Taylor Blend, ChocoChai

Taylor Blend is an amazing coffee shop tucked away Eastern suburbs of Adelaide at 34 Hallet Road, Stoneyfell next to a couple of parks. This is hugely popular on a Sunday morning with many cyclists making this a regular stopping off point for their morning coffee. Taylor Blend sells a big range of coffees and exotic hot beverages. A limited variety of premade sandwiches and desserts are also available. Taylor Blend is on the list of Internet Hot Spots that have been reviewed in this blog.

The Chocochai drink is a hot chocolate blended with Chai tea. This gives the hot chocolate a sweet and spicy flavour. It was presented with a white froth and an squiggly pattern on top in a white ceramic cup. The cost was four dollars.

Fraüs at Kibbi's

Merkel and Myrtle returned to Kibbi's Café late on Saturday evening after attending the movies. On a previous visit, Kibbi's had been all out of the Fraüs Hot Chocolate, which is one of Merkel's favourites. This evening was different. Kibbi's only had the one flavour but it was the Fraüs classic dark chocolate.

The Fraüs hot chocolate came in a Ceramic cup and indeed it was very dark. There seemed to be some sprinkles of chocolate an top and two marshmallows were provided in the saucer. The drink was hot so it need to be sipped slowly but was a good temperature for melting a dunked marshmallow. The Fraus hot chocolate which comes out of a sachet approaches the taste and consistency of the thick Italian hot chocolates that come from a chocolate mixer. It is better than the Cioconat hot chocolate in this regard. At Kibbi's the Fraüs hot chocolate cost $4.90.

Internet Hot Spots

Readers of this blog may be interested in where they can go to get wireless internet access for the laptop, ipod or other devices. More that 110 Cafes are listed by going to the internode site and selecting Café's in South Australia. About half of these have been reviewed on this blog. Readers can go to any of the following Cafés, locate Hot Chocolate: Dark Desires and check whether it is worth ordering a hot chocolate.

