My plane has just landed in Kansas City. It’s a quick trip from Chicago, just long enough to watch a couple episodes of the Dick Van Dyke show. Once I’ve landed I make my way to the rental car plaza to pick up my car, this time it’s a bright red Toyota Matrix that I will call Morpheus.

I zoom onto the expressway, past fields of cattle towards downtown. Within twenty minutes I arrive at my destination. A brightly lit oasis in the middle of a former industrial block on McGee Street. Welcome to Christopher Elbow Chocolates. Forget everything you think you know about chocolate, open the door and open your mind.

The first thing that strikes you is the explosion of color and the elegant modern design. Then you see the display case, an assortment of colors and patterns akin to an aerial photo of Mardi Gras.

The assortment of seasonal flavors that Mr. Elbow assembles are the true labors of an alchemist. From the Caramel with Fleur de Sel to the Champagne [made with Möet & Chandon] each flavor is masterfully balanced. Prefer a more liquid delivery to your Utopian taste experience? Try a devilishly decadent cup of drinking chocolate. Not to be confused with hot chocolate, this European delicacy is rich and filling and demands to be sipped. Before you get to the cashier [the equally bright and sweet, Rachel], be sure to grab a bar of No. 6 Dark Rocks from the back wall. It’s a 61% dark chocolate bar infused with Pop Rocks.

I recommend sharing your Christopher Elbow chocolates with friends or family, cut them into pieces and share the experience. After all chocolate, like good whiskey, is best when shared.

This summer Mr. Elbow launched a second “gift” to the good people of Kansas city. Glacé is an artesian ice cream parlor, offering the same high quality epicurean taste experience as his chocolate shop. Glacé, offers ice cream and sorbet flavors ranging from the creamy and sweet Goat Cheese & Wildflower Honey, to Boulevard Brewery Bob’s 47, a flavor using Kansas’ own Boulevard beer. My personal favorite is Salted Pretzel, but the description of that should be a blog post in itself.

Once my weekend in the Crown City has drawn to an end, Morpheus and I will be headed back to the airport. I’ll be back here in late September and I’ll stop into Christopher Elbow’s again to try the new fall flavors. Can I bring anything back for you?

By: Chris Hoffman

For more information visit: www.ElbowChocolates.com / www.GlaceIceCream.com

Visiting the Toledo Museum of Art was a regular experience when I was a kid. I took classes there as a child, exhibited there as a young painter and taught there as an adult. Of the many uniquely wonderful items housed in this unexpected gem of a museum, two paintings changed my perception of art. The first is a strange underwarter-like landscape by Yves Tanguy called the “Passage of a Smile” [great image and amazing title - more on that in a later post] and the second is the crisp and colorful photo realistic masterpiece “Helene’s Florist” by Richard Estes. It was Estes… it was this piece… that first made me want to be a painter.

Helene’s Florist, oil on canvas, 1971

Richard Estes is a photorealist painter who studied at the Chicago Institute of Art. His paintings generally represent colorful city images capturing layers of reflective surfaces and glass. These are the kind of paintings you can sit and stare at for hours. He captures the slices of color and the depth of glass perfectly; a second of life in a busy city frozen in time.

By: Chris Hoffman

Click Here to see more images by Richard Estes.