David's Belated Chocolate Show Haul:

Hello, friends!  Sorry this post is so long delayed, but I am working through quite a backlog of chocolate that I have consumed, and I have much to share.  This post is long, and expect more such posts to come.  Here, I cover everything I bought at and consumed after the Chocolate Show back in November.  This included, basically, everything.  In fact, I purchased so much chocolate at the Chocolate Show that the original list of labels for this post exceeded Blogger's character-limit.

Jean-Luc Pele:


Jean-Luc Pele was one of the highlights of the Show for me.  They are based in Cannes.  Why, I couldn't tell you.  The list of cities in which they sell their chocolate is as follows: (1) Cannes.

Of course, they do deliver... to other parts of France.  This is all quite distressing.  I was just in Paris, and I almost made a friend order some in anticipation of my visit but thought (correctly, as you shall see) that Paris would have enough exquisite chocolate to entertain me.

In any case, I bought the dark chocolate bonbon tasting box, which included a fabulous, thin dark chocolate bottom layer.  Each of the bonbons was exceptional.  Some of the best I've had.  My only complaint was that the different origins were different to distinguish.  There was some sort of answer key included in the package, but even with its aid, it was incredibly difficult to tell one bonbon from another.  In summary: unbelievably delicious, but not ideal to the type of chocolate science experiments we like to conduct.

Brigadeiro Palace:

I also purchased a few traditional brigadeiros from Brigadeiro Palace.  We discussed them in our First Recap, now months ago.

Unlike Leila, I completely loved these.  I loved the traditional more than the dark chocolate or the brownie, surprisingly.  Leila's description that it tasted like brownie batter is pretty accurate.  Fortunately, I love brownie batter.  One thing that separates Leila and me is fudge -- I love fudge, and she doesn't.  The brigadeiros are fudgy.  If you are into that sort of thing, get on this.

 Maison Boissier:

At my most experimental, I purchased some floral milk chocolates from Maison Boissier.  This was definitely a mixed bag.  First of all, there were a couple pieces of dark chocolate that were truly spectacular.  As for the floral options, though, some were better than others.  That said, once opened, these went fast.

Overall, I was pretty happy with this purchase, even if it was flavored and sweet and a bit weird.  Sometimes it can be refreshing, and the dark chocolate petals are a firm reassurance that Maison Boissier understands how to do simple chocolate correctly.

Eclat:

We already covered the Eclat selection pretty thoroughly.  Basically, it was exceptional.  I don't know what it was about this toasted corn bar, but I completely fell for it.  If the idea of a toasted corn bar sounds intriguing to you, you'll love it.

I also got a pack of the more traditional chocolate mendiants, of Tanzanian origin, at something like 80% chocolate.  After going out of character with the toasted corn, buying this was the least I could do.  And let me say -- more good decisions.  Top-quality, super-chocolatey dark chocolate, plus nibs!

Buzz Fudge:

We talked a little about Buzz Fudge before.  I am not really sure about the distinction between Buzz Fudge and Magnolia's Fudge -- they are clearly related somehow, and they are both Oneonta-based.  Possibly it's just a name change from one to the other or something?  In any case, the fudge is delicious.  I got the dark chocolate fudge.  I loved it.  It's totally different from Murdick's, which is firm and not-too-melty -- Buzz Fudge is spooned, almost like an exceptionally thick pudding.  A totally different delicious take.



H.S. Chocolate Co.:

H.S. Chocolate Co. we covered only briefly.  I purchased the pumpkin spice bar blind, without tasting it, as it was the season for it, and I was overcome.  A moment of weakness.  Definitely the biggest disappointment of my haul.  Still totally edible -- just didn't hold up to the proven hits.

LAC:

On the first swing around, I saw there weren't many of these left, and I scooped one up.  By the time we went around the second time on our purchasing mission, these were gone.  And by the time it was in my stomach, I was exceptionally glad I had jumped the gun.

Prestat:

Leila and I were both incredibly impressed by Prestat, as we mentioned.  Twice.  Well, make it thrice.  Yes, they are the Queen's chosen supplier.  They had a high percentage, single-origin bar as well as a 71% West African blend.  The latter was more chocolatey, but the Prestat chocolatier had a clear preference for the fruitier former.  I bought the 71% bar and ate it happily.

I also bought their hazelnut truffles, which were excellent.  Just the right balance of chocolate and hazelnut ganache, without any inconsistent or otherwise problematic texture situations.

Pro tip: Prestat products of all sorts are available at Chelsea Market Baskets.

Bottom Line:  I am good at buying chocolate at the Chocolate Show, and these things are all delicious.

Crystal Plaza

I recently went to a friend's wedding at the Crystal Plaza, in New Jersey. I'm going to keep this review short because the Crystal Plaza is an event space, not a restaurant, which means you will probably never choose to go there. Either one of your friends will have a wedding or a bar mitzvah here, so you will go. Or no one you know will ever have an event here, so you won't go.