227 Expresso Cafe	227 North Tce	Adelaide, SA
Adelaide Central Plaza Food Court	100 Rundle Mall	Adelaide, SA
Adelaide Festival Centre	King William Rd	Adelaide, SA
Alice's Kitchen	46 Gawler St	Mount Barker, SA
Amico Café	333 King William Street	Adelaide, SA
Bean Bar, Waymouth St	60 Waymouth Street	Adelaide, SA
Bean Bar, Hindmarsh Square	151 Pirie Street	Adelaide, SA
Bean Bar, City Cross	Shop T20, James Place	Adelaide, SA
Bean Bar, Adelaide Central Market	34A Gouger St	Adelaide, SA
Boston's Café	Shop 22-23, Da Costa Arcade	Adelaide, SA
BTS Café	33A Pirie Street	Adelaide, SA
Cafe Amore	162-170 Pulteney Street	Adelaide, SA
Cafe Brunelli	187 Rundle St	Adelaide, SA
Cafe Fellini	102 O'Connell STreet	North Adelaide, SA
Cafe Marmalade	61A Edward Street	Norwood, SA
Cafe Paradiso	150A King William Rd	Hyde Park, SA
Caffe Como	108 Flinders St	Adelaide, SA
Caffe L'Incontro, Gays Arcade	16 Twin Street	Adelaide, SA
Chocolate Bean	18 Union Street	Adelaide, SA
Cibo Espresso, Gouger St	41 Gouger St	Adelaide, SA
Cibo Espresso, Adelaide	218 Rundle St	Adelaide, SA
Cibo Espresso, Norwood	161 The Parade	Norwood, SA
Cibo Espresso, Hyde Park	156 King William Rd	Hyde Park, SA
Cibo Espresso, Glenelg	15 Moseley Square	Glenelg, SA
Cibo Espresso, Adelaide	82 King William St	Adelaide, SA
Cibo Espresso, Pirie St	97 Pirie St	Adelaide, SA
Cikolatte	133 Melbourne St	North Adelaide, SA
Citrus Tree	85 Pirie Street	Adelaide, SA
De Luca's on the Park	24 Hindmarsh Square	Adelaide, SA
Deli on Pulteney	62 Pulteney St	Adelaide, SA
Dragonfly Bar	193 Victoria Sq	Adelaide, SA
East Terrace Continental Cafe	6 East Tce	Adelaide, SA
Fresh Fired	108 King William Street	Adelaide, SA
Joy Discovery Cafe	13 Bent Street	Adelaide, SA
Hahndorf Kaffehaus	51 Main St	Hahndorf, SA
Halifax Café	187 Halifax St	Adelaide, SA
Kibbis Café	185 King William Rd	Hyde Park, SA
La Piazza	70 Hindmarsh Square	Adelaide, SA
Lime2 Café	70 Light Square	Adelaide, SA
Manna Caffe	12 Waymouth Street	Adelaide, SA
Nano Ready2Go	23 Ebenezer Pl	Adelaide, SA
Pat A Cake	50 Duthy Street	Malvern, SA
Passion Fruit Dessert Bar	Shop P17, Intercontinental Hotel, North Terrace	Adelaide, SA
Perfect Cup	77 Grenfell Street	Adelaide, SA
Piazza 99	99 Gawler Place	Adelaide, SA
Providore on Parade	211A The Parade	Norwood, SA
QC on Angas	3 Angas St	Adelaide, SA
Rush Espresso Food	34 James Place	Adelaide, SA
South Australian Museum Halifax Café	North Terrace	Adelaide, SA
Scootz	441 Pulteney Street	Adelaide, SA
Serves You Right Cafe	139 Unley Rd	Unley, SA
Stax Subs and Coffee	36 Waymouth St	Adelaide, SA
Sylvias Café	Hindmarsh Square	Adelaide, SA
T Bar	100 Rundle Mall	Adelaide, SA
Taylor Blend Cafe	34 Hallett Rd	Stonyfell, SA
Tempo Café	128 Hindley St	Adelaide, SA
The Lunch Room	132 Grenfell St	Adelaide, SA
The Office	110 Pirie Street	Adelaide, SA
Totally Fresh	96 Gawler Pl	Adelaide, SA
Un Caffe Bar, King William St	1 King William St	Adelaide, SA
Un Caffe Bar, Waymouth St	11 Waymouth St	Adelaide, SA
Viva Espresso	70 Pirie St	Adelaide, SA
Zedz Café	Adelaide Central Market	Adelaide, SA

Florentines Bakehouse

This Bakery and Café is one of a group of shops at 383 Fullarton Road, Fullarton. It sells a range of cakes and sweet treats but they will also do a toasted sandwich if you need something savoury. It was one of the exhibitors in the SALA 2010 Festival but the artwork and been packed away when Merkel and Myrtle visited for breakfast after the festival. This café is neat and clean and has plenty of light coming in through the big windows.

The hot chocolate came in a white ceramic cup and was finished with a white froth and a sprinkle of chocolate powder. The drink lacked the richness and creaminess that Merkel craves in a good hot chocolate. The cost was $3.80.

Seven Stars Hotel

The Seven Stars Hotel at 187 Angas Street Adelaide does not look much on the outside but inside has some big spacious dining areas. It is right next to the Angas Street Snack Bar and seems to be managed by the same group as The Gallery on Waymouth. The Hotel was one of the exhibitors in the recent SALA Festival and some of paintings from that are still on the walls. The Seven Stars is popular and offers a good Hotel menu at reasonable prices.

The hot chocolate was $3.50 and comes in a glass with a handle on a saucer. It was topped with a white frorth and a sprinkle of cocoa. The drink was a little sweet with a hint of cinnamon or vanilla essence.

Rush Espresso

Rush Espresso is a little food place at 34 James Place. There are three tables inside and about five tables outside. In the cold weather it was a bit in chilly even at the inside tables. It is also an internet hotspot.

The hot chocolate came in a big Ducale coffee mug with outer drinker-facing advertising and cost $3.80. It was topped with a white froth and a sprinkle of chocolate powder. The drink taste was a reasonably rich milk chocolate flavour and was warming on a cold day.

Waymouth Café

The Waymouth Café at 242 Waymouth Street in the Adelaide CBD is a few doors West of Pages Cafe. It has seven tables inside and three outside on the pavement. The Café serves a range of sandwiches and roles and also has a deep fryer of fish and chips.

