Lulu Rae Confections

When I was younger I used to be into chocolate a lot more, but back then I was OK with your standard Hershey’s kiss. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve moved on to more fruitier tastes, but every now and then I’ll take a step back into more chocolatier paste times. My point is, I haven’t had a chocolate «wow» me in a long time and this last Xmas, a friend gave me some of their chocolates for Christmas. These little morsels really gave me something for pause.

Writing this review is making me salivate.
I want to fly back to the bay just so I can get my hands on another one of Lulu Rae’s purrrfect vegan brownies.
The chocolate-​dipped vegan shortbread always catches my eye as well, but I can never seem to forgo the brownie in order to try it. I am hereby deciding to get both on my next visit.
Yes, I know it’s 8 AM, but the allure of Lulu Rae’s delectable vegan nom knows no bounds.

This place is closed. They closed their location on Piedmont, too.
But their web site is still up and the phone has been disconnected.

After reviewing the choco-​porn that is L.A. Burdick in Cambridge, MA, I got to thinking about where I take myself in the east bay when I have a craving for the fruit of the cacao tree.
Definitely Lulu Rae, purveyor of delicious chocolates (and gelato, but that’s secondary).
Valrhona (classically perfect).
Poco Dolce (their Aztec Chili Tiles dusted with sea salt are so good you might wet your pants).
Vosges (still working hard at perfecting the art of haute chocolate).
Choclatea (beautifully delicate chocolates infused with finely crushed teas).
All in addition to their beautiful collection of truffles, dipped fruit, chocolate-​covered nuts, and other lovely nibbles kept protectively within the confines of the glass display case. Service has always been great, and they do a darling wrap job if you’re purchasing for a gift.

This is a wonderful little shop. The staff is usually helpful and friendly, although I think the products are a little overpriced. But that’s the nature of the neighborhood.
The hot chocolate is very distinctive and delicious. They a huge selection of hot chocolates to choose from, from the very dark to milk. And they have different cup sizes, from tiny, shot-​glass sized to large. And they can substitute soy milk or water for milk. (I asked for a water substitute one day, and the woman at the counter said she had never done that before. But she managed it, and it tasted great.) Their dark hot chocolates are very rich and flavorful. Whenever I am on that side of town, I try to sample hot chocolates that I haven’t tried yet.

The biggest reason I am giving 5 stars is because this has been one of my best customer service experiences. The friendliest staff working here.
Didn’t mind that I came in mostly to look, answered questions, made recommendations, let me sample a cute truffley chocolate, made the nicest conversation and most of all left me with the feeling that I’d like to come back here again, bring friends and tell others.
Had a few different chocolates and some macarons. Excellent stuff.
You should go anytime you’re feeling down and between the friendly service and the tasty treats you’ll leave smiling for sure.

We randomly found this charming shop on College Avenue after having dinner nearby. I love the fact that LRC carries Moonstruck chocolates and XOX Truffles ($ 0.75 a pop). My all time favorites are the champagne and cognac truffles.
We weren’t too impressed with the rosemary mint hot chocolate as it tasted watered down, and weak on the rosemary and minty flavoring. The macarons were cold and a bit on the chewy side, not the ideal consistency for eating macarons, IMHO.
The friendly saleslady let us sample everything we were curious about. I’d definitely return to try the other delectable confections.

Place attempts to be ooolala, but ends up costing u $ 20 bucks for a couple of pieces of chocolate and coffee.
The owner is super sweet, the candies are good, the ambiance is very nice. If it wasn’t so dang expensive I would really dig this place.

Lulu Rae’s is a refreshing touch of Parisian sweetness on College Ave.
I like the little sidewalk café setup. It’s cute, trendy and sits next to a fragrant florist. Once you walk in, you’ll take in the little details — the vintage French posters, the intricate chandelier lights, the beautiful chocolate confections. Makes me think of the movie «Chocolat».
Their iced latte is a caffeinated heaven. My friend and I had a little chocolate hat — it looked too pretty to eat, and tasted pretty good — with graham cracker like center and a hint of mint.
It’s a great place to stop for a coffee break during a weekend stroll on College Ave.

