Rating: NNNNN
Who knew that something so sinfully delicious could be good for you, too? Recent studies suggest that chocolate, specifically dark chocolate, is high in antioxidants, can lower blood pressure while increasing serotonin levels in the brain, and help detoxify the liver to boot.
Socially conscious ChocoSol (720 Bathurst, at Lennox, 416-535-0777) imports organically grown and solar-roasted beans and chocolate directly from eco-minded farmers in Chiapas, Mexico. Why, the folks at ChocoSol are so grassroots, they even pulverize their more than 20 types of raw and roasted beans in-house with a bicycle-powered grinder.
“We only work directly with cacao growers who have a sense of ecology and of cultural regeneration and preservation,” says Sol’s Michael Sacco, who describes the concept as horizontal trade. “By establishing a more personal relationship between producers and consumers, we promote community-supported agriculture that’s not mediated by economics.”
ChocoSol, which can also be found at the Dufferin Grove and upcoming Brick Works farmers markets (see Farmers Markets, page 45), relocates to 6 St. Joseph, just off Yonge north of Wellesley, in May.
