Salazon Chocolate In Sykesville: Gourmet From Caramels To Coffee, Hot Sauce To Ice Cream

Salazon's gift box packed with good stuff

Eat first, then get yourself to Salazon Chocolate up on Main Street in Sykesville.

You need to eat because you don't want to shop a place this delicious on an empty stomach.  To protect yourself, you can try the crepes that I wrote about yesterday at the French Twist Cafe.  Then walk short blocks to this friendly shop selling salty to sweet, white wine to blackberry jam.

Salazon Chocolate Co. does a national business selling chocolate bars.  You can buy Salazon in Whole Foods and many other places with variations of salts, peppers, nuts and more.  They're interesting flavors -- exotic ideas, but done subtly well not gimmicky.  I wrote about them four years ago after finding their bars in Roots, Mom's Organic Market and David's Natural Foods.

In the Sykesville market, Salazon becomes the curator of many other foods.  Their chocolate is on the central display, but the shelves are filled with all kinds of other cool food items.  Wines.  Pickles.  Candies.  Hot sauces.  Cookies.

Again, this is a reason to annex Sykesville.  It's just across from railroad tracks from Howard County, and we could use a place with this kind of lineup.  Many items are local -- including CrunchDaddy popcorn and Southern Skies coffee.  But it's an amazing variety in a pretty small store.  We came home with chocolate, a small salami, Tanner's pickles and Mouth Party caramels.  (Somehow both the pickles and the seasonal caramels are flavored with Old Bay.)

Salazon's wall of discoveries

We also bought a pint of chocolate peanut butter ice cream from Trickling Springs Creamery.  I had forgotten until I was drafting this post.  Just for you HowChow readers, I took a break and confirmed that it's pretty great.  That's really creamy ice cream from the operation just across the border in Pennsylvania.  Intense peanut butter flavor that has me thinking about a second bowl.

In the store, Mrs. HowChow had her eye on a gift box that Salazon sells for $5.  It's a cool look and a nice size to fill up with tasty treats.  They're selling premium items, mostly from small companies.  Nothing is cheap.  So far, everything has been delicious.  If that's your scene, then you'll have a very good time nosing around shop.  If it's not, then the chocolate alone can be worth the drive.

The Salazon folks are looking to move and expand, according to talk in the store.  I think he said that they want to open a wine bar, which I guess might even mean a kitchen.  He said they were looking to open the new place this year.

Again, Salazon and Sykesville are an easy drive. Look at the comments on yesterday's post, and people recommended a pub with smoked meats and a bunch of other places.  You just follow Rte 32 north across I-70.  It's 30 minutes or less from almost anywhere in Howard County, and it's a terrific side trip if you're heading out to Larriland Farm for pick-your-own fruit.

Salazon Chocolate Co. & Market
7552 Main Street
Sykesville, MD 21784
(443) 300-8877

NEAR:  Sykesville is literally across a railroad track from northern Howard County.  From Howard County, you take Rte 32 north across I-70, then turn left onto West Friendship Road.  That curves across the border and turns into Main Street as it enters Sykesville.  Salazon Chocolate is on the left.  If you visit, definitely check out the French Twist Cafe a block off Main Street on Oklahoma Street.