The hot chocolate was $3.40 and came in a generous ceramic mug. It was topped with a brown froth and a sprinkle of chocolate powder. It had rich creamy milk chocolate flavour.

Return to Lucia's, Central Market

Merkel returned to Lucia's in the Adelaide Central Market. Lucia's have a fine food store and their Pizzeria and Spaghetti Bar right next to each other in the Market. The Lucia's fine food store is also at Mitcham and they sell a good drinking chocolate. Lucia's always seems to busy even on days where most of the other stalls are closed.

The hot chocolate is delicious and distinctly different many of the standard cafes. The drink is served in a Ceramic cup with just a dollop of white froth on the dark bubbly chocolate. The hot chocolate costs $3.20.

Angas Street Snack Bar

This snack bar is at 181 Angas Street next to Seven Stars Hotel. There are tables inside and outside. It has a good range of sandwiches and quick meals. The roast lamb role was very tasty. The girl on service counter was a bit disengaged, getting my change wrong and spilling my hot chocolate.

The hot chocolate came in a Vittoria coffee cup with outer drinker-facing advertising and cost $3.30. It was watery with a thin attempt at froth and a sprinkle of chocolate powder.

Tart Café

It was the final day of the SALA 2010 art festival on Sunday. In Hyde Park King William Road was blocked off for the "SALA on Sale" finale. There was music, artists showing there skills, and live radio coverage. There was also a large marquee showing the works of a range of artists from South Australia.

Tart Café was not one of the SALA exhibitors but was handy and open for breakfast. This is a small Café with a dozen tables inside and a couple of on the footpath outside at 155 King William Road opposite Café Luna Rosso. The Tart Café does a standard range of breakfasts and sandwiches.

The hot chocolate came in a red ceramic cup and was topped with a white froth and sprinkle of chocolate powder. The drink was thin and not rich enough and cost $3.50.

Julia's Café/Book@Cino/Julia Farr Kiosk

Merkel and Myrtle were recently requested to offer their vote on who should run Australia. It seemed appropriate that the nearest polling booth to the Marmaduke residence was in Julia's Café. After some research it became evident that the Prime Ministerial hopeful, Julia Guillard had little to do with the running this Café. According to an article "Breakfast at Julias" in the The Byron Shire Echo this privilege is reserved for a Café in Byron Bay. Julia's Café is part of the Julia Farr Centre at 103 Fisher Street, Fullarton. The Café on polling day was not functioning as a Café, instead there is another comfortable internet Café in the same building called Book@Cino which is also referred to as the Julia Farr Kiosk.

The hot chocolate at Book@Cino came in a tall black ceramic mug with the work "Coffee" etched around the side. It was served on a saucer with a white marshmallow. The hot chocolate was finished with a bubbly froth and sprinkle of chocolate powder. The chocolate flavour was a distinctive Swiss style chocolate and was rich and creamy. The cost was $3.70.

Cups and Advertising

Readers of this blog will know that Merkel Marmaduke occasionally contributes insights into the science and culture of drinking hot chocolate.

Most people in the world are right handed and most right-handed people in the world will hold a cup by its handle in their right hand. Advertisers have different approaches to placing the advertising on a cup or mug. Coffee and hot chocolate cup advertising can be divided into categories depending on which way the advertising faces.

Outside Drinker-Facing Advertising
Advertising is mostly placed on the outside of the cup. It would seem that the advertising or logo usually faces the right-handed drinker.

Caffe Aurora at Maki Maki puts the advertising on the side facing the right-handed drinker.
Piazza D'Oro is the same at La Piazza and Bravo Espresso also do this.
The Mocoban cup at True Blue also has the main logo facing the drinker.

Griffiths Coffee faces toward the drinker at Le Bon and the food plaza but at Charlie's place the Griffith's logo faces away from the right-handed drinker.

On the Lavazza web-site there seems to be two types. The little cups that the models hold present the logo away from the drinker, but the cups not being held on the other Lavazza web pages have the logo facing the drinker. The latter types of cups are the ones Merkel has drank his hot chocolate from at The Light Hotel, The Strand Café and many others.

