Socola Chocolatier

"Wendy and Susan Lieu set up shop in SoMa in 2014. Their confections rely on local Guittard chocolate and Straus dairy, feature many Vietnamese flavors, and come in minty fresh boxes stamped with a super cute alpaca. As a woman of color-owned outfit, running the business has been a point of pride and exploration for the Santa Rosa-raised sisters." - Paolo Bicchieri, Becky Duffett

"Wendy Lieu from Socola Chocolatier, which she and her sister have run since 2001, can relate to feeling like the cards are stacked against her as a woman entrepreneur." - Paolo Bicchieri

"Wendy Lieu from Socola Chocolatier, which she and her sister have run since 2001, can relate to feeling like the cards are stacked against her as a woman entrepreneur." - Paolo Bicchieri

"In 2006, Daniel Korson was experimenting in a tiny San Francisco apartment kitchen above Alamo Square Park. He was fascinated with chocolate and sweets that were stripped down to the essentials: scraped cacao, all organic, just the plants and pods. He had no idea at the time that his tinkering would eventually become Coracao Chocolate, the plant-based chocolate company he still runs today and one of the pioneers of the growing vegan chocolate market in the Bay Area." - Paolo Bicchieri

"Eating a Sriracha-flavored chocolate on a sunny afternoon in Golden Gate Park is, to me, a singularly San Francisco experience. The sisters behind SoMa’s Socola Chocolatier, Wendy and Susan Lieu, continue to bridge the gap between what has historically been considered high-end cuisine and the flavors they hold near and dear to their hearts. In this collection there is also a slightly savory pho-flavored chocolate, plus varieties infused with durian and Vietnamese coffee. The Sriracha chocolate, with a flake of chili on top, invoked the right kind of dissonance, giving my brain a delicious “a-ha” moment somewhere between sweet and savory." - Eater Staff