Rich Chocolates/Sweet Collective

I paid a quick visit to Sweet Collective on my way to lunch today. The store is rather small and contains three businesses operating under one roof; a baker, an ice cream maker and Rich Chocolates, operated by Lauren Pett, who recently postedabout her shop on the professional forum.

Sweet Collective


Upon entering the postage stamp sized store, I was greeted by Lauren herself, who was very enthusiastic in describing not only her chocolates, but the products of the other two businesses sharing the space.

Chocolatier Lauren Pett


She had a collection of 10 - 15 different types of truffles on display, but I was immediately taken in by the sample dish of her pistachio/cinnamon toffee which was very good, with an adult dose of cinnamon.

Rich Chocolate Pistachio Cinnamon Toffee


The ice cream counter seemed to have 6 - 8 flavors, but because it was such a nasty, snowy day, and being just before lunch, I didn't even look at them. Once the weather clears up a bit, I'll be back to sample the ice cream maker's art. Also on display was a very limited amount of baked goods, all of them no bigger than a single bite. In particular, I sampled a creme brulee flavored custard atop a one bite butter cookie and a couple of cupcakes no bigger around than the size of a quarter. These pastries were very good as well, but the selection was much too limited for a retail operation, so I suspect that the baker does mainly a wholesale business. There were no full size pastries on display.

Sweet Collective Mini-Cupcakes


I especially enjoyed the toffee, and I bought a bag to share with The Chow Poodle. I'll be back for more chocolates and to sample the ice cream. I may even consider ordering some of the mini-pastries should I be entertaining and looking for a novel dessert item.

Rich Chocolates/Sweet Collective
5333 N. Lincoln
Chicago, IL 60625
312-316-8683

I live just a few blocks from Sweet Collective, so I try to get there once a week or so for a treat with my 3 year old (although we don't make it there nearly as often as I'd like.) Everything we've had has been great - from all three businesses - and they're definitely kid-friendly.

Full disclosure: While I don't have any pre-existing association with any of the three proprietors, we've been going regularly for about six months now, so I do know all three.

The ice cream flavors change fairly frequently, and they do some pretty interesting flavors, all beautifully executed. Some of my favorite flavors have been grapefruit mint, pinot noir raspberry, watermelon tequila lime, strawberry lemon basil, kir royale and cranberry sage (my daughter's favorite.) They do have more flavors without alcohol than with; that's just my preferences coming out.

The chocolates are on par with those I've had from Coco Rouge or Vosges. I've tried most, if not all their truffles. Standouts are the smores (with just enough smoky campfire flavor) and the beer (made with Goose Island IPA) but you really can't go wrong with any of them. Lauren also makes fleur de sel caramels - a steal at $.60 each.

I haven't tried much from the bakery part of the business, but what I have has been very good. There are always a few small pastries available - petit fours, cupcakes, sugar cookies, etc - but the bulk of her business comes from wedding cakes and the like. There are some really beautiful cakes on display in the store.

The address is in the post above, but they also have a website:
http://www.sweetcollective.com/

We have changed our hours for fall!

Wednesday-Saturday: 11am-7pm
Sunday: 12pm-4pm.

Trust me, WE ARE OPEN! We can only raise the blinds 1/2 way to avoid turning the entire place into an oven, but if you come by during these hours, I promise you, we're open. Occasionally we have to close early for a special event, but on those occasions we always post a sign.

Ooh Boy. We'll be in. Thanks for opening up in this area. We are so starved for good eats.