Outside Viewer-Facing Advertising
The logic of having advertising facing the drinkers company (the viewer) rather than the drinker is that this presents the advertising to someone who is possibly not already a consumer of the drink and there is an implicit endorsement of the drinker for the brand.

It would seem Ciocanat wants its cup users to advertise to people other than the cup holder as the advertising faces away from the right-handed drinker. Ciocanat is the only advertiser that specialty hot chocolate vendor mentioned here.

Segafredo Zanetti faces the viewer rather than the drinker. Liberty Café at Tusmore Bakery and the Coffex brand at Kibbi's also faces towards the viewer.

Outside Two-Faced Advertising
Some of the above research has been conducted on photographic evidence that only displays one side of the coffee cup. Most advertising only appears on one side of the cup but it is possible that some of the above are actually examples of outside two-faced advertising.

Genovese coffee cups at the Edge Café have the brands on both sides.

Inside Drinker-Facing Advertising
Vittoria ceramic coffee cups at the Esplanade hotel have the brand inside facing the right handed drinker. Vittoria also makes a red ceramic coffee cup at Jam the Bistro. The Vittoria logo is found in the same place as the white ceramic cup.

It is theoretically possibly to have inside viewer facing advertising but is unlikely to be much of a benefit as it is more difficult to see inside a coffee cup from a distance than to see the outside.

Other Options
Michel's Patisserie brand name faces away and sometimes toward the drinker. There are different designs depending on the outlet.

The ubiquitous Vittoria opaque glass with a wire handle (see for example Broadway Kiosk, Brunelli Café and Café Palazzo) is an interesting phenomenon. The brand is etched on the outside and does not display well in photographs, but the direction it faces will probably depend on how the wire handle was fixed. The ones I have seen face the drinker but it would not surprise me if some handles are loose and can be oriented so the brand either faces the drinker of faces away.

If you are lucky enough to get a Hudsons hot chocolate served in a ceramic mug, the logo is opposite to the handle which is something different again.

Conclusion
There is obvious possibilities for further research that can be done on this topic. It would seem that most advertising is focused on advising the right-handed drinker what brand they are drinking but some other possibilities offer interesting variations and brand dissemination strategies.

The Esplanade Hotel

After visiting the Edge Delicatessen Café, Merkel and Myrtle looked at a number of the other SALA 2010 exhibits in Brighton. These exhibitions were at Skillitzai Glass Studio, Adelaide Stained Glass Studio, MP3 Café, Café Prego and Ninos Espresso. Merkel's appetite for a hot chocolate did not return until the couple got to the The Esplanade Hotel on the corner of Jetty Road and the Esplanade at Brighton.

The Esplanade is at and ideal location looking over the Jetty and the sea. The artwork by Margie Cockshell-Green was apt for the seaside location depicting idyllic island locations and scenery. The artworks were prints on canvas and were colourful and decorative without evoking any great passion in the viewer.

The hot chocolate came in a Vittoria coffee glass with a wire handle. There was plenty froth and a sprinkle of the chocolate powder on top. The texture was creamy but it was not chocolaty enough for Merkel's taste. The drink came with a pink and a white marshmallow.

Edge Delicatessen Café

The SALA Festival 2010 continues for a few more days and there is still an opportunity to visit a number of good venues throughout Adelaide. Merkel and Myrtle venture down to Jetty Road Brighton one morning and saw a number of the exhibits on the "SALA by the Seaside" art trial. The main precincts are the Jetty Road Glenelg and Jetty Road Brighton.

Edge Delicatessen Café at 47 Jetty Road Brighton, is on the SALA by the Seaside art trail but not in the main SALA programme. The Café is a converted old building with retro Laminex furniture much like The Deli or Café Komodo. The Edge provided a good menu of breakfasts and lunches. The exhibition was by artist Barbara Randell who paints in a naïve style and mostly landscapes. One work that particularly appealed to Merkel was the painting of the Café displayed on the front window of Edge.

The hot chocolate was only available in mugs at $4.60. It came in a big square mug and saucer with a pink marshmallow. The drink had a dark flavour but was not rich enough. It had a bubbly froth with a liberal sprinkle of chocolate powder.

