Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte Larabars

Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte Larabars what?!!?

I thought I was a Larabar superfan but I was completely blindsided by the presence of this little guy at my local Whole Foods on Monday:

Where did this come from? I couldn't find a single mention of this new flavor on Larabar's website, nor on their Facebook page. All I could come up with were a few random blog hits mentioning the new bar.

Larabar, I thought we had something special. YOU WERE MY FIRST BLOG POST! But apparently you don't care and you go out with new flavors without any regard for my feelings.

Anyway, let's talk about the Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte flavor.

I love chocolate in any form, but I generally eschew cherries outside of their fresh and raw state. Even not being a huge cherry fan, I really enjoyed the new Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte Larabar. The cherry flavor isn't nearly as intense as the Cherry Pie Larabar, and the addition of cashews and almonds into the mix makes it taste like a decadent dessert. Oh, and the chocolate chips were fantastic, of course.

And the nutritionals:

Apparently, along with the arrival of the Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte flavor comes the retirement of the Cinnamon Roll flavor. I can't say I'm too upset about that, as the Cinnamon Roll flavor was one of my very least favorites and was always difficult to find, presumably because no one was too interested in buying it. Larabar keeps coming out with better and better flavors (hello Blueberry Muffin) and it only makes sense that they throw out some of the dead weight along the way.


Website:
http://www.larabar.com

Sweet Action Ice Cream

Sweet Action is kind of a big deal, and everyone I know has been telling me this for months now.

So it finally came time, on an insanely hot summer day this past weekend, for me to check out what exactly the big deal was.

Sweet Action is known for delicious ice cream, but it's even better known for a constantly changing array of unique flavor options. Think Horchata or Strawberry Balsamic. Or Biscuits and Jam. Flavors change on a weekly-ish basis and are difficult to pinpoint at any particular point in time without walking into the store. Their website is sparse on flavor details in any form, but their Facebook page divulges new flavors regularly. Vegans will be happy to know that they offer several vegan options at any time.

After all the excitement building up to my Sweet Action visit, I was surprised to see the complete lack of decor both inside and outside the shop. It's like someone took an insanely clean car repair garage and turned it into an ice cream parlor. The interior has only a few tables, and a garage door that gets retracted on searing hot days like the one when I visited.

This is just part of the flavor list for the day:

Flavors offered the day of my visit - some of them

Life has been a bit hectic lately, so I had to suffice with grabbing a couple pints for later enjoyment between Mr. Oyster and myself. I selflessly picked out two flavors I thought the husband would love - Red Velvet and Crunchy Peanut Butter - before rushing out the door. At $5.25 each, I thought it was a bit pricey, even for an avid sugar freak like myself.

Flash forward a few hours later, back at the house, spoons in hand, and we went to work:

The red velvet had a white ice cream base that tasted like regular vanilla, with small pieces of red velvet cake mixed in. The texture was perfectly light and fluffy. My first few bites, however, were disappointing. The base ice cream and red velvet pieces lacked punch. It took me several spoonfuls before I finally found what I was looking for: cream cheese frosting.

Red Velvet Ice Cream Pint

Cream cheese frosting is the amazing component that makes a red velvet cake not taste like nothing, and I wish there was more of it in this ice cream. The flavor was decent overall, but didn't quite provide enough tastebud excitement to live up to my beloved Ben and Jerry's Red Velvet Cake.

The Crunchy Peanut Butter flavor had a peanut butter ice cream base, with salted peanuts interspersed throughout. The ice cream had the same wonderfully fluffy texture as the Red Velvet, and a light peanut butter taste. I enjoyed the salted peanuts, but wished there were far more of them, and I would've preferred a stronger peanut butter taste to the ice cream base.

Crunchy Peanut Butter pint. More peanuts please.

My husband, the peanut butter fanatic, was only lukewarm about this flavor. I liked it alright, but slightly preferred the Red Velvet.

I'm obsessed with the flavor options at Sweet Action, and want to go back to try more of their varieties.  I didn't fall in love with either of the two flavors I tried, but I hope my ice cream soulmate lurks among their other zillions of flavors.


Everyday Dining

(7 of 10)

Pros: Endless flavor options, excellent texture, clean store
Cons: Not enough taste to some flavors, expensive (in pint form at least), lack of parking

Website:
http://www.sweetactionicecream.com/

Fiona's Natural Foods Almond Chocolate Chip Quinoa Bars

I saw this bar at my local Whole Foods with the "I'm a Local" tag below it, and I knew I had to get one in my belly and on my little food review website.  After all, I love almonds, I love chocolate, I eat way too many energy bars, and I sort of like quinoa.

Fiona's All Natural Almond Chocolate Chip Quinoa Bar

Intriguing. I thought the quinoa concept was promising for an energy bar. That was, until I took my first bite.

This was hard to eat. There was way, way too much of an "all-natural" taste to these bars. I thought the flax seed taste completely overwhelmed the flavor of the other ingredients. I can definitely taste the quinoa, but its natural nuttiness and chewy texture are muted. One redeeming quality to this bar is the generous amount of sweet chocolate blobs it contains throughout.

