Convivium Osteria

Apparently, we are on a desserts that taste like Lara Bars kick, because this chocolate, fig, and walnut cake (called a "frustingolo") from Convivium Osteria in Park Slope also tasted like a Lara Bar.

BOTTOM LINE: There was a flourless chocolate cake option. This is what I get for trying to branch out from flourless chocolate cake.

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?

Winter Warmers

Winter Warmers is a brand-new, seasonal s'mores and hot chocolate shop that opened on Halloween in Park Slope.



As you know, I have tried many s'mores-related food products. None of them have ever compared to the experience of lighting a campfire and pulling out the Nabisco grahams, the Hershey's milk chocolate, and the jet-puffed marshmallows. Some things are just better non-artisanal. But that doesn't stop me from hoping.

In Winter Warmers, I have found my so-far favorite non-campfire s'more product. It does not succeed in replicating the campfire experience. But that's just fine because it's not trying to. It's doing something different.

First, you choose your cookies: graham crackers or homemade cookies? Next, you choose your marshmallow flavor from four different options. Then your chocolate: milk or dark? Finally, you can put on toppings from this wall of candy jars, which is an intriguing s'mores addition.



Then everything goes in an oven-like device for a moment, until it's all melty. Below you can see what Emily and I ate. We wanted something as far off from typical s'mores as possible, so we went with the homemade cookies, the pumpkin marshmallow, the dark chocolate, and some crushed nuts.



Delicious.

My one critique of this place was their hot chocolate. They offer three options: a pumpkin white chocolate (not interested--you know how I feel about white chocolate), a milk chocolate (you know my feelings on that as well), and a spiced dark chocolate, which was obviously what I went for.

The flavor and richness of the hot chocolate seemed good, but it was not warm enough, and they didn't have a way to heat it up any more when we asked. I am going to let this go, though, because I showed up on only their second day in business, which may be too soon to be making demands. I would re-order this hot chocolate at a later date, once they've figured out their temperature controls more.

BOTTOM LINE: Winter Warmers is only around until March, so don't wait! This is a great way to bring a summer campfire dessert into the winter months.

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.

L'Albero dei Gelati

When I first heard there was going to be a new gelato place in Park Slope, I have to admit I was dubious. I mean, this is Park Slope in the year 2013. It's not a neighborhood lacking for gelato. This new place was opening within a few blocks of two of my most beloved dessert venues, Culture and Caramello, so I just didn't see what new things it could bring to the table. The dessert table, so to speak.

But now that I have been to L'Albero dei Gelati, I will never doubt again. This place is awesome. It's owned and run by a couple from Milan; this is their first outpost in the United States. The gelato here is top-notch. Most of the media surrounding this place has focused on the savory gelato flavors that they offer, but let's get serious: all that matters is the quality of their chocolate gelato, which is superb. The texture is exactly right.



And they don't just sell gelato in this place. They have actual food, like classy, delightful meat and cheese platters. Obviously I didn't get those, because I was focusing my appetite on chocolate. But they also offer delicious pastries, cookies, cakes, and mousse. Here, for example, is a crispy nut cookie sandwich with a thick, nutella-like filling.



This thing is also awesome, and it only cost $2.25! There was a large selection of similarly delicious looking basked goods that I need to go back to try. Oh, and I need to go back soon because there is a beautiful backyard garden that I need to sit in.



BOTTOM LINE: A neighborhood can never have too many good chocolate options.

Cafe Grumpy

David and I both read a lot of articles about chocolate in NYC. In many of these articles, authors list their "top tens" of things. (By the way, we are not above this practice, which is why we just posted our Best Chocolate of 2012 list.) One time I read an article about the "top ten" hot chocolates in NYC, and Cafe Grumpy made the list.

Obviously, this meant I had to check it out. And here is my review: it was okay.

Cafe Grumpy's hot chocolate is hot. It is chocolate. It is creamy. It looks pretty. It is enjoyable on a cold day. It is not one of the "top ten" best hot chocolates in the city.

That's okay. We can't all be Fresco.

The weird thing is, even though I have established how I feel about Cafe Grumpy's hot chocolate (answer: fine), I keep going back there, just because I know it is on somebody else's "top ten list." I keep waiting to have that "top ten" experience, even though clearly my tastes differ from those of that author.

BOTTOM LINE: Journalism is a powerful force. And this hot chocolate is: fine.

Brook-vin

Brook-vin is a charming little wine bar in Park Slope. I went there on Halloween, primarily for their pumpkin-infused Manhattan. But when I saw that there was a chocolate thing on the menu, obviously I ate that, too. Their menu describes it as "chocolate semifreddo, crème anglaise, strawberries, sel gris." I don't know what sel gris is. But I know it was delicious.

This was like a harder chocolate mousse-- it's thicker than mousse, obviously, and sticks together in a cake-like form. But it was way more like mousse than like a traditional chocolate cake. It was very dense and enjoyable.

I split this with two friends, and that thing happened where they both stopped eating because they "got full," so I ate all of my share, and some of their shares, and then I scraped the plate with my spoon over and over again in a way that I think disgusts some people. I would have used my fingers, too, but the waitress took the plate away.

BOTTOM LINE: If you find yourself at Brook-vin, don't stop at wine-- order dessert, too.

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!

Spicy Cake from Sweet Melissa

Okay, so this cake, you may be wondering. What is it?

I don't know. My mother bought it from Sweet Melissa for her own birthday. I provided the candle. It was the least I could do.

Here is what I can tell you about this cake:

The top layer is a really excellent chocolate glaze frosting. I mean top-notch. The frosting made the cake, for me.

The cake layer is chocolate but has some sort of spices in it. Cardamom? Allspice? I definitely liked the spice, but, then, I like spices, as a rule, so I am biased. The prominence of the spice certainly undermined the intensity of the chocolate. And the texture of the cake was, well, fine, but not awesome. Could have been denser. Moister. Something more textural.

Then there was a layer of apricot, which I could do without. If there is one Rule of Chocolate that David and I agree on, it's this: leave out the fruit jelly and spreads. Is this a chocolate cake, or an apricot cake? Let's keep the focus.

The bottom layer was like a thin chocolate meringue. Lovely. Added a nice bit of crunch.

BOTTOM LINE: This was a cake with a lot going on. I would recommend it to people who like some spice and some fruit, some diversity of flavor, but not to seriously hardcore dense chocolate fans.