Phat Coffee

This Café is at 207 Hindley Street opposite UniSA City West Campus. Phat Coffee is somewhere you can buy a range a pre-packaged meals at reasonable prices. This is a similar concept to Lunch'n Latte but there are people at the counter to hand you a plastic wrapped roll rather than having to pick it off the shelf yourself.

The one thing they do make fresh at Phat Café is the hot beverages. The hot chocolate comes in a glass and saucer with a white froth and a sprinkle of chocolate powder. The drink costs $3.30 and is a good rich milk chocolate flavour.

Kappy's Café Revisited

Kappy's Café at 53 Flinders St Adelaide is still a favourite venue of your reviewer. It is also a SALA 2010 venue this year although the exhibit listed in the program is photographs by Ross Daly. Instead there seems to be some colourful oil paintings by another artist.

On this occasion Kappy's provided me with a rich and creamy hot chocolate in a decorative mug with no marshmallows. My preference is the hot chocolate in the stemmed glass that they do with two marshmallows but that will set you back about $4.40 and you will have to ask specifically for it.

Hudsons, Ashford

Hudsons has eleven coffee shops in Adelaide including two at Adelaide Airport and five in hospitals. Airports are extreme example of Café Foyerism where Cafes or coffee shops are located in the foyer area of other large buildings. The Hudsons at Ashford Hospital is more typical example with the café being a welcome and prominent addition to fairly impressive foyer.

Your reviewer had the opportunity to taste the Hudsons fare at Adelaide Airport earlier but this was not an entirely satisfactory drinking experience as the drink was in a paper cup and your reviewer's aeroplane started to board before he received the drink. Hudsons at Ashford Hospital was quite a different experience.

This occasion was a leisurely chat with a friend in hospital and the hot chocolate was served in ceramic mugs. Hudsons served a Belgian hot chocolate finished with a brown froth and sprinkle of hot chocolate. The beverages could be purchased for $3.20, $3.80 or $4.40. The marshmallow may have been available for 30 cents extra as was the case at Adelaide Airport but the $3.80 mug was served without a saucer. Unfortunately the only spoons available were plastic ones. The flavour of hot chocolate was great and the drink was creamy and rich.

Eggless Dessert Café

This peculiarly named Café is at 162 Goodwood Road, opposite the Capri cinema and the Brown Dog Café. It is popular dessert venue and provides some wonderful and original taste options but is only open after 8pm from Wednesday to Sunday. It is also an exhibitor of the SALA Festival 2010 with an exhibition by Michelle Lee inspired by the dessert from the Eggless Dessert Café. "Dessert First" is a series of small colourful oil paintings which try to capture the mood and colourings of the Desserts from the Café.

The hot chocolate was $4.50 and had a Belgian chocolate flavour that would be worthy of Bracegirdles or Chocolate at No 5 . It came in a white mug with a bubbly brown froth and a spiral of chocolate powder. This was rich and delicious.

True Blue Snack Bar Café

True Blue can be found at 118 Winston Ave, in Melrose Park open on a Sunday Morning. This is a fairly basic snack bar but has a few war photos on the wall.

The hot chocolate comes in a Mocopan coffee cup with a light froth and sprinkle of chocolate powder on top. The drink was watery and not particularly tasty but was only three dollars.

Café Sabatini

This Café at 56 Glen Osmond Road provides table service and offers a wide variety of Italian style meals for lunch and dinner. Café Sabatini is exhibiting as part of the SALA 2010 Festival. There are four works exhibit here by David Thornton-Wakeford. These are large framed pictures incorporating a detailed photographs and some poetry on a wine theme. My favourite was a photo of a dog in a ute and an accompanying parody on "Advance Australia Fair" about relaxing on a long weekend.

The hot chocolate was well presented featuring a glass with a wire handle and saucer with a white and a pink marshmallow. The drink was finished with a white and brown froth and "S" rendered in chocolate syrup. Unfortunately the hot chocolate was watery and disappointed for such a good looking drink. The hot chocolate cost $3.50.

The Historian

The Historian Hotel is a wonderful old building at 18 Coromandel Place which is a little laneway between Pirie Street and Grenfell Street. It is a fine restaurant with good table service and is also a SALA 2010 venue. As the bar is in the middle of the restaurant it can be a little noisy at lunch time but the food selection is varied with some tasty dishes.

