Ciocolat - a Davis, California Sweet Treat

Davis, California is known for many things -- the home of the University of California at Davis; the bicycle capital of the U.S.; and its conservation and environmental activities. It's also home to a number of great restaurants and eateries. One of my newfound favorites is Ciocolat, a gourmet bakery that features, as it name signifies, chocolate desserts.

Ciocolat, located at 301 B Street in downtown Davis just blocks from the UCD campus, offers a great lunch and dinner menu in addition to its scrumptious desserts. Before you sample its extensive array of desserts, make sure to try the Gourmet Vegetarian Muffaletta or the Wild Mushroom Lasagna. Croque Monsieur, which is smoked salmon, Gruyere cheese, and buttermilk bread is another dish to try.

Ciocolat offers a variety of truffles ranging from Amaretto to Grand Marnier to one called Guiness Beer. The truffles come in a variety of chocolate flavors - dark, milk, and white. The truffle offerings also include Buttercream, Lemon Cream, and Raspberry Framboise. If you love truffles, Ciocolat is the place for you.

They have a number of cake selections and after contemplating the varieties, I had a difficult time trying to narrow it down to one. I eventually chose the Extraordinary Carrot Cake and it definitely lived up to its name. The cake had just the right amount of walnuts, carrots, coconut, and pineapple with a delicious cream cheese icing. I was very pleased with my pick.

Their menu features other delectable cakes, Tropical Mousse Cake that has passion fruit as one of its ingredients; Chocolate Banana Rum Mousse Cake; Chocolate Hazelnut Cream Cake; Tuxedo Mousse Cake; and Lemon Poppy Seed Cake. For the chocolate fanatics, they offer Bittersweet Chocolate Truffle Cake that has dark chocolate ganache, raspberry jam and chocolate glaze. A very popular choice. There are many other divine cake selections at Ciocolat that are too numerous to list here. You'll just have to make a special trip to Ciocolat to see them for yourself.

If your sweet tooth hits you early in the morning, Ciocolat has a wonderful selection of pastries to help you start your day. They have muffins, éclairs, scones, banana bread, and other pastries that are baked fresh each day. The bakery opens at 7:30 a.m. Monday through Fridays and 8 am on the weekends.

Other specialties available at Ciocolat include Crème Brulee, Fruit Tarts and Pies that vary according to the time of year. Ciocolat offers catering services and will prepare made to order cakes including wedding cakes. If you have a need for a creative and tasty gift, they offer gift baskets and gift certificates. I would be surprised if you visited Ciocolat and did not find something to your liking.

So if you're in downtown Davis, visit Ciocolat, located at the corners of B and Third Streets near Central Park. As mentioned before, they open for breakfast and stay open until 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and until 10 p.m. on Sunday nights. Ciocolat has established itself as a popular destination in Davis, California. Hop on your bike and ride on over.