This isn't low in calories - it's not supposed to be - but it does have decent nutritionals. Not decent enough, however, to justify my eating it again. Oh, and the $2.69 price tag is killer.

And Fiona, please check your spelling:

Yes, that says evaporated can juice.

Fiona's is based in Boulder (of course), and focuses on traditional granola rather than bars or quinoa. Maybe that's the better way to go with their products.

Website:
http://www.fionasgranola.com

Root Down

My husband and I first visited Root Down in the Highlands for dinner several months ago, and we loved it. Last night, we went back for seconds. 

Root Down is located on a fairly quiet, mostly residential street in the Highlands. Like Lola or Duo down the street, it is trendy and urban and filled with nicely dressed people. The interior is basically simple and modern, but decorated with vintage photos that had no apparent ties to the restaurant itself.

Root Down's philosophy centers around the increasingly popular "field to fork" concept, using fresh, local ingredients whenever possible. I imagine that's not the easiest way to go in Denver, but their menu credits numerous local suppliers. They also manage to cater to a very wide spectrum of dietary needs. The menu contains meat and seafood options alongside vegetarian and vegan dishes. Nearly everything can be prepared gluten-free, and they offer a raw dinner menu once a month. My husband and I don't have much of an "omnivore's dilemma" apparently; we stuck with mostly meat dishes.

The menu at Root Down is geared toward small plates that can be shared among diners. Even the "main course" dishes come in smaller, tapas-sized portions. Our waitress was attentive and extremely familiar with the details of the menu, and she offered several recommendations. After some heated decision-making, we settled on the Carrot & Thai Red Curry Soup, the "Devils on Horseback", the Buffalo Sliders and the Beef Tender.

The soup arrived first, it was a surprisingly large portion with a bright yellow-orange color. And it was delicious. The soup contains a "pear and apple chutney" which was actually blended into the soup; the sweet flavor of the fruit perfectly contrasted the spiciness of the curry. The broth was rich and creamy, making the soup a very filling starter.

Carrot and Thai Red Curry Soup



Next up was the Devils on Horseback; from the menu: "Date & Goat Cheese stuffed Peppadews, wrapped in Serrano Ham, Smoked Paprika-Sherry Gastrique". The bite-size pieces were tiny but extremely rich and flavorful. The Peppadew peppers were both sweet and spicy, nicely balanced by richness of the ham and goat cheese.

Devils on Horseback

Also delicious - but not quite as memorable as the first two courses - were the Buffalo Sliders and the Beef Tender (the latter was a half order of an entree portion). The sliders were pleasantly juicy for buffalo meat and flavored by array of condiments that included aged cheddar, caramelized onions, tomato chutney, and pickles.

Buffalo Sliders

We finished  the meal with the Seasonal Fruit Crumble, the seasonal fruit in late-April being apple (really?). It wasn't obvious from the menu, but apparently this was a vegan dessert. It was light and only mildly sweet, containing a nutty topping as the "crumble". A scoop of lemon sorbet on top brought out the tartness of the apples. The dessert was satisfying but a little lacking in flavor.



Apple Crumble



Overall, an excellent meal, but maybe just a little too much food. Our bill came to $68 for all the dishes described above plus a beer for each of us.  

 

I do have one very loud complaint, however, before I wrap up. Root Down seats maybe 80 people at full capacity. Get this: there is only one women's restroom for the whole restaurant. I was floored when I discovered this. Prepare to wait in line, ladies. And wait, and wait, and wait. 

I'll be back in a heartbeat, but I hope they can get the "facilities" upgraded!

Casual Dining

(9 of 10)

Pros: Amazing food, fresh ingredients, unique preparations, great service

Cons: Extent of vegan/vegetarian options comes at expense of fewer meat and seafood dishes. Waiting forever for the bathroom.

Website:

http://www.rootdowndenver.com/

Justin's Nut Butter

I can't let this website exist any longer without a mention of Justin's Nut Butter. I eat the stuff at least several times a week, it's delicious, it's from Colorado, and it's a pretty big deal.

Justin's debuted at the peak of the "100-Calorie" portion craze with their wonderful mini-packets of nut butters. Except that Justin's isn't just for calorie-counters. The true genius in squeezing nut butters into pre-portioned packets is that it not only appeals to the diet-concious, but also a completely separate demographic of outdoorsy healthy types that just want nutritious nut butter on the go.

I'm part of their customer base that appreciates the packaging preventing me from eating myself into nut butter oblivion. My favorite is this little guy:

Justin's 90 calorie Maple Almond Butter. I eat it on apples and bananas, in yogurt and cereal bowls, and on Banana Walnut Hemp Manna Bread.  The 90-calorie portion is perfect for a small snack. However, the 0.5 oz, 90-calorie packets can be much harder to track down than the regular old jars and 1-oz packets. The only place I've found them is at Whole Foods, and at $0.69 per packet, they get expensive quickly. 

