Object of Maya*ffection: Hot Chocolate

Two of my girls (Jen and Lor) took me here http://www.hotchocolatechicgo.com for a lil GNO (girls night out) birthday celebration. Mindy's HOT CHOCOLATE Restaurant is located in trendy Wicker Park 1747 N. Damen, Chicago, IL 60647. This place is FAMOUS for the fab desert creations...I was STOKED we were able to go!

A lil artsy interpretational photo (ok, I moved as I was snappin the pic BUT I loved how it came out)

And speaking of ART...check out this VINTAGE RETRO looking funky juxtaposed painting. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! I like the glamarella girl holding the cute lil pig who just sohappens to be wearing a leather studded collar in GREEN!! You can see more of the artists work on his website here http://www.jaredjoslin.com

We did have some dinner first...this place is great if you LOVE cheese as there were many. I however am not a cheese fan and in fact a very fussy eater. I knew I wanted something light(as I was looking forward to DESSERT). I ordered the chilled carrot ginger puree soup with a cilantro olive oil. I did ask for it to be heated and it was DELICIOUS!! Lor and I also split an order of Garlic Monkey Bread that is served with prosciutto. This was TO DIE FOR! Jen had a cheese melt on pumpernickel served with a granny smith slaw. Now, I have to tell you I was a lil apprehensive as the portions were on the fancy(read small) side BUT the flavor was so delish that we actually savored the bites instead of gobbling it down and found we were very satisfied. Onto dessert....

I ordered this one...

I can't remember the exact name but it was something like "About Black Forest" which was a mod take on the traditional Black Forest Cake as this was a lil round vanilla cheescake ( I DO NOT LIKE cheesecake but this sounded so good) with tart cherries and a chocolate graham crust.

Lor ordered this one...Called Chocolate Cake Two Ways. There was a small piece of warm chocolate cake and a lil tiny cupcake with a fresh cream shaken at the table and poured over the cake.