This is a quaint little café that sells to die for chocolates, petit fours, coffee, sorbet, gelato, and other confections.
It really does give you a feeling of being in a Parisian café, with it’s regional art, chandelier light fixtures and small round café tables.
I ordered a mint chocolate petit four that was so cute that I wanted to save it and turn it into a chachkie for one of my shelves at home. My cappuchino was very good as well and served with a free Gavottes (flaky, buttery cookie).
Worth stopping by, there’s something for everyone with a sweet tooth.

LuLu Raue is a great spot to stop for birthday presents and a little something for yourself.
Sorbet, gelato, cupcakes, baked goods and chocolate … LuLu Rae has some of the very best chocolates around. Today I stopped in to get a birthday present for a friend and I picked the caramels with Fleur de sel and some dark chocolate malted milk balls. She will love her gift … guaranteed.
And LuLu Rae makes the presentation beautiful! I can’t wait to share these treats tomorrow. yum!

I absolutely would go back. I had a little party to bring some chocolates to that paired with Cab and Port — 12 chocolates in a little box (fold over but attractive and tied with a curley ribbon) set me back 25 bucks. Not the cheapest in town, but if you are looking for something that says «special» and you want «guaranteed chocolately deliciouness» that even the most finicky chocofile will find satisfying — this is your place. I don’t think I would stop here for a holiday pick-​up — See’s is my thing for that (everyone just expects See’s) but for a small gathering or over-​the-​top shindig — this is your place to impress.
I minused a couple stars because
–1 I wouldn’t go here on a regular basis and the selection is not your ordinary at all — meaning if you are expecting to find your stand-​by faves don’t get your panties in a bunch when you don’t see them.
–1 when the gal behind the counter asked me if I wanted a box then expected a tip for putting curling ribbon on the folder cardboard box. I thought that should be included in the $ 2 dollar + per piece price-​tag.

Another chocolate/​candy shop that has a great selection of hot chocolate. Yay!
I had Ally’s hot chocolate which is comprised of 74% cocoa chocolate. It was deliciously dark chocolaty and curbed my chocolate craving after the third sip.
I’ll be back to try other hot chocolates on the menu.

Vegan boyfriend + me = dessert dilemmas.
Owner of Lulu Rae + vegan daughter = nice array of vegan treats.
Perfect.
Even though they were closing, the girl assured us that it would be no trouble helping me and proceeded to give the pair of us a mini-​tour of all the vegan chocolates amidst the attractive display cases. We got some truffles (orange, I think,) some chocolate covered almond pieces and to top it all off, the BEST brownie I have ever eaten, heated up so the chocolate bits would melt nicely, and then everything packaged in a decidedly-​not-​square box that I had trouble throwing away. Oh, and I don’t mean «best VEGAN brownie» — I merely mean «best brownie.»

I visited this store with my youngest daughter over the weekend and the lady helping us couldn’t have been nicer or more patient. My daughter couldn’t quite make up her mind and I think she rang us up about 4 times before we were done because we kept adding things. My daughter loved their rock candy suckers and I liked that they weren’t colored. They were white and brown sugar. She also got some fruit chews, although the lady helping us put just a few in the bag as we requested. They are definitely on the higher end and adding just a few pieces would have definitely shot the price up. We also picked up a bag of key lime candy for my oldest who wasn’t with us.
Just as we thought we were done shopping for the 3^rd time, we noticed that they had flavored soda water drinks. My daughter ordered watermelon and it was really good, refreshing, but not overly sweet. Finally, we also ordered some strawberry sorbet at the last minute.
The quality of everything was wonderful and this is a store I would go to in order to buy beautiful chocolates decorated with amazing detail for any sort of gift, including gifts for my larger clients. Anything you buy here is sure to impress.
As I mentioned, service was also wonderful. It would have been easy to get impatient with us because we kept adding to what we wanted after she gave us totals, but she wasn’t put off a bit by it and encouraged us not to worry about it. She also didn’t stuff bags with extra candy when she scooped our «by the pound» candy and easily could have added a few extra pieces in order to sell more. It was as if she was watching out for me as the mom as I let my daughter be a «kid in a candy store» and order whatever she wanted.
Great experience. I’ll definitely go back.

