I love to stroll around The Distillery District as soon as spring comes because there's often some interesting events going on in this predestrian-only area. I have been to jazz festivals, farmers' market, and visual art shows at The Distillery District in the past and I know that it has also hosted cocktail festivals and fashion-themed parties before. Even if there're no special events, The Distillery District is home to many art galleries, artist studios, boutiques selling unique fashion and jewelry by local designers, and beautiful home furnishing stores. I can easily spend an afternoon just looking at all the pretty stuff.
In between all these shopping, snacking is of course mandatory and there are a couple of places that I like. For a fancy dinner, of course there's Perigee which I would go for special occasions. However, a girl can't live on multi-course tasting menu alone. SOMA Chocolatemaker is one of my favourite chocolate boutiques in Toronto. Chef David Castellan does some excellent work here that rarely any chocolatiers would do--he makes his own chocolate right down to roasting the beans. 
In the spring of 2006, SOMA will expand to include a mini chocolate factory and they have displayed an antique mill at their store for grinding the beans. I'm very looking forward to this new expansion. The delicious bonbons and single-origin truffles are of course enough reasons to get me come back again and again to SOMA but there're more. First, their Mayan Hot Chocolate is as close to european-style hot chocolate as you can find in Toronto. 
The thick and rich liquid chocolate is laced with a subtly firy blend of spice that gives off just that little bit of heat down my throat. This hot chocolate makes its appearance on my craving list very often. Another great reason to come to SOMA is their wide selection of high quality chocolate tablettes by some of the more prestigious chocolatiers around the world. Here, you would find chocolate by Amedei, Bonnat, Chocovic, Domori, Michel Cluizel, and Slitti. This is a great source to keep in mind especially if you're interested in acquiring chocolate for chocolate tasting purposes.
Another snacking location that I favour is Brick Street Bakery. This bakery specializes in british-style baked goods. Walk into the store and I just love to take a deep breath to immerse myself in the irresistable aroma of bread and scones and pot pies. When I was there on Sunday, I was so distracted by the sourdough boules (nice crust), hot cross buns, bakewell tarts, eccles cakes, and pot pies...it was difficult to decide what to get! 
Their hot cross buns have nice brown crumb and a subtle cinnamon flavour enhanced with candied orange peels. Their pot pies are individual portions that make for an easy supper. I came home with a beef & stout pot pie and a shepherd's pie. Personally, I found them a little light on salt but still rather tasty.
After all the bread and chocolate, I like to enjoy a latte from Balzac's Coffee at one of the cafe tables for some people-watching. However, if it's too windy, staying inside their two-storey cafe is great too. From the dramatic chandelier to the antique espresso machine to the little balcony overlooking the entire cafe, the atmosphere here is like no other in Toronto.
Technorati: Toronto, The Distillery District, SOMA Chocolatemaker