Justin's claims to be based in Boulder, but I can't find them. And I guess they're not visitor-friendly, either. Their products are apparently produced nearby in Louisville, and there's no tours or visits available at their facility. Disappointing, but I won't let it stop me from eating nut butter packets left and right.

Website:
http://www.justinsnutbutter.com/

Blueberry Muffin Larabar

FINALLY.  Blueberry Muffin Larabars debuted months ago, and I haven't been able to track one down until last Friday. 

Believe me, my inability to get my hands on one of these bars was not for lack of trying.  I searched everywhere.  Only one place - my local Whole Foods -seemed to carry them, but they were constantly sold out.  I did have one close encounter there, when I witnessed a frantic-yet-elated woman grab the only remaining Blueberry Muffin Larabars on the shelf, before scurrying away like a squirrel with the last acorns of the season.  I had missed my Blueberry Muffin opportunity by a few devastating seconds.

That was weeks ago, and I thought maybe it just wasn't going to happen for me.  But last week I was in the right place at the right time. It was my turn to be that frantic woman buying all the remaining Blueberry Muffin Larabars at Whole Foods.

The verdict? Absolutely worth the wait. They are perfect.  The duplication of blueberry muffin taste with so few all-natural ingredients is impressive. They're more moist than most Larabars, and slightly lower in calories (only 190 instead of 200-230).  They also contain a couple ingredients not normally included in Larabars: lemon juice concentrate, which adds a slight tartness, and vanilla, which makes them taste like a home-baked good.

See my updated Larabar review and rankings.  Blueberry Muffin is now #1 of the "non-chocolate-chip" Larabar flavors.

Website:
http://www.larabar.com/

Larabars

I remember sometime around 2004 when a friend announced to me that she'd just stumbled upon a great new line of (energy? nutrition? not-granola? not-protein?) bars, made here in Colorado and with only a few ingredients - all raw - in each bar. I was skeptical.  Where was the high fructose corn syrup sweetened "granola" filling, and the chocolately coating made of fractionated palm kernel oil?  

At that time, I was not interested.  However, as I've moved toward eating minimally processed foods, Lara and I have formed a special bond.  I eat these tasty, portable, mostly-date-plus-nuts-and-other-fruit bars about two or three times a week.

Late last year, Larabar debuted new flavors containing chocolate chips in their standard fruit-and-nut backbone. I was a little horrified; the inclusion of added sugar in their bars seemed like a reckless departure from their all-raw, all-vegan roots.  But who am I kidding? I love chocolate chunks in anything I eat.  In fact, I love them so much, that my reviews below have the chocolate chip flavors in a completely separate category. I can't compare apples to chocolate chip cookie dough!

Below, a ranking of all 16 current flavors of "non-chocolate-chippy" Larabars in the order I love them, with my two cents thrown on for many of them:

Note - List was edited April 3, 2011 to include Blueberry Muffin flavor

#1: Blueberry Muffin - See my review of this flavor.
#2: Peanut Butter Cookie - Seriously does (ok, in a peanuts-in-a-date-matrix sort of way) taste like a peanut butter cookie.  And I love peanut butter.
#3: Cashew Cookie - Has anyone ever heard of a cashew cookie? I haven't.  But these are delicious.
#4: Banana Bread - I could eat banana bread by the loaf.  Or by the sack full.  Or by the wheelbarrow full.  But in the absense of a wheelbarrow full of actual banana bread, these are a great substitute.
#5:  Chocolate Coconut Chew
#6: Lemon Bar
#7: Peanut Butter & Jelly - As you can tell from above, I love peanut butter. But I'm actually not a huge cherry fan (cherry is the "jelly" in these bars).
#8: Key Lime Pie - My husband is a huge (real) key lime pie fan, and he loves these
#9 Carrot Cake - I had really, really high hopes for these bars.  But they've let me down a bit. Too much "tropical fruit tart" taste and not enough carrot cake-y ness.
#10: Pecan Pie
#11 : Tropical Fruit Tart
#12: Coconut Cream Pie
#13: Apple Pie
#14: Ginger Snap - WOA this is some strong ginger snap flavor.  Not bad but very intense.  I can only get excited about these once in a while
#15 Cinnamon Roll
#16: Cherry Pie - Really just personal preference that this one is dead last, but I'm not a huge cherry fan. (In Cherry Pie's defense, my husband loves them and was outraged over my negative review).

And the chocolate chip flavors:
#1: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough - WHO KNEW DATES + CASHEWS + SALT = COOKIE DOUGH? Genius. Tastes shockingly similar to the real deal.
#2: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip - Reese's Peanut Butter Cup fused with dates and mutated into Lara form. What's not to like?
#3: Chocolate Chip Brownie - Very strong cocoa taste in the matrix. Wasn't too crazy about these at first but they've grown on me.

Website:
http://www.larabar.com/