has been open for about 6 weeks. People are coming to the cafe and having FUN, just like we envisioned all along. It’s mind boggling sometimes that “her thing,” this dream she has, has so perfectly come together.

So this ends part 1 of my FAQ’s. If people start asking more frequent questions, I suppose I can put in a part 2.

Craig (The Husband)

We had a pretty fantastic experience last Friday that I want to share with all our friends here on The Blogolate.

On our way to the movies, we had to run by the cafe to pick something up. We pulled into the parking lot and every spot was taken…which of course, is a great sight for any new business owner. But inside was what was really exciting. There were groups of people in each of our 3 dining rooms, taking every available spot on the sofas, chairs, and tables. And it wasn’t just that. The atmosphere was relaxed, happy, and celebratory. People were talking, laughing, and lounging. Apparently it had been that way for the past few hours.

Now, this may not seem like a big deal, but this is EXACTLY the vision we have had when we starting dreaming up The Chocolate almost 3 years ago. We always wanted it to be somewhere you could easily go as a less-expensive alternative to dinner, and a more comfortable option than the crowded ice cream joints with metal chairs scraping along the tile floor.

Friday was almost emotional for me because for the first time, I saw in the cafe what I had always envisioned in my mind. And that’s worth celebrating. So I’ll probably eat some more cake myself. :)

So come celebrate with us!