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Downey tempts chocolate lovers again
February 6th, 2009, 12:37 pm · 17 Comments · posted by Dhawani Parekh, staff writer
Fans of the shuttered Downey’s Chocolate Cafe in Laguna Niguel can indulge once again as owner Tracey Downey is hooking up with a newly formed chocolate company: Xan Confections.
Xan Confections is the newest venture of the Irvine-based company, Susan’s Healthy Gourmet, founded by Susan Johnson and Kerry Johnson Anthony. The two partners recently appointed Tracey Downey as the director of research and development for Xan Confections.
Downey, whose retail store closed in December, will create all-natural chocolates that are gluten-free, non-dairy, vegan, low-glycemic and low calorie.
O.C. chocolate maker Tracey Downey
“Working with Susan and Kerry allows me to focus on my passion – creating new, delicious products to satisfy everyone’s cravings, no matter what their dietary requirements are,” said Downey.
Downey’s store closed in December due to being underfunded and other circumstances. However, before closing, Downey did promise her customers that this was not a final goodbye.
Xan Confections’ chocolates are being sold online and at 13 Whole Foods Market stores in Southern California , including The District shopping center in Tustin.
(Editor’s note: Dear Maven readers: Please welcome Cal State Fullerton journalism student Dhawani Parekh to this blog. This is the first of many stories she’ll be writing for the Register over the next few months. Best, Nancy)
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That picture of the chocolate and the owner looks funny…
Welcome, Dhawani! And great job.
Great read. I will have to tune in for more.
Dhawani, thank you for writing such a great piece.
I am still making all of my traditional chocolates as well as creating new ones. You can purchase online (www.XanConfections.com), at Whole Foods or Stop by the Xan Confections Kitchen at 1202 McGaw Rd in Irvine, CA 92614 between 9 - 5 M-F. Hope to see you soon!!!
haha youknowwhat - I was thinking the same thing when I saw that picture.
Good Job Dhawani..we’ll take our vegan family friend here soon so he can enjoy all the chocolate he wants.. :-P. Keep up the good work!
Hey Dhawani…welcome to the OC Register. We are all looking forward to more stories from you. I am quite tempted to taste the vegan chocolate.
Nice Job! the article is short and sweet just like the chocolates mentioned!
I haven’t been to the new place, but we live close by to Downey Chocolates, and went there twice and both times were disappointed. We went once for crepes, and they were fairly mediocre (no where near what LaCreperie in Long Beach has). The other time we came and ordered a random selection of truffles and they all just seemed fairly bland.
Nothing was bad, it just to us wasn’t good enough to go back. Hopefully the new joint is better, we’ll definitely give it a try to get our chocolate fix
I am sooo… glad to know that Tracey will be still making chocolatesa!!! I miss her store!!! She is truley a chocolate genius!!!
Good luck Tracey!!!
Kim and Andrew Whisner
Youknowwhat, the photo kind of reminded me of Georgia O’keeffe. Haha!
Vegan chocolate? What’s that??? Does chocolate come from animals? EGAD what’s next, vegan water?!?!?!!!
Hey Dhwani. How often do you write the article?
Never heard of vegan chocolate. Wonder what it tastes like.
Interesting stuff, keep it up!
I say, if you’re going to make chocolate candies, then go for it!
But making chocolates that are “gluten-free, non-dairy, vegan, low-glycemic and low-calorie” seems at odds with what eating chocalate is all about. Sounds very trendy and not terribly nutritious. I mean, if you just buy one of those high-cocoa chocolate bars that are labeled, for example, ‘67% cocoa’ then you will receive the full benefit of the anti-oxidants contained in chocolate without all the crap. Those bars only cost between $1 - $2.
If you want something sweet that is ‘gluten-free, non-dairy, vegan, low-glycemic and low-calorie’ good luck! Otherwise, just don’t eat chocolate.
Anyway, good luck with your business.
It’s like the time I bought ‘fat-free’ cream cheese and it tasted like paste. It was horrible and I came to realize that fat=taste.
Dear Kevin,
Thank-you for reading the blog. This is Dhawani Parekh, staff writer.
As for you question of what is vegan chocolate, it is chocolate that does not contain any dairy products and is animal-free products too.I hope that answers your question.
Dhawani
Downey’s Chocolate’s will be missed. Having recently discovered Tracey at her booth at the Anaheim Food Show, we stopped into her store and were thrilled that we had a wonderful resource for chocolate and fun so near by. We were planning on doing the chocolate classes with the family as the kids and the adults were interested in learning more about chocolate making and we thought it a great source of family bonding. I truly hope that Tracey and her family flourish in her new efforts in whatever format she chooses to turn-out her chocolates in.
Some people have a restricted diet so this option allows them to still enjoy a nice treat. Nice job Tracey. Glad that you are still around and not far from your original location.