The exhibition was called "Eclecticism" and featured three very different artists. Blue Byrne is a painter with classic style and showed a couple of still life compositions and a portrait. Daniel Connell exhibited bold use of the paint knife and striking colour usage in his portraits and landscapes. Jana Braddock's works were more whimsical and abstract. She combined detailed pencil drawings with beads and splashes of Shiraz wine in a number of curious compositions.

The hot chocolate came in a glass and saucer and was finished with a pile of white froth and sprinkle of chocolate powder. The drink was a rich milk chocolate flavour and cost $3.30.

My Way Café

One of the highlights of the My Way Café is the big picture of Frank Sinatra singing into a hot dog instead of a microphone. It is a few doors west of 83 on Currie at 97 Currie Street. This is a big Café with plenty of seating inside and a couple of tables outside.

The hot chocolate was only three dollars and came in a glass and saucer. It had a white froth and a swirl of chocolate powder on top. The drink was a rich milk chocolate flavour although a bit sweet for your reviewers taste.

Mary Martin's Bookshop & Café

Mary Maritin's has been an important bookshop in Adelaide since 1945. It has recently opened a Bookstore & Café in the old Norwood Baptist church which is a very grand old building still complete with its pipe organ. Two other bookshop Cafés reviewed on this site are Borders and Pages. The combination of reading and imbibing in a Café seems to work well.

On the day that your reviewer visited Mary Martin's and Norwood the building was also functioning as a gallery for SALA 2010 Art Festival. The exhibition was Elizabeth Pascale's "Phantasmagoria". These were serene, simple and well crafted paintings all featuring the night sky.

The hot chocolate came in an original-looking tumbler glass. Unfortunately the glass was little hard to grip and was too hot to hold initially, but looked quite decorative. The hot chocolate was finished with white froth and streaks of chocolate powder. It was evident that chocolate syrup had been used. This was decorative but tended to make the drink too sweet which was disappointing because the drink had a rich dark flavour. The hot chocolate cost four dollars and came with a marshmallow.

Providore on Parade

This is nicely decorated Café with serving contemporary cuisine at 211a The Parade, Norwood. This is one of the SALA 2010 exhibitors showing and exhibit "StoneMetalWood" by Adelaide photographer, Tony Barker. Most of his work was showing the texture of surfaces like granite, rusty iron or the wood from jetty's in real-size or larger than life. The photos managed to bring out textures and colour that one would overlook in real life. While the viewer might not want corrugated iron or weathered wood hanging on his living room wall one of these photos would be a great talking point.

The hot chocolate was four dollars and come in a big grey mug. It was finished with a bubbly froth and a sprinkle of chocolate powder. Six tiny marshmallows were also provided. The drink had good dark flavour but was not particular rich. The tiny marshmallows were a great innovation.

Bar 9

Bar 9 is at 91 Glen Osmond Road a few doors down from the Blue Mango Lunch Bar. This venue was suggested to Merkel by a comment on an earlier posting of this blog. Bar 9 is also a SALA 2010 venue. This coffee bar is staffed by two men who seem passionate about their coffee and have a barista award to prove it. A range of light meals is available.

The SALA exhibition "The People's Car" is by Evangelia Karageorgos. The works are black and white photographs of Volkswagen beetles and vans cut-out to reveal wallpaper patterns giving the initial impression that the cars had been painted with these patterns. This quirky idea is well executed. The themes of cut-outs in art must be catching on as these media was also used at Enoteca.

The hot chocolate came in a glass and saucer. The drink was topped with a white froth and streaks of chocolate powder. This was a little disappointing in comparison to the pattern on Myrtles cappuccino which was an intricate fern leaf design. The drink was creamy, rich and a dark chocolate flavour and cost about $3.50.

Enoteca

Enoteca is a restaurant with friendly table service at 262 Carrington Street in the city. It provides a good menu of fine meals and reasonable lunch specials. Enoteca is open for lunch from Wednesday to Friday and for dinner from Wednesday to Saturday. It is also a SALA Festival venue with an exhibition by Megan Anderson shared with the Italian Centre next door. Megan's concept was simply arranging cut-out silhouettes of people on a white background. The artistic concept was decorative like wallpaper but failed to sustain much interest from one work to the next.

