Tag Archives: chocmo

ChocMo, High Spirits plan move to new Poulsbo building

elevation-east-reduced-3Poulsbo’s ChocMo restaurant and High Spirits liquor store plan to move to a new building and expand next year.

The businesses will set up shop in a 28,000-square-foot commercial facility planned by the Crabtree and Ryan families on Eighth Avenue.

The building is expected to open in the fall of 2017, according to a news release.

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ChocMo and High Spirits will be joined in the facility by a 180-seat restaurant called Crabtree kitchen + bar and a shared workspace center called Vibe Coworks.

The move will allow High Spirits to grow from 4,000 to 10,000 square feet.The store will add a growler-filling station, “beer cave,” and wine cellar, and plans to host classes and tastings.

A delivery service is being considered, according to the release.

ChocMo, which began as a chocolate shop in 2005, will offer breakfast, lunch, espresso and chocolate drinks. With added space to work in, ChocMo staff will start making chocolate from raw cocao beans.

Upstairs, Crabtree kitchen + bar will focus on connecting diners with locally-grown food, including fruits and vegetables cultivated onsite. Beef for the restaurant will be raised at the family’s Silver Creek Angus farm in Kingston, which currently supplies ChocMo.

Poll: Should restaurants stop taking tips?

NoTips02_26347593_ver1.0_640_480A growing number of restaurants have stopped accepting tips and are instead raising their menu prices.

High profile Seattle restaurants like Ivar’s have made the change as they brace for the city’s minimum wage hikes.

This week ChocMo in Poulsbo became the first Kitsap restaurant (that we know of) to do away with tipping (story here). The bistro raised its menu prices by about 20 percent, equivalent to the average tip left by customers. Customers who still want to pay extra can donate to a charity fund overseen by employees.

So what do you think of the anti-tipping trend?

As a diner, would you rather pay more upfront for a meal and not worry about calculating a tip? Or would you rather have the freedom to tip based on the quality of service or your own budget?

You can vote below and share your opinion in the comment section.

Should restaurants stop accepting tips and raise menu prices instead?

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And if you’re still curious about ChocMo’s rationale for the change, I’ve posted an open letter from the restaurant’s owners below: Continue reading