Have you noticed that the Chocolate Cottage on Coffeen Street is now called Cocoa Café?

Amy Rivera is the new owner. She has a degree in culinary arts and restaurant management from Jefferson Community College and she’s putting it to good use.

The place looks pretty much the same as it did before, obviously an old house from the outside and the inside. The interior is cozy, all dressed up festive and pretty for the holidays. Kind of like going to grandma’s house for Christmas dinner.

While it’s got “chicks welcome here” written all over it, I was perfectly comfortable with the surroundings, as was the other male in our foursome. His only complaint was the really small tables, perfect for two but awfully crowded for four. “I felt like I was having a play dinner with my daughter and her dolls,” he said. The fact that he’s 6 foot, 4 inches tall may have something do to with it, we figured.

That aside, we were about to experience a delightful evening. While the name Cocoa Café would lead you to believe they serve only dessert and coffee, that’s not true. We were pleasantly surprised to find a dozen fresh, non-dessert selections that are quite special — delectable without being overly fussy. Perfect for a light dinner or certainly for lunch any day of the week.

Amy makes two homemade soups daily, priced at $4.95 each. We tried both of them, the consensus around the table summed up in one word: fabulous.

Tomato basil was tangy and flavorful, ruby red in color, simple and elegant. But the cream of broccoli — oh, my. It was the richest, creamiest cream of broccoli we’ve ever had. So creamy, as one person at the table put it, “You could get that soup to have stiff peaks if you whipped it.”

The soups were served with a fresh-baked croissant and honey butter nicely piped into a small ramekin.

A mixed greens salad ($4.95) was top-notch, a very large portion containing both romaine lettuce and spring mix along with nuts, berries and blue cheese, tossed with the Cocoa Café’s own balsamic vinaigrette.

But here’s the best part. When we ordered it, we told Ron, our young waiter, that we’d be sharing the salad. Didn’t he arrive with a little side table, the lovely salad, four salad plates, four forks and new napkins. This kid didn’t miss a trick all night long.

A neat twist on the same old bruschetta is Cocoa Café’s chicken brushetta ($6.95). It’s more like a flatbread pizza, a crispy grilled crust covered with roasted red pepper sauce, sliced chicken breast, smoky bacon and blue cheese crumbles that melted ever so slightly after being baked in the oven.

Believe it or not, real men DO eat quiche. A veggie quiche at that! The entree ($5.50) consisted of tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms and caramelized onions encased in luscious creaminess and a perfectly cooked crust.

I love smoked salmon. A very generous amount of lightly smoked, just-salty-enough Nova salmon was served on a pair of petite croissants ($6.50) with slices of red onion and a lovely, smooth cucumber dill spread. Personally, I would have thrown a few capers in for good measure. But not everyone likes capers, I realize.

Two paninis are offered ($6.95 apiece), a “panini du jour” and their menu mainstay, featuring a chicken breast, roasted red peppers and cheddar cheese. It was a man-sized sandwich for sure. The bread had a nice crispy-pully texture and all the ingredients melded together nicely.

The only items we did not try from the non-sweets side of the menu were the chicken salad (chicken, celery, onion and Hellman’s mayo in a tomato rosette), “Bastien” salad (same as the salad we had with the addition of chicken, bacon and tangy red pepper sauce) and North Atlantic salmon (7-ounce portion poached with garlic butter, served over mixed greens with honey mustard).

Our truly decadent desserts, priced at $7.95 each, were perfectly outstanding.

Amy’s homemade “personal” cheesecake was extremely dense, served on a cookie crust that formed a sweet, soft layer underneath. Choice of toppings are chocolate, whipped cream or fresh seasonal fruit. We went with a drizzle of chocolate.

Flute limoncello was a semi-frozen dessert, served in a tall champagne flute. It incorporated refreshing lemon gelato swirled with limoncello liqueur. The base of the flute was surrounded by a fruit medley of sliced kiwi, a wedge of pineapple, a chunk of banana and a small shortbread cookie. A “spoon” made of hard candy with seasonal red and green swirls was over the top.

I ordered chocolate mousse cake, but I think Ron misunderstood and brought out one of their signature chocolate cups. Probably the better choice, as it turned out — a delicate white chocolate cup, thin as an eggshell, filled with creamy milk chocolate mousse, the plate turned into a work of art with the beautiful fruit medley.

The “bomba” was the most decadent of all, a tall dessert for the tall guy at the little play table: a round ball of vanilla and chocolate gelato with cherry-cinnamon-almond center, encased in a hard, dark chocolate shell, served in a tall, oversized goblet.

His gushing comments: “It was big. It was delicious. It looked fabulous. And that hard chocolate shell … what more could you ask for?”

All that from a guy who just told us, just moments before, that he could “take or leave” desserts, generally.

A wonderful evening out for four of us came to $84 before leaving a well-deserved tip for Ron.

On the subject of Ron, he seemed to be an absolute natural as a server. I’m sure he received good training from Amy, too. A great career in the hospitality trade awaits him.

And I know some people are weird about sharing food. But that’s all we did all night long. Too many good tastes that all needed to be experienced.

A few more things you need to know, and I’ll let you go.

There’s a large parking lot behind the building with a rear entrance to the restaurant. There’s a lighted display case just inside the door, filled with assorted sweets available for takeout (grab the chocolate Christmas trees, if there are still some left). Scones, biscotti and cookies are made fresh daily. And Amy plans to serve wine and beer in the near future.

You can contact Walter E. Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.

Cocoa Cafe
527 Coffeen St.
Watertown, NY
777-4407
www.cocoacafe.biz

In the former Chocolate Cottage location, serving great decadent desserts as well as a dozen fresh and delicious non-dessert items.

HOURS: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday
10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday

OUR PICKS:
From the savory side of the menu: Tomato basil soup, cream of broccoli soup, chicken bruschetta, mixed greens salad, grilled chicken panini.
From the sweets side of the menu: Every dessert we sampled was great — personal cheesecake, chocolate mousse in a white chocolate cup, flute limoncello and most decadent of all, the gelato-filled “bomba.”

RATING: 4 and one-half forks