Ghirardelli Square’s Ghirardelli Squares (and other delights)

There are all kinds of things to do in San Francisco. During our many visits to ‘The City,’ we’ve seen and driven through its famous bridges, oggled at the Painted Ladies and other architectural beauties, appreciated art in its museums and on the city streets, savored clam chowder in Boudin Bread bowls, driven down one of the crookedest roads ever… (I could go on for ever). A couple of weeks back we were back there and this time we went and bought some Ghirardelli Squares at Ghirardelli Square in the city.

If you haven’t been to Ghirardelli Square or even heard of it yet, let me tell you that like the name suggests, it has a lot to do with those chocolates known to be one of the oldest chocolates made in the United States.

This ‘Square’ is home to the Ghirardelli chocolate, The Original Chocolate Shop and Ghirardelli Marketplace. Walk to these stores and you’ll find yourself in Chocolate heaven.

The buildings in Ghirardelli square used to house the Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory for several years. However, chocolate-making is just not in the Square’s past. Present-day Ghirardelli Square still has those ancient chocolate-making machines and they still function. You might want to go watch them at work if you visit the this part of San Francisco.

We found these machines on display at The Original Chocolate Shop. There, we learnt about the chocolate-making-process and made sure to pick up some chocolates from the store-area. Deciding what to take home was no easy task, given the choices on those aisles. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you. ;))  When we were finally done with our chocolate shopping, we thought we’d give the ice creams there ‘a miss’ because the kids had just recovered from a bad bout of cold and cough.

But then it didn’t seem right to leave there without a taste of the most famous delicacy of Ghirardelli Square so there were second-thoughts that allowed us to walk into Ghirardelli Marketplace and order a pair of The World Famous Hot Fudge Sunday.  A few minutes later we were relishing it at a table with a view of the San Francisco Bay and Alcatraz. That’s another must do — the Sundae, I mean. The view is a bonus. 🙂

The Ghirardelli Story

While I was at Ghirardelli Marketplace I found some information on how Ghirardelli Chocolate came about. The story goes back to a man by the name of Domingo Ghirardelli. He was Italian. ( I read elsewhere that he had spent some time in South America and was trained in making sweets.) He is said to have come to North America in 1849, during the California Gold Rush.

What Ghirardelli did when he got here was set up a store in Stockton; a store with supplies for the people who came to the area in search of gold. His store is supposed to have sold confectionery as well. And because he fared well in his business he decided to move further west and set shop in San Francisco. Soon, he was the owner of a hotel too. But in 1851 there was fire that destroyed his businesses. And when he was to rebuild his business after the disaster, he decided to concentrate on making chocolates. Those are the chocolates that came to become the celebrated brand we now know as Ghirardelli Chocolates.

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[Ghirardelli Square lies where Larking Street intersects with North Point St. and Beach Street. There is a multi-level parking facility in the same block with access from Larking Street.]

Happy Chocolate shopping !

Before I sign  off, here’s a cheat sheet for your chocolate-shopping trip to the Square —

What to do in Ghirardelli Square

• Check out Ghirardelli’s amazing range of chocolates at The Original Chocolate Shop and Ghirardelli Marketplace. If you go down to Beach Street there’s another place where you can buy chocolates. You’ll want to take some home for yourself and your folks. They also come in some very attractive gift boxes that’ll be great souvenirs from San Francisco. (Think of boxes with images of the Golden Gate Bridge and Postcard Row. And even in models of the famous San Franciscan cable cars.)
• Learn a thing or two about the chocolate making process and see the age-old machines at work at The Original Chocolate Shop.
• Have a few scoops of the ‘World Famous Hot Fudge Sundae. (You’ll find it both at the Original Chocolate Shop as well as Ghirardelli Marketplace.)
• On your walk down to Beach street you might get see a cocoa grinder on your way down.

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