The Triangle

Issue date: 1/11/08 Section: Lifestyles

Media Credit: Ashley Peskoe Various blends of hot chocolate are stored in the kitchen and are used in creating varieties of hot chocolate, such as Spicy hot chocolate and Aztec hot chocolate.

Media Credit: Janhavi Purohit The cafe offers a variety of desserts, ranging from hand iced "stuffed" cupcakes to tarts to individual cakes, such as "nudos," a signature dessert.

Media Credit: Janhavi Purohit The menu offers a variety of drinks, including coffee, fruit juices, and the highly popular hot chocolate.

Media Credit: Janhavi Purohit Customers can choose from a selection of packaged artisanal chocolates.

Media Credit: Ashley Peskoe The chocolate sold within the store is blended fresh in the kitchen from late afternoon to evening.

Media Credit: Janhavi Purohit The space used for the Naked Chocolate Cafe was once a bank, and currently houses the restaurant on the ground floor of the Philadelphia Building on 13th and Walnut streets.

Media Credit: Janhavi Purohit Customers often come to the cafe to enjoy a hot drink, including coffees, teas, and several variations on the classic hot chocolate, or for freshly made dessert between breaks from work, or for treats after dinner.

Step into the tiny space on the corner of 13th and Walnut, and the first thing you notice is the display case of chocolate treats extending down the length of the store.

Naked Chocolate Café opened a little over a year ago in what used to be a bank on 13th and Walnut Streets. The café is one among the many that have opened in the last few years across the country.

According to an article in the Washington Business Journal, the past four years have seen a sudden outbreak in what are referred to as "chocolate cafés" across the country, including cities such a New York, Chicago, and even Philadelphia. According to an article on website karenkroll.com, gourmet chocolate sales have been growing at more than 10 percent annually.

Naked Chocolate Café, an independent store opened by Thomas Sweets Ice Cream and Chocolate of Princeton, New Jersey founder Tom Block took the concept of a coffee house and put his own spin on it. "The whole idea to open this was to open a European style chocolate café. They've been in Europe for hundreds of years, and my daughter and I have traveled around a little-we went to Barcelona, we went to Paris, that was the impetus behind it. We just wanted something like this," Block said.

The café offers a variety of chocolate-based desserts, made fresh in the store, as well as frozen and hot chocolate drinks, chocolate candy, and a variety of signature desserts. The café also offers coffee from the Small World Roasters of Princeton, New Jersey. "It's another location that extends your meal. Instead of going to a bar or restaurant to get dessert, you can come here and hang out," Kalyn Cockei, Naked Chocolate Café employee said.

Though there is no primary target for consumers, Cockei said that the café tends to attract two main groups of customers. "We attract the college crowd and the theater crowd primarily, with the Wilma being just around the corner," Cockie explained. According to Cockei, the café is attractive to college students because of its original concept. "It's something different," Cockei said. "You can come here to get a cupcake or dessert. It's more of treat than going to, say, Starbucks, or another coffee shop." Block adds that though "it runs the whole gamut," there tends to be a "preponderance of young females in here. There's something about chocolate and females."

The café currently appeals to students with its prices as well. University of Pennsylvania students can use coupons from the Naked Chocolate café to receive discounts, sometimes getting 25% off purchases, or can use buy-one-get-one-free deals after showing student ID.

The idea of the location as a place to relax and read a newspaper is a familiar one to the majority of customers present. "Every once in a while, we'll come down for a treat with friends," customer Sarah Peoples said. "I love the hot chocolate most. There's something primal about it."

Customer Ann J. Reilly agreed that the opening of a chocolate café within the city was in due time. "It's charming. It's delightful. Reminds me of what we should've had years ago, instead of having to go abroad to enjoy. I'm seeing such a renaissance in the restaurants in this way. It's exciting," Reilly said.

At the end of the day, customers agree that though coffee shops are spread throughout the city, a chocolate café is something that cannot be replaced. "I love coffee more than anything, but there's nothing like chocolate," customer Rich Rubin said.

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