Hawaii: In Real Life at Padovani’s Chocolates

Are handmade chocolates really more special than mass-produced ones? What goes into making them? In this week’s episode of Hawaii: In Real Life, I went to Padovani’s Chocolates in Dole Cannery to learn more about the handmade confections.

The man himself, Chef Philippe Padovani, gave me an abbreviated lesson in one small part of the chocolate-making process: Filling the shells. He had already tempered the chocolate and had molds ready to go; all I had to do was fill them properly with his unique kalamansi caramel. Should I keep my day job? Find out!

I’ll admit, the best part of the chocolate lesson was eating the finished product. I swear, I didn’t make those mistakes on purpose!

In the rest of the episode (which is actually #30 on Hawaii IRL), Padovani wowed me and Ed Morita with a couple of demonstrations in chocolate. Later, Ed wowed me with photos of his own elaborate chocolate creations — back when he had hair. So make sure you watch the rest of the episode!

Bonus: Russ Sumida (a.k.a. @Parkrat), who doesn’t eat fruits or vegetables, was forced to eat cherries at Padovani’s. He had a cold, and the cherries miraculously made him feel better. Here’s the clip.

Please leave your questions and comments here about Hawaii IRL, Padovani’s chocolates, and anything else you’d like to see. Next week, join us at Ono To Go, one of the new food trucks in town.

========

You can read all of Melissa’s blogs at www.nonstophonolulu.com/urbanmixplate. Follow Melissa on Twitter@Melissa808, on Foursquare as Melissa808, or email at Melissa@nonstophonolulu.com.

My recent blog posts:
Black Friday aftermath
Happy Thanksgiving
Introducing Hawaii: In Real Life
Visiting the Waialua cacao farm
It’s super sake week!
Breakfast at Eggs n’ Things
Stewing for a good cause
Sushi Surfer Sliders and more