Xococava

Xococava
1560 Yonge Street
416-979-9916

One of those secrets that no one ever tells you about Spain until you get there is that, in addition to tapas and bull-fighting, the country is crazy about candy. In train stations, in tiny beach towns, in department stores, it's easy to find a respectable selection of sugary goodness that would put any Sugar Mountain to shame.

Though the tapas at Chris McDonald's much-loved uptown restaurant Cava are influenced by Italian and French cuisine as well as Spanish, Xococava (pronounced "sho-co-ca-va"), its new next-door neighbour, plays firmly into the Spanish sweet tooth. Decorated with marble counters and a wall covered in broken dishes from Avalon painstakingly glued on by McDonald, Xococava opened a month ago. Taking over Mother's Sweet and Nuts, a candy shop whose owners had retired after years of serving the neighbourhood's kids from bins of confections, McDonald saw an opportunity to create an off-shoot of his brand that would speak to the same tastebuds, just a different audience.

"It's a candy store for adults," he explains. "There are more people living around here in condos who still want something sweet. Plus, kids are getting more sophisticated, so the ones from the schools will enjoy it too."

Run by Cava pastry chef and former J.S. Bonbons chocolatier Laura White, the shop serves a selection of artisanal ice creams and sorbets made from Harmony Organic Dairy products (on the day of my visit, there were a dozen selections, including Ontario strawberry ice cream and mangaro chocolate sorbet). With their milkshakes and fair trade barrista coffees, croissants, moussini and pain au xocolata, Xococava feels part malt shop, part espresso counter.

But named for the Catalan word for chocolate, Xococava's true pièce de resistance are its 25 truffles in white, milk and dark chocolate, infused with unexpected flavours in five "collections"—Spanish, Savory, Wild, Exotic and Classic. Presented in a periodic table bearing two letters to describe each one, McDonald is working on stamps to brand the chocolates, as well as the ideal mould, rendering them identical squares only distinguishable by their symbols.

"The idea is to taste the chocolate first, then the flavour," explains White. "We want to recreate childhood memories in taste." Her baby, the rosemary and honey truffle (OX), brings an Italian sensibility to the Belgian chocolate, filling my mouth with a liquidy stream of sweetness and a deeper herb texture. Forbes Wild Food is the provider of many of the chocolates' flavours, like honey in OX and the cedar in CX (a woody , dark chocolate piece that, if Muskoka were a food, would taste exactly like that), while the Tea Emporium lends its rich notes to the masala chai (AO), a milk chocolate treat that evokes the flavours of India.

At 10 to 13 grams, the chocolates are specifically designed to fill a need, but keep customers coming back, like all the best candy shops. "These desserts give you really amazing flavours and textures in a small amount," says White. "I always find that the best desserts are the ones that leave you wanting more."