Equal Exchange

In the lead-up to our chocolate party, we had a lovely sit-down meeting at the Chocolate Room with a representative from Equal Exchange.  We learned all sorts of things -- apparently they are completely worker-owned, so every employee is a part owner (a true co-op), and they were among the Fair Trade Chocolate pioneers in the US!  But let's be real here: the important questions is whether it is delicious.

And the important answer is yes.

Here is what David sampled:

There was an 80% (Panama-origin), a 71% blend, a 65% (Ecuador-origin), and a 55% with almonds.  They were all really good, honestly.  

The 55% with almonds compared nicely with the Chocolove.  It did not have sea salt, which made it taste a little more mature and a little less addictive.  For better or worse.

David's favorite -- perhaps unsurprisingly -- was the 80% Panama, and we were very glad to have that at our Party.  We compared it with the Chocolate Room's new, proprietary 80% bar (Ecuador-origin), and the Equal Exchange bar was far better.  It was chocolatier, less fruity, and didn't have some of the weird flavor notes.  The Chocolate Room bar also had a somewhat unsatisfying finish, whereas the Equal Exchange kept its rich flavor throughout.

Leila also sampled the 55% semi-sweet chocolate chips but was not very impressed, maybe because they're only 55%. Fortunately Equal Exchange also offers a bittersweet 70% chocolate chip bag, which may be more her (ahem) bag. The 55% are probably delicious in cookies, just not so great for directly pouring down your throat.

Interestingly, several weeks earlier, I (David) had returned home from a long day (or two) of work, and a friend had left a series of coded notes, leading me on a scavenger hunt around my (one bedroom) apartment.  The reward?  Mini-tablets of 55% Equal Exchange!

We lead charmed lives, you guys.

Bottom Line: Equal Exchange is a great company, with great people and great chocolate.  They're gonna do great.

PSA: The Chocolate Room is moving

It's no secret that we love the Chocolate Room. So we're happy to help them get the word out about their new location.

At 11pm on January 26, the Chocolate Room will be closing up shop at their amazing, wonderful, feels-like-home shop/restaurant on 5th Ave. DON'T PANIC. It's going to be okay. On January 29, they will be opening a pop-up shop right next door (82 Fifth Ave). It won't be a sit-down place, but you can still buy all the chocolates and baked goods that you need.

The pop-up shop will stay open until the Chocolate Room's new Park Slope location is ready to open, hopefully in February or March, at 51 Fifth Ave. And then we can all welcome them to their new home by sitting down and ordering a hot chocolate float with chocolate ice cream in it, because that is what we do best.

In the meantime, the Chocolate Room's Cobble Hill restaurant and shop on Court Street will stay open without any changes. So if you need some sort of chocolate amuse bouche over the next few weeks, they've got you taken care of.

Public Service Announcement over!

The Chocolate Room Kickstarter Campaign

As you are probably aware, we are big fans of the Chocolate Room in Park Slope. One time we drank milkshakes there. One time we ate a cupcake there. One time we just went chocolate bar shopping there. One time we even took a chocolate-tasting class there!

Okay, fine, just kidding: we have done all those things more than once.

Sadly, the Chocolate Room has to move out of their Park Slope storefront. Luckily, they have signed a new lease on a new shop just down the road, at Fifth Ave. and Bergen Street. Sadly, moving is expensive. Luckily, they have a Kickstarter you can fund.

Even more luckily, the Kickstarter rewards are exactly what you'd hope they'd be; i.e. chocolate. If you pledge $5 you get a chocolate chunk cookie. I have eaten that cookie before and it is delicious. If you pledge $2,500 you get to make truffles with the Chocolate Room's executive chef, but frankly, the odds seem to be against your having $2,500.

There are a lot of Kickstarters for baked goods out there, and clearly we do not post them all, but this one is one of my most beloved food venues, so I encourage you to take a look before the campaign ends on November 25. Here's the link again: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/459027659/the-chocolate-room-relocation

BOTTOM LINE: How could you be anything other than in love with a place called the Chocolate Room?

The Chocolate Room Chocolate-Mint Milkshake

I went back to the Chocolate Room, which, as we have said again and again, is one of our favorite places for chocolate in the city. This time my friend Kendra and I split a milkshake that was half chocolate and half fresh mint chip.



What can I say? It was a pure delight. Their mint chip is not peppermint, it is fresh mint, so it takes a little getting used to, but once you're in it, there's no turning back. Their chocolate ice cream is always wonderful. The milkshake itself was large enough that Kendra and I each got a full one of these cups.

BOTTOM LINE: The Chocolate Room never disappoints. They don't even know how to.

Chocolate Room: featuring Chocopologie by Knipschildt Chocolatier "Rosewater" and Cacao Prieto 72%

I snagged two bars last time I was at the Chocolate Room.  Both were excellent.

Cacao Prieto is based in Red Hook, and they use only Crillollo beans from the Dominican Republic.  Their 72% bar had all the complexity one expects from crillollo beans and the good chocolatey taste from the DR. A very nice combo.

The Rosewater-flavored "Chocopologie by Knipschildt" bar was also delicious.  The rosewater is subtle, despite the bright red coloring on the bar, and it adds a nice flavor for those who like it.

Bottom Line: The Chocolate Room is amazing both for the desserts it makes and the stock of chocolate it carries.

Happy Mothers' Day!

Chocolate milkshakes at the Chocolate Room as "dessert" after our innumerable chocolate desserts at Smorgasburg.  Happy mothers' day to me?

Chocolate Cupcake from the Chocolate Room

I had a babysitting job tonight, and, as the parents left the house, they mentioned that they would be going to the Chocolate Room after dinner. I looked at them with hungry eyes that insinuated, please bring me home something to eat, for I am needy and jealous. Fortunately, they did.

David and I are big Chocolate Room fans. Who wouldn't be? It's called the freaking CHOCOLATE ROOM. We once went to a chocolate tasting there, where I became proud owner of a "chocolate tasting wheel," which looks something like this:

There are many dishes that I enjoy at the Chocolate Room. With time, this blog will probably cover all of them. Tonight my babysitting clients brought me home the chocolate cupcake. With chocolate frosting, natch.

The frosting was fantastic. The cake itself was very good, though perhaps drier than I would have liked. (That's kind of the nature of most cupcakes, to be honest.) I hadn't thought I was still hungry, after eating about 100 chocolate chips over the course of my babysitting job-- but then I devoured this whole thing. So I guess I was hungry, after all.

BOTTOM LINE: Truly enjoyable-- and not even my favorite thing to get at the Chocolate Room!