Organic Avenue Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse

Okay, so you expect vegan chocolate mousse to be bad, but then you're like, "Hey, if people expect it to be bad, it won't sell, so if this is selling, it must be good, right?"

Wrong.  It's awful.  And it's made with avocado.  Just no.

Bottom Line: Go to Organic Avenue, but stick to the non-store brand items.

Emmy's Chocolate Macaroons, Superfood Cereal Cacao Crunch, and Cashewtopia Chocolate "Ice Cream"

I took another trip to Organic Avenue and stocked up on some vegan things:

Here is some foreshadowing: this was a successful trip.

The superfood cereal was great.  It was basically just very chocolatey granola.  I poured the giant bag down my throat in one afternoon.

The macaroons were really good too.  Not quite as good as the Hail Merry ones, but given that I don't love macaroons and that I really enjoyed these, that says a lot.

Lastly, the Cashewtopia-brand vegan ice cream... I'm going to say it was the best vegan chocolate ice cream I've ever had.  I have a longstanding preference for sorbet over ice cream or gelato, so I always vote vegans go that route, but if you want something creamy, this was really excellent.

Bottom Line: At this point, there is absolutely no reason a vegan needs to settle for chocolate bars.  Excellent options abound.

Organic Avenue: featuring Gnosis, Hail Merry, and Keen-Wah Decadence

You may have noticed I have recently been posting a lot of vegan items.  That's because I spent a whole month vegan.  During that month, I stopped by Organic Avenue, which seems to be some sort of high-end, pre-made juice bar, with lots of salads and other "organic," vegan items.  And lots of chocolate.  I got something lame for food, but I also got some chocolate:

I got some sort of flourless, chocolate, mint tart from Hail Merry and some sort of chocolate protein bar from Keen-Wah Decadence.  I quick examination of the interiors will tell you which was better:

The Hail Merry tart was great.  I have previously had their chocolate macaroons, which are also great, even though I don't like macaroons.  On the contrary, the Keen-Wah Decadence bar was just gross.  I took a few bites, then threw it out.  I never throw out chocolate.  But it was definitely the Hail Merry tart that was the decadent chocolate item.

I also got a little, bite-sized piece of Gnosis 70% dark chocolate:

Gnosis is another one of those raw, organic, agave-and-coconut-using brands that I wish I hated more than I do.  The square was actually quite good.  It will never be able to hold its own against the great bars out there that actually roast their beans and use real sugar, but still, this was pretty delicious.

Bottom Line: I am finding these "aggregator" stores, on the Dean & Deluca model, are actually pretty good places to try a variety of chocolate items.  We had the Manhattan Espresso Cafe, we had Treehaus, and now we have Organic Avenue.  Among the items, I highly recommend Hail Merry.