Candy Porn. No, NOT Candy Corn, although if they had it at Lulu Rae’s it’d be damn GOOD candy corn. I’ve never had anything here that wasn’t even better than it looked, and that’s saying a lot. Everything from the most divine chocolate to «jar candy» (fruit jellies, lemon drops & whatnot) to the weird «extra salty» liquorice I developed a taste for when I lived in the Netherlands as a teenager. Affogato — that double buzz of expresso and gelato — try the crème caramel gelato in your espresso one of these days as long as you don’t have to be sedate for a couple of hours… to die for!
Ok, I’ll stop now. I’m getting much too excited.

This review is from the perspective of somebody who received chocolate from this place as a gift but who hasn’t actually been there.
When our friends showed up for lunch with a nice little Lulu Rae bag and I pulled out that cute heart shaped clear plastic package of chocolates I felt pretty special. The chocolates they brought were so pretty I almost didn’t want to eat any.
Of course, as with all mixed chocolates, I like some of them more than others… but I think this is a great hostess gift. I would definitely stop there before heading to a friend’s house or to pick up a nice thank you or congratulations gift.

Chris and Zoe rocked my world last night. They were incredibly patient as I hand-​picked chocolates and truffles for three different peoples’ gifts. They really know their sweets and were able to make fantastic recommendations based on what little information I gave or asked of them. (i.e. What’s good to go with green tea? Low and behold, they have a green tea chocolate!)
The selection is both amazing and overwhelming. I was in the shop for probably 30 minutes and I saw maybe 20% of their total stock. From all the warnings of Lulu being expensive, I got out of there for a lot less cash than I was expecting– it’s definitely not unreasonable for gourmet and often hand-​made confections. If I wasn’t already dizzy from the yummies in the cases, I’d have liked to discern the contents of all the jars on the shelves. Alas, I have an agenda for my next visit.
I adore this little shop and will like to try their gelato on a summer day. If you’re into high-​end chocolate, this is a Berkeley MUST!

Walked past here for a couple of years before popping inside — after all, what hetero guy would set foot in a place called Lulu Rae? Well, one who appreciates their huge selection of artisan chocolates. The prices vary greatly. The Barloventos rightly admired by Ann L. were $ 2.50 a piece last time I bought them; they’re much cheaper at the Grand Lake Farmers’ Market, but one way or another you do need to try their Mayan chocs. Best value are the long-​loved XOX truffles, 75c a pop.
If all this sugar-​sugar might make macho types question their manliness, then in lieu of a steak, the legendary Vosges bacon-​chocolate bars are usually in stock. Every time someone buys one of these, the male staff voice their strong admiration. While I approve of the bacon-​chocolate combination in principle, I’m trying to give away my remaining supply. I guess I’m going metro in my old age. Next thing you know I’ll be walking poodles and dressing well.

I was on a mission to find some of Vosges’ bacon/​chocolate bars to give out as presents this Christmas because everyone should come to the bacon/​chocolate altar and pay their respects.
When I walked into Lula Rae’s, I was worn down from driving all over the East Bay looking for these elusive chocolate bars and was not expecting to see any, and sure enough, they were out of stock. The woman behind the counter took my name down and said they’d call me when they got their next shipment in the store.
The very next day, I got a message from Lula Rae’s saying they had the bacon/​chocolate bars in stock and that they would set aside the five bars I had requested. I called them back and asked them to make it 10 bars and they said no problem, and I told them I’d drop by after work to pick them up. I love great customer service!
Here’s the thing. I work in Livermore, live in Fremont and this store is in Rockridge. So I drove 40 miles to Rockridge, picked up my chocolate, and 40 miles back home to Fremont.
80 miles and $ 96 later (I bought 12 bars total)…just for chocolate.
The things I do for my friends at Christmas…