So let me just reassure you: if you DO someday find yourself at the Crystal Plaza, they have an awesome chocolate plate for dessert.

That would be, my friends, chocolate lava cake, chocolate ice cream (presumably dairy-free, since this was a kosher wedding, though it certainly tasted good to me), and a chocolate piece. Every wedding guest got a plate that looked like this. How lucky were we?

Also there was a cake, and I photographed it because it's beautiful. But I didn't eat it. Because it wasn't chocolate.

BOTTOM LINE: An excellent event space for chocolate. If you attend a bat mitzvah here, save room for dessert.

Mesa Grill

Mesa Grill is a Bobby Flay restaurant. I think that is a name that means a lot to people who watch the Food Network, but I am not one of those people.

Here, however, is a name that does mean something to me: Chocolate Pretzel Tart with Spicy Peanut Butter-Chocolate Swirl Ice Cream.

It costs $11, which is a lot for dessert, but that price may actually be fair, considering the insane number of textures and flavors going into this concoction. The ice cream really was spicy. The juxtaposition of the soft chocolate and its hard outer shell was fascinating.

BOTTOM LINE: This is not a necessary chocolate experience. But if you're at the Mesa Grill and have $11 to spare, you'd be a fool not to try it, because you would be hard-pressed to find this particular dessert anywhere else.

City Bakery Hot Chocolate

There are many hot chocolates in NYC, and now around the world, that I can say I really love.  But beyond them all, I love the hot chocolate at City Bakery.

Also available with a giant marshmallow

It's hard to be objective.  I've been having this ever since I was a kid.  It was the first super-thick, super-chocolatey hot chocolate I ever had.  Since then, I've had the offerings of DT Works, Grom, and others in NYC, and of Angelina and others in Europe.  I have not been disappointed by any of those places, but whenever I come back to City Bakery, even though it may be slightly sweeter than some others, it feels perfect -- just like home.

Bottom Line: Objectively, it holds up to any hot chocolate in the world.  Subjectively, this is the New York native's holy grail.

(Pro Tip: During the winter, City Bakery hot chocolate is also sold at Birdbath Bakeries all around the city.)

Lavazza Hot Chocolate

Usually I avoid Eataly with all my might because, hello, I am not a tourist. But last week I was hungry and in the neighborhood, so I gave it a shot. Naturally I wound up quenching my hunger with a hot chocolate, as that is my go-to dinner food.

The hot chocolate was Lavazza, which is one of the first stands you see when you walk in the front door. In true Italian fashion, it was extremely thick. It was surprisingly delicious, considering my uninformed snobbery about Eataly. It really did taste like Italian hot chocolate. And the price point was surprisingly reasonable-- about as much as Starbucks hot chocolate, only way thicker, denser, and darker.

BOTTOM LINE: Surprisingly delicious and intense hot chocolate; great value for the price.

Disappointments

My phone broke, so I have been without a camera.  But that won't stop me from complaining on the internet!

So I went to OTTO Enoteca.  There are a lot of things to like about Otto -- like that board that displays whose table will be next in that old-timey flip-card way and (more importantly) the amazing gelato.  But there are also a lot of things to dislike about Otto, like the way they capitalize all the letters in their name and, well, everything else.  Just as Cafe Grumpy's hot chocolate made some top-10 list, Otto's made one or two or maybe most of them.  But listing Otto's is far more outrageous.  First of all, Leila and I share the pet peeve of restaurants' deciding to stop serving their signature (chocolate) dishes.  Otto serves their apparently popular hot chocolate during only a narrow window in the winter.  My recent "successful" procurement of Otto's hot chocolate came on my seventh attempt.  But the problems only begin there.  I tried to get my hot chocolate to go, but they literally did not have any paper cups in the entire restaurant.  They forced me to drink it on the spot.  Then they made me wait about 10 minutes for it.  When it arrived, it was covered in whipped cream, without asking me (ew).  Even after scraping that off, the hot chocolate was sickeningly sweet.  Even the cookies served with it were inedible.  At least it only cost $6 for basically a tiny shot.  Brutal.

Also, I went back to L'Arte del Gelato, this time in Chelsea Market.  Trying to give it yet another shot, I ordered the Italian hot chocolate affogato with the chocolate gelato.  This type of hot chocolate float is basically my favorite type of food.  But it was just as disappointing as their chocolate gelato solo.  It had the misfortune of being less thick than Italian hot chocolate should be but still sufficiently thick as to make me a little sick.  Of course it was too sweet and not sufficiently chocolatey.  None of my friends who tried it would even have a second sip.

Bottom Line: Get your hot chocolate from Fresco or City Bakery (review pending).  Don't play around when it comes to something so serious.

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.