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.

The Other Side Of The Tracks: Why You Need To Check Out Sykesville (And We Should Annex)

Crepe-making.  That's the balsamic glaze going on.

This post begins my plan to annex Sykesville.

The little town just across the railroad tracks in Carroll County is a terrific excursion, especially as a side trip on the way home from picking some fruit Larriland Farm.  It's half an hour from most of Howard County, and it's a cool place to explore and get some good food.

Jeff from Southern Skies Coffee turned me on to Sykesville -- and specifically emailed last month to tout the French Twist Cafe:

I wanted you to know about a really special place that just opened. It's a coffee shop just over the Carroll County line in downtown Sykesville.  Hélène, the owner, grew up in France and makes authentic crepes (both sweet and savory) and ridiculously good coffee drinks. She trained at the American Barista & Coffee School in Portland and obviously took the training to heart, as evidenced by her perfect cappuccinos. 

The crepes are made with buckwheat flour, which in spite of its name, contains no wheat and is gluten free. I've had the ham and cheese crepe and the nutella and banana crepe and both were stellar. 

The shop itself is located in a charming house with a big front porch that's perfect for lingering. If you make it up this way, please let me know and we can have coffee.

Everything that Jeff said was true, which is why we need to roll into town and annex the place.  Once Ulman is lieutenant government, Carroll County won't be able to stop us.

Crepe folded to eat

Mrs. HowChow and I stopped last weekend after picking cherries at Larriland.  I'll admit that I've followed emails into some shady joints, and Mrs. HowChow has followed me loyally into every one.  So she was pretty psyched when the French Twist Cafe turned out to be charming counter offering a superb lunch.

Crepe made to order.  The chef working two special griddles with a bottle of crepe batter and a long metal tool.  The crepes are impossibly pliable, yet crisp.  For savory one, they cover half the circle with a mix of cheese and vegetables.  Warm it through with the perfect amount of oil and balsamic glaze to dress the greens.

I lost a bet on that dressing.  The crepes come folded into fourths -- a really portable sandwich.  That made it way more fun to eat than a fussy knife and fork.  We got a Greek one -- a generous serving of greens, olives, and feta.  A light flavor from the buckwheat crepe.  The rich payoff of really good ingredients and crunch from some onion and green peppers.

Mrs. HowChow figured out that they'd added dressing.  That really brought the sandwich together, and the whole meal was light and exciting.  Crepes are exotic fun worth the drive, but the menu is completely accessible -- ranging from breakfast versions with eggs to savory items like basic ham, our Greek or a fancy crab meat.  And, of course, there are sweet crepes hyped up by butter, chocolate, Nutella, fruit and more.

Jeff's coffee shot

Remember that Jeff talked up the coffees.  Jeff roasts his own coffee, so you should listen when he says they serve a perfect cappuccino.

Overall, French Twist is a cool place to check out.  I was impressed with the quality of the ingredients.  It makes all the difference, and it means you could get all kinds of fun.  Coffee and breakfast.  A relaxed lunch.  A break on a bike ride.  A chocolate crepe to entertain some kids on an afternoon.

Notice that they start with breakfast service and cook into the late afternoon or early evening most days.  Check their hours.  Remember they're making the crepes to order.  Expect to wait a bit.  We lounged at a porch table in perfect weather, so we were content.

Up tomorrow:  The chocolate, wine and food store around the corner on Main Street that lets you turn a Sykesville trip into a full food excursion.

Can anyone tell me about the model train museum in Sykesville?  There is an old railroad car parked across from the French Twist.  As far as I can tell from the Web, it's a model train display run by a volunteer club and open on the first Sunday afternoon of every month.

French Twist Cafe
732 Oklahoma Avenue
Sykesville, MD 21784
(443) 920-3151

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.  Turn left at Oklahoma Avenue, but the French Twist will be on your right across from the railroad car.