Dilettante cafe set to move -- and shake

The Dilettante Mocha Cafe on Broadway will move about a block north in late July -- and begin selling chocolate martinis and chocolate nudges.

The cafe has been catering to the theater and prom crowd for 30 years in the same spot on Capitol Hill. Dana Davenport, founder and chocolatier, opened the shop at 416 Broadway E, on Valentine's Day in 1978.

Davenport's company, Dilettante Chocolates, operates six mocha cafes in the region, and sells to Costco, Trader Joe's, Wal-Mart and Whole Foods, he said.

To comply with state liquor license rules, the cafe also will begin selling food -- specifically, Hungarian foods, such as palatschinken, which are crepes, Davenport said.

The new location will be in the Brix development, a mix of retail and condos on the corner of Broadway and East Mercer Street.

"This remodel for our business was imminent, and the terms in that Brix building were too much to pass over," said Davenport, 58.

The cafe has served chocolate martinis for private events, and the drinks were a hit, Davenport said. He described the chocolate-infused alcoholic drinks as "savory and sweet."

"You begin your evening with it, you don't come there to get sloshed," said Davenport, a third-generation chocolatier.

The new name for the cafe will be The Dilettante Mocha Cafe and Chocolate Martini Bar, he said.

Condos in the development range from the high $200,000s to the $700,000s, according to the developer.

Dilettante Chocolates is owned by Kent-based Seattle Gourmet Foods, which bought the company two years ago.