The hot chocolate cost $4.50 and came in a tall glass with a handle and a saucer. The drink was finished with a white froth and a sprinkle of chocolate powder. The chocolate flavour was milky and sweet and unfortunately not in the rich Italian tradition.

Lunch on Angas

Lunch on Angas is an unassuming lunch place at 264 Angas Street. It does a good range of baguettes and sandwiches and there are six tables and bar style seating available.

The hot chocolate comes in a short stemmed glass with a handle and saucer. The drink is topped with a white froth and a liberal sprinkle of chocolate powder. One marshmallow is provided. The taste was great. It was rich and creamy and cost $3.30.

Caos Café Bar

This SALA Festival venue is a busy city Café at corner of Hindley Street and Register Street, providing a good range of meals and friendly service. The exhibition is a set of large photos from Julie Camilleri. The photos come from Italy, America and Australia and include black and white and colour photographs. The photographs are landscapes and streetscapes and provide idyllic settings and a great deal of detail to gaze on.

The hot chocolate at Caos Café came in a large glass complete with a napkin wrapped around it to preserve the fingertips of your reviewer. It was finished with a brown froth and a sprinkle of chocolate powder and squeeze of chocolate syrup decorated the inner wall of the glass. The drink was rich and not too sweet and cost $4.00

Jam The Bistro

This SALA venue is an interesting combination of casual bistro and fine dining restaurant. It has a menu of exotic dishes and also has premade rolls for a snack. The artwork was by Peter Bok and his "Geometric Abstract" exhibition. The paintings were simply geometric shapes of colour. They made for a great décor for the café but as individual paintings they did not convey any meaning. There were also some good aboriginal works in the passage way.

The hot chocolate came in a red Vittoria coffee cup and saucer. The froth was decorated using a white swirl on brown froth. The drink was creamy but not rich enough and cost $3.50.

Zest Café Gallery

Zest Café is at 2A Sussex Tce just off Jetty Road, Glenelg. It is a small venue but it packs a lot of goodness into a small area. It is a table service café with an interesting menu of light meals and is one of the SALA 2010 venues. The exhibit is called "Cuppa" by Cameron Lewcock, which is a series of meticulously drawn coloured pencil drawings of different cups of coffees and teas. Alas the closest he gets to an illustration of a hot chocolate is a mocca.

The Zest hot chocolate comes in big green cup with little cinnamon scroll to nibble on in the saucer. It is topped with a tasty brown froth and a semicircle of chocolate powder. The chocolate drink is high quality, rich and creamy and cost four dollars.

Glenelg is putting on its own "Seaside Art Trail" incorporating around some of the main SALA venues. Many of the shops on the Jetty Road trail have one or two art works hanging on there walls. On this trip to Glenelg, your reviewer also viewed a feast of different artworks at the Glenelg Art Gallery which is the mezzanine level of Dymocks Books at 55 Jetty Road.

Little Cake Box Café, Mount Compass

The South Australian Living Artists Festival (SALA) is running from July 30 to August 22. There are a huge number of venues in Adelaide but Merkel ventured to Mount Compass. The Little Cake Box Café was exhibiting work by local Danish migrant Jesper Andersen. These were landscapes of surrounding areas done in bold, modern style. The Café serves a short menu of tasty lunches.

The hot chocolate came in a generous red mug topped with a white froth and sprinkle of chocolate powder. The taste was dark and reasonably rich and cost $3.70.

Jack's Café & Bakery, Strathalbyn

Merkel visited Strathalbyn where he stopped for a hot chocolate at Jack's . This has an unassuming front but opens out into a big modern dining area with some great artwork adorning the walls.

The hot chocolate was three dollars and came in a glass. There was a large amount of froth but was tasty and gave the hot chocolate a creamy texture. It was decorated with a semicircle of chocolate powder on top Chocolate powder was sprinkled on top. The hot chocolate was served with two pink marshmallows.

Strathalbyn is known for its antique shops but it also has a number of galleries and places exhibiting art. Jack's Café is on the Strathalbyn art trail which also includes the Stationmaster's Gallery. This converted railway station was also part of the SALA 2010 festival.