Tiny Urban Tidbits #12

Tiny Urban Tidbits is where I share with you some insights, “tidbits”, or just random encounters from the week. I carry my camera with me everywhere I go, and I love capturing photos of interesting things that I discover. These may include new dishes from a restaurant that I’ve already reviewed, updates on what’s going on locally, or encounters I’ve had in the kitchen. It could even include a beautiful sunset, a funny sign, or just stuff I find amusing. Think of it as snapshots (literally!) of my weekly experiences with food – intertwined with stories, of course.
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It’s been a sad sad week for two of our local food businesses. The intense flash flood last Saturday caused a ton of damage for newly opened Think Tank in Kendall Square and Taza Chocolate in Somerville.

Think Tank

Think Tank had just opened less than a month ago. A collaboration between Jay Leno, Vincent Conte, and Mitchell Muroff, this bar and restaurant with Asian-inspired food was planning on hosting other interesting activities, such as live comedy, dancing, and arcade games.

They are located in the lower level of One Kendall Square. Sadly, the flash flood brought 12 inches of water inside the restaurant causing lots and lots of damage. They are estimating that repairs might cost up to $200,000. They are currently closed and anticipate they need about 2 months before opening up again.

We visited last week and I had been planning to write a review about the place. I will wait until they reopen, for it makes no sense to write a review now when you can’t visit.

Taza Chocolate

Taza Chocolate‘s woes are just as sad, if not even more sad. They had just upgraded their chocolate production facility with new equipment a few weeks ago. In fact, just last week they had churned out the first batch of chocolate on the new machines. Saturday’s flood caused tons of damage and they had to shut down production. The facility will be closed for at least a week, if not longer.

Taza Chocolate is asking their fans for support during this difficult time. You can support Taza by buying their chocolates or other things on their online store. Thankfully, their stockpiles of chocolate were stored on the second floor and thus not damaged. (phew!)

Check out their blog post here, which gives details about the damage to the factory.

Below are pictures from a tour of the chocolate factory I took last December. I am guessing that a lot of these machines had already been replaced, but it’s still cool to see what the inside of the chocolate factory used to look like!

I’m a big fan of their chocolate. I wrote my first post about them last summer when I tasted their chocolate at The Garden at the Cellar and also at the Farmers Market.

That’s all for today. Look out next week for yet another exciting Giveaway plus some reviews of some really cool new restaurants!