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| - Cayenne pepper... should not be the opening words for a review on a chocolate store. But today it is. It was what we went to Lilly to get.
It was a day like many other, forty degrees and very damp; a brief assessment of the immediate environment and one would conclude that this is The City That Always Sleeps. And yet it was one of those days that makes Cleveland so gritty and wonderful. And it was one of those days that makes a warm chocolate store and a warmer chocolate beverage so beyond inviting. This time it was the Marshmallow Cloud. It began as a cup Lilly's Signature Drinking Chocolate and ended up with a scoop of house made Marshmallow Ice Cream and some Cayenne Pepper. That's where that comes in. And that's what made this drink such a very, very brilliant drink for the wintertime. Warmth. The chocolate was already hot, but the cayenne pepper was what warmed you up. Plus the sweetness of the marshmallow ice cream. Man, it was good. It was a guilty pleasure that I don't even feel guilty about.
Of course Lilly and her team sell non liquified chocolate as well. And wine. And chocolate and wine pairings. And they even make chocolate in house. This is not a bean-to-bar place (they get their cacao from Valrhona) and they make no effort to hide that, unlike some people, -ahem, we're looking at you, Mast Brothers. I did try one truffle; I believe it was called Red Planet: red wine & strawberry ganache, topped with raspberry powder in Valrhona dark chocolate. Admittedly delicious, slightly tart, and almost worth the two bucks.
I would come back here. And if it was another day where the weather was miserable, it's possible I wouldn't leave here.
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