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http://www.kekau.com/

Wow… we went to a chocolate tasting last night at the newly opened NIB dessert and wine bar in Eugene, OR.  It’s on Monroe, just south of 7th (by Sweet Life, Laughing Planet, etc).  It’s owned and operated by a husband and wife team who has been behind the KeKau Chocolatier deliciousness seen around town for the past few years at various restaurants.

We started the night with quite possibly the most delicious cheese plate ever.  It was very gorgeous, well crafted, and… YUMMY.  It was nine month Dolaner Gouda (cow’s milk), Bellweather ricotta (cow’s milk) with Meyer lemon curd, and Humbolt Fog, Cypress Grove chevre (goat’s milk).  Accompanying it was this odd, but tasty, encapsulated orange sauce over toasted nuts (hazelnuts, perhaps).  There were also thinly sliced apples & pears, diced winter squash, and these sugared crackers that were absolutely fabulous.  I think my favorite cheese was the gouda, but it was all quite AMAZING.  My wife and I paired it with Navarro Vineyards Gewuerztraminer grape juice and a 2005 Abacela Malbec.

The chocolate tasting started at 7pm, and it was very informational.  The husband side of the mom & pop run wine bar, Shane Tracey, came out and told us about each chocolate before the pieces came around.  It was very informative, and I started writing stuff down, but gave up early on…  We tasted 6-7 chocolates, I believe.  Our table was at the end of the pass along; so the chocolates stopped at our table.  Darn… we could nab extra nibs. :)

The first was a delicious white chocolate, which was high in cocoa butter content.  We usually don’t like white chocolates, but it was quite good.  Next up was a milk chocolate (or two).  Then we had a spicy darker chocolate (this one was my favorite).  We had a creamier dark chocolate that, no lie, had heavy hints of banana up front with a pineapple finish.  We rounded out the tasting with a 70% chocolate, which is more of what my wife and I usually get from Trader Joe’s.  The final chocolate was also a dark, but I don’t remember the % of solids.  I paired my tasting with a 2003 Chateau Les Justices Sauternes.

At the end of the tastings, we bought a 2 Bite Holiday which was a small and delicious chocolate mousse with (if I remember correctly) some caramel, candied ginger, white chocolate shavings on a (fancy) graham cracker.  We also bought some of their truffles to take home: Habañero Tequila, Thai Curry, Kalamansi Coconut, Spiced Berry, and maybe one other that I don’t see on their website right now.

http://www.kekau.com/

NIB dessert & wine bar is a GREAT place. They have many great desserts, a great wine selection (white, red, dessert), and their cheese plate is amazing.  They also do brunch on Sundays (and on New Year’s Day from 12am to 3am!!).

Eugene, Oregon… it is now your duty to support this amazing new place!!!  Go forth and be delighted!!

~Dan – np: Miles Davis – On the Corner