Soma Chocolates – Toronto

It’s no secret that I like love chocolate.  There are some I love more than others but really, left to my own devices, I rarely never meet a chocolate I won’t eat.

I like to think of it in a George Orwell kind of way: I love all chocolates.  I just love some more than others.

Every year, when I work on the event that took me to Toronto this year, I have the pleasure (and sometimes the challenge) of working with a very good friend.  I’m his client and basically, his job is to make sure I’m happy (and by extension, ensure my client is happy too!).  It’s not always an easy job 😉

However, every year, he knocks it out of the park! On our last day, he showed up to whisk me away for lunch and give me a box of handpicked chocolates from Soma Chocolates, in the Distillery District of Toronto.

And what a pretty little box of delectable treats it was… sigh…

I showed pretty amazing restraint about opening the box (look… I know me… once that box is open, it’s as good as empty…).  But, with the box were two individually wrapped slices of candied orange dipped in dark chocolate.  Yeah, he’s smart and pays attention… he knows I have an orange and chocolate… problem, shall we say??  So I ate one of the slices (oh such perfection – sweet/tart candied orange covered in dark cocoa-y chocolate.  I almost wanted to cry) and the rest of it made it back safe and sound to my hotel room.

Food Photography Tip: Light Spotting

I tossed the box on the bed while I was getting ready to go out for dinner and when I looked over my shoulder to see if it had landed alright, I was struck by the amazing light.  The bed was a massive king size with a big fluffy white duvet situated across from a wall to wall north facing window.  And of course, it was covered by those ubiquitous hotel sheers.  I had a perfect studio setting for shooting those chocolates – loads of light, already diffused by the sheers and reflected by the duvet!

So, I grabbed my camera and started shooting.  I didn’t have to do anything except arrange the ribbon artfully (that is much harder than it looks, by the way) and click the shutter.

This is a lesson on several different levels:

1. always have a camera, any camera, with you. These could have been beautiful photos with an iPhone, a P&S or a DSLR.
2. keep your eyes and mind open: practice seeing. Beautiful things are everywhere.  Everywhere.  Train your eyes to see them and your mind to recognize them.
3. grab a moment when it presents itself (that’s a life lesson actually, isn’t it?)

They were all delicious but my favourites were (of course) the salted caramels and the orange marzipan filled ones.  Also, the cherry bomb was pretty good.  And umm.. the caramel with the flaky bits on top.  Oh, and uhh.. the peanut and toffee one was alright as well… ok, so the only one I could have done without was the olive oil one… I don’t care how much people rave about that one, I thought it had an aftertaste of mushrooms.  Mushrooms and chocolate??? No.  Not even adding chocolate to the mix is going to make me like that one.  I still ate it though.  It was chocolate after all…

Next time I’m in Toronto, I’ll be making a pit stop there… they have a chai one that didn’t make it into my pretty little box…

And next time I’m in a hotel with a big white duvet on the bed and a big window, I’ll spread dinner out all over it and shoot away to my heart’s content!