To me Kakawa Chocolate House is an experience – not just a restaurant, and a must when visiting Santa Fe, New Mexico. Kakawa is the Olmec word for chocolate and you will find that history comes to life through food and drink inside this adobe structure.
While many items stand on the menu, brownies and ice cream are a dime a dozen. You need to explore the elixirs where flavor profiles are divided by geography. Sugar stems from the old world while cacao is native to the new world. In Mesoamerica the Mayans and Aztecs elites would enjoy a chocolate beverage infused with chili and spices sans sugar – you can try these ancient recipes recorded by Spanish conquistadors.
Sample some from Column A and those from Column B, the European style drinking chocolate from colonial times after they were introduced to the cacao seed. Sip on a cup just in the fashion Marie Antoinette would have preferred with a hint of citrus. After a generous sampling we decided on a flight of our favorites including a powerful sweat inducing chili Mayan and a sweeter nuttier Jeffersonian.
Of course, all of the solid sweets cannot go unnoticed and there are many gems to indulge. Kakawa supports local farms and promotes regional ingredients in their exclusively small batch chocolates. A chocolate covered chili was too beautiful and intriguing to leave behind, though we were warned it would get spicier with each bite towards the stem.
Heat and sweet, it was an extremely satisfying combination. Scan the variety of truffles in the case, because even if you’ve had enough chocolate today there is always tomorrow. Gravitating towards the essence of New Mexico I filled my little box with piñon caramels, red and green chili chocolates, bites of pure heaven.
Without a doubt, this is the most innovative and best tasting chocolate shop I have ever been to.
Thanks! Just a digital point & shoot – loved reading about your Santa Fe adventure makes me want to return too.
The quality of your pictures is stunning. Do you use a special camera? We just left New Mexico and are raring to return next spring. Thanks for the travel ideas.
I hope you do! They have two locations in Santa Fe now, and one in Salem MA.
I drove by there a couple of years ago but didn’t think to stop. I should have. Maybe I’ll get by there again when I’m out that way. 🙂