Canady, Le Chocolatier

I searched for a Canady thread to post about a recent visit, but unless I searched wrong, I was surprised to see Canady does not have it's own thread. So here is one.

Canady is a small shop in the south Loop offering wonderful chocolates and gelato. I don't buy a lot of chocolate, but Canady's prices seem very reasonable. You can get a box of 12 beautiful hand-made chocolates for $17 I believe. And Canady's was a favorite stop on the 2008 Giro del Gelato.

I'm not often in the South Loop, but I almost always stop at Canady when I am. An update for fans - they've expanded their gelato offerings to 12 flavors (I believe before they only had 5 or 6). I noticed they've also added some fruit tarts, cookies, and chocolate mousse. I didn't try any of the new treats. I picked up chocolates for a friend and had gelato - the terrific pistachio and a new flavor, a caramalized nut (the Italian name of which I can't recall), which was also wonderful.

Mr. Canady was not in when I visited, but he is truly a lovely and most gracious host, generously offering tastes of several flavors of gelato and often samples of the chocolates as well.

Canady Le Chocolatier
824 S Wabash Ave
Chicago, IL
(312) 212-1270

I remember my mouth watering the first time I read about this place and remembered a great thread started by Antonius

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3026

Hellodali wrote:I picked up chocolates for a friend and had gelato - the terrific pistachio and a new flavor, a caramalized nut (the Italian name of which I can't recall), which was also wonderful.

Said friend here (I think). Thank you for starting this thread. My first visit to Canady was for the Giro del gelato, but I've made semi-regular visits since then with my sister living in the South Loop and basically whenever I ride in that general direction. It's a gem, and I'm thrilled that they're going to be part of the Chicago French Market because that means Canady treats will be even closer to me. (With Vanille Patisserie, that market--a ridiculously speedy 1.5 bike-laned miles from home--is just going to be the gluttonous death of me.)

Anyway, in the box of chocolates Hellodali got for me, there was an incredible lemon cream-filled piece that was rich and tart and absolutely beautiful. I credit it with curing me of swine flu.

Oops - how did I miss that thread in the search?* Mods, please feel free to merge.

Edited to say: Because it was in Shopping and Cooking and I only searched in Eating Out..

I went to the chocolate class yesterday and had a great time. Mr. Canady is such a pleasant fellow and such a patient and kind teacher. Plus he gave us his recipe for milk chocolate caramel, which is delicious.

We came away with five different chocolates (about 1 dozen) and a bag of almond dragées, packed into a box with a gold seal. I recommend the class to anyone who's interested in making chocolates, although it will make you want to buy a tempering machine; his is especially fun to play with. I must also warn you that the class went to 4 hours, not the advertised three. But I can't wait to return to take the gelato class.

FYI - their stand at the French Market recently closed.