Watch your back, Celebrity Bakery. Here comes The Chocolate Angel. Two sisters, Sherrie McCall and Marcia Clingon, have turned their wholesale fudge operation into four locations of The Chocolate Angel, a bakery, café, and tearoom.
I was shocked to open the door of the location in Preston Forest–the room was full of women. The only men in the space were behind the counter. The menu consists of soups, salads, sandwiches, a quiche of the day, and baked goods. (The Richardson location serves afternoon tea from 3:30-5:30 p.m.) The Chocolate Angel feels a lot like Celebrity Bakery except when you are stand over the cookie case waiting to order, you don’t faint from sticker shock: lemon bars are $1.00, Neiman-Marcus recipe chocolate chip cookies are 85 cents, and cupcakes are $2.75.
JC and I were jonsing for cheese and cheese we did find. She went for the four-cheese sandwich sprinkled with garlic salt and grilled between two thin slices of sourdough. We were so hungry we forgot to ask which four cheeses were melted together. I went for the “Some Like it Hot” sandwich—a thick layer of pimento cheese tossed with toasted pecans, chopped jalapenos, and chunks of applewood-smoked bacon served with a side of thick homemade strawberry jam and a tossed green salad and a ramekin of pasta salad. It was too much for one to eat, but I managed. The whole plate is only $7.29. I was disappointed to find the cheese still cold and the jalapeno slices too few and far between. If you order it, ask for extra peppers and make sure they grill it until the cheese bubbles over the side.
Stuffed, we didn’t eat dessert, but we brought a thick slice of strawberry cake and a thicker slice of dark chocolate cake back to the office. I took a bite of each one and spit both of them back into my napkin. The texture of the cake is spongy and felt rubbery against the roof of my mouth. The thin layer of chocolate icing was almost pure confectioners’ sugar flavored with a hint of bitter chocolate. One office mate described it as tasting like “the inside of an old lady’s house.” Being an old lady, I strongly disagree with her.
The dining room was packed with young, old, big, and little ladies. They all seemed wildly happy. I looked at some of the other sandwiches and the smoked turkey on orange-cranberry bread caught my eye. I’d go back if only to get that pimento cheese sandwich grilled properly.
