It's Chocolate Monday

Hats off to my lunch partner, Chris, who had no hesitation imagining that of course we should dash around the corner to a new purveyor of richness, Dude Sweet Chocolate. The shop is tucked away in the Bishop Arts area of Oak Cliff just West of downtown Dallas, and oh golly, gee damn, as Holly Golightly might say, it was a wonderful decision.

Does the thrill of discovery begin the moment we read about it in Paper City? When we find the door is open, even on a "closed for business" gray sky Monday? Or is it the instant a free sample of chocolate sits down, very nicely, on the tongue and whispers "love me?"  For my taste buds, it was all of the above, and I wanted to take one of everything in this fascinating place.

Katherine Clapner is a local, independent chocolatier who's doing some unusual flavor combinations, like The Great Depression (roasted beet, Texas olive oil) and Tahitian (passion fruit and citrus salt). While I examined one of her colorful Depression samples straight from a wine cooler, she mused on working 20 years with Stephan Pyles, one of the godfathers of New Texas Cuisine in our area. I mentioned that I used to enjoy going to his cooking classes, especially the Thanksgiving ones, and she told me that she was right beside him, doing the desserts.

I wanted to stay and play with this amiable dudette, but her store was closed, after all, so I promised to come back to finish my sweet train of thought on a better day. I'm always on the prowl for a wonderful new chocolate to nestle into croissant dough, and Katherine's shop (it opened Dec. 5) has much more to reveal.

There is a website, but it's down at the moment. Keep an eye out for dudesweetchocolate.com. Right now you can get the store address and sign up for email notifications.

Word of mouth: Delicious

(Photo: Assorted Dude Sweet Chocolates on Depression Glass in Singing Wheat Kitchen, by